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Two decades ago the Oxford Round Table held its first meeting in New Inn Lane at St. Peter's College in the University of Oxford to consider public policy issues bearing on education in the United States, the United Kingdom, and other selected countries. Participants in the foundational meeting included the Master of St. Peters, the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford, ministers of education from twenty countries, the Chair of the National Governor's Association and several legislators from the United States. Pursuant to the success of that Round Table, additional meetings were deemed desirable and more were held thereafter. Participation was later broadened to include university presidents and subsequently further expanded to involve scholars from many academic disciplines.
The purpose of the Oxford Round Table, a not-for-profit educational organization, is to provide an interdisciplinary forum for the discussion of contemporary issues that affect the public good in all its various forms and ramifications. The public good is expansively interpreted by the Round Table to include all matters that enrich the human experience and enhance the human condition. Past themes of meetings have included considerations of human rights, social welfare, economics, religion, ethics, morals, law, medicine and the liberal arts and sciences. Each session is designed around a format that enables participants to present papers and to engage in discussions regarding those papers in both formal colloquy and informal dialogue.
Invitees to Round Tables are determined based on several criteria, among which are nominations by earlier attendees, courses that invitees teach, their presentations and writings, and their professional involvement in a relevant area of interest. An attempt is also made to diversify as to the type of institution, public or private, and to involve institutions representing different levels of education, i.e. schools, community colleges, four-year colleges, graduate and research universities.
All Round Tables are held in the colleges of the University of Oxford through special and separate arrangements with each college. Over the years, Round Tables have been located at several colleges including St. Peter's, St. Anne's, St. Antony's, Lady Margaret Hall, Pembroke, and Lincoln College. Formal academic sessions are normally held in the debating chamber of the Oxford Union Debating Society, the Rhodes House, home of the Rhodes Scholars, the Examination Schools, and/or at Talbot Hall in Lady Margaret Hall College. The Round Table has a close working relationship with Harris Manchester College where it maintains an office in college.