© Pavel KlyuyevThe Joanna Randall-MacIver junior research fellowship was established in the 1930s for women studying fine arts, music or literature.
The programme is led by Prof Nigel Biggar, who claimed in a recent article in The Times, there are aspects of empire Britain can be proud of.
In a letter, published in The Conversation, the academics expressed their "firm rejection" of his views.
Prof Biggar said none of the academics had raised their concerns in person.
The Ethics and Empire project aims to explore ethical questions of empire, which it has argued are not currently explored, because "most reaches" of academic discourse believe "by definition empire is imperialist" and "wicked".
Comment: If that were so, people would not pretend that there is no such thing as a US empire. Clearly, empire is still with us, and it clearly takes qualitatively different forms.
It will seek to measure apologies and critiques of empire against historical data from around the world, Prof Biggar said.
'Enemies of free speech'
© Elizabeth HardyProf Nigel Biggar is Regius Professor of moral and pastoral theology at Oxford University
They added they would also not be engaging with the programme because it consists of closed invitation-only seminars.
In response, Prof Biggar said "in the current illiberal climate such discussion is only possible in private" as "enemies of free speech and thought would disrupt it".
He added any of the academics would be at liberty to refuse an invitation, but they "would not close the discussion down".
Common Ground, a student group that aims to examine Oxford's "colonial past", has also criticised Prof Biggar and the project.
It said the University of Oxford should not "stand idly" in the face of his "apologies for colonialism".
A university spokesperson said "arguments and differing approaches" are to be expected, and defended Prof Biggar as an "entirely suitable" person to lead the "valid evidence-led academic" project.
Comment: Let them have any discussion they wish - free speech above all else. Black-and-white, hard-and-fast positions are NOT conducive to honest discussion.
In this case, a discussion about the merits or otherwise of Britain's imperial past is sorely needed. How else can Britishers learn from their past and thus see the ways in which its negative aspects still informs their tendencies today?
Clearly, a blanket diktat that 'imperialism is bad, no matter what' has NOT helped Britain to 'get its house in order'. The country is undergoing a profound constitutional crisis while going around the world manipulating other polities and interfering in their business like it's still 1875.