Welcome to Oxford Round Table

"It is with great pleasure that I write this letter to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the opportunity to attend the Oxford Round Table in August. I sincerely meant it when I said that I will forever cherish attending the Round Table as one of the great experiences of my career. The presentations and discussions were tremendously exciting and thought-provoking, and the socializing over meals and during the tours and nighttime pub-crawling just reinforced the friendships that were struck. The topics chosen were interesting, even for non-Americans, and covered a wide enough field to offer something of value to everybody. I learned a tremendous lot from almost every presentation and the papers I brought back will be put to good use here. The venue obviously contributed to having an uplifting academic discourse. When one falls under the spell of so much history, learning and the sheer academic atmosphere of the town, one cannot but perform way above one’s abilities! Choosing Oxford for these conferences is a master stroke."

Professor Rassie Malherbe, Rand Afrikaans University, South Africa

"I would like to thank each of you for making the Oxford Roundtable an outstanding experience for me. I appreciate the way my wife, Becky and my son, Ryan were involved and included in the activities. They felt like a part of the group and treated very special. I appreciate the leadership, guidance and direction you both offered the Round Table group. The organization of the daily sessions was excellent with tremendous input. I liked the last day summary for the individuals. The other aspect of the Oxford Round Table is the tremendous connection that we were able to develop. You both took time to get into conversations not only with my family, but all of us. I would rate this group very high on being cooperative, courteous and able to cope with one another."

Dr. Gary Niehaus, Superintendent, Salem Elementary School, Salem, IL

"My associate, John Kappenberg, and I were honored to attend this past summer’s Oxford Round Table at St. Antony’s College in Oxford. I must say that having attended distinguished programs at Harvard, Yale, Morocco and Beijing and other noteworthy cities, I found this one to include an ideal balance of substance, creativity and a vigorous exchange of viewpoints."

Dr. George Goldstein, Superintendent of Schools, Sewanhaka Central High School District, Floral Park, NY

"What a pleasure it was to be with you and the other members of the Oxford Round Table for the fine educational program last week in Oxford. You were a most hospitable and inviting host and you made us all feel welcome. You beautifully orchestrated the sessions and we all appreciated the wealth of experience and insight you brought to our deliberations. The program was one of the finest professional experience of my year, or indeed, of any year. I came away singing the praises of the Oxford Round Table to my colleagues in the Georgia System. Certainly, you will be having others join you if they are fortunate enough to be invited in years to come."

Dr. Betty L. Siegel, President, Kennesaw University, Kennesaw, GA

"This is to express that the Oxford Round Table was a wonderful once in a lifetime educational cultural and social experience, which far exceeded my wildest expectations. The presentations were well articulated, diverse and thought provoking, the panel discussions spirited, candid, honest and respectful. Thank you for a very valuable and enlightening experience."

Lawrence Nichols, II, Chief Human Resources Officer, Clemson University, Clemson, SC

"Thank you for all of your hard work at our recent roundtable discussion. It was truly the most organized professional event I have ever taken part in."

Dr. Vickie Diane Causby, Coordinator of Graduate Degree Program in Learning Disabilities, Armstrong Atlantic State University, Savannah, GA

"…everyone in charge of our activities was wonderful. They were the most gracious and efficient. The experience was most rewarding! As for the participants, they were also delightful. Their papers were most interesting and I learned a great deal! I particularly appreciated the multidisciplinary nature of the roundtable. Hearing people from different walks of the administrative and professional life was most refreshing to me. All topics, even the most difficult ones, were presented and discussed with such great professionalism."

Dr. Helia Corral , Professor of Spanish, California State University, Bakersfield, CA

"The Round Table was indeed a highlight of my life! A week does not go by when I haven’t had a chance to share the experience with someone. Thanks to every one of you for making it such an outstanding success."

Dr. Linda Koehler, Professor, Central Missouri State University, Warrensburg, MO

"Now that the dust has settled and I am back into my routine , I thought I would drop you a note to let you know how much I enjoyed participating in the Round Table. It was a wonderful experience for me and for my husband Jim, who was my guest. Everyone we met was so kind and positive throughout our time in Oxford. We have lovely memories of the ‘dreaming spires of Oxford’ and of the people who made our visit so special."

Dr. Joyce Bergin, Professor and Graduate Coordinator of Programs in Special Education, Armstrong Atlantic State University, Savannah, GA

"AN OXFORD EXPERIENCE
"[Oxford] . . . typifies to an American, the union of science and sense, of
aspiration and ease. . . . Oxford lends sweetness to labour and dignity to
leisure."
Henry James, Portraits and Places (1883)

This past year I was invited to participate in an Oxford Round Table on Human Rights and Gender, held at Oxford University in England. Thanks to funding from the University of Tampa, I was able to accept the invitation. For one week in August I joined some forty scholars, teachers and school administrators -- all female -- in an extraordinary exploration of women's roles and challenges across the globe.

The venue for our Round Table discussions was the Oxford Union Society. Here the "controversial" as well as "the great and the good" have argued their cases since 1823. The original Debate Chamber, with its pre-Raphaelite murals and visitors' gallery all around, now functions as a lending library. The larger "new" hall next door, dating from 1878, resembles the original.

A sense of history attaches to everything in this Chamber. Speakers elocute from Dispatch Boxes once used in Britain's House of Commons. Victorian stained glass windows cast eerie beams of light on the proceedings. Portraits and busts of former Union presidents and noted speakers line the walls. One portrait in particular riveted me all week: a stunning oil painting of Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto, elected president of the Oxford Union in 1976 when she was a student at Lady Margaret Hall. In 1988 Bhutto became the first woman to lead a Muslim country.

Founded in 1167 AD, Oxford is the world's oldest English speaking university. Its main library, the Bodleian, holds the world's largest academic book collection. Its thirty-nine independent colleges have produced world-class leaders in nearly every field imaginable. The Ashmolean Museum contains, among other treats, one of the finest collections of ancient Egyptian artifacts outside the British Museum in London. Mercifully, both the medieval city and its historic colleges are intact, having been spared any bombing during World War II. Perhaps that's why some of the scenes in the "Harry Potter" flicks were filmed in Christ Church College. Hordes of eager adolescent Potter fans nearly ran me over as I toured the College and Cathedral one afternoon.

St. Antony's College, founded in 1948, housed the Round Table participants. A graduate school focused on international studies, St. Antony's draws visiting scholars from all over the world. It also offers some of the most modern dormitory accommodations found at Oxford. As a British historian and one-time London resident, I had visited Oxford in the past. Not until this summer, however, had I truly experienced the university. Living "in college" and walking from St. Antony's on Woodstock Road to the Oxford Union in the city center each day exposed me to student life in all its vibrancy.

Blackwell's Book Shops in Broad St. are an academic's paradise. Rumor has it that even Cambridge (the Other Place) scholars visit these shops. Here you can find nearly anything in print. A diehard fan of the "Inspector Morse" series on A&E, I bought an intriguing guide to all the Oxford locales featured in Colin Dexter's mystery novels.

Even the pubs of Oxford reek of history and tradition. Take, for example, The Eagle and Child, known in university circles as the "Bird and Baby." Here C. S. Lewis, Dorothy Sayers, J. R. R. Tolkien and other literary giants of the mid-20^th century used to meet on Tuesdays to share their works-in-progress. Its cozy "snugs" offer a quiet space in which to sip a pint while discussing the affairs of the world -- often with perfect strangers. I wonder if some of the characters in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings were not, in fact, modeled on denizens of this popular watering hole.

What I learned from the Round Table and its Oxford setting will augment my courses in American Women's History, British History and the History of Ireland. Since I stole time to visit the Ashmolean, even my Ancient World course will doubtless undergo some revision. Contacts made at the Round Table will certainly further my research into women in Irish politics. Funding for this kind of faculty development needs to be increased.

More importantly, the University of Tampa Honors Program features an Oxford University semester experience. I encourage all Honors Students to compete for the three scholarships available each semester. And I urge the UT administration to make more of these opportunities available. With 616 Honors students on campus, it seems only reasonable to expand the Honors Abroad program. If one week at Oxford University can change the perspective of a veteran professor like me, just think what a whole semester can do for our UT Honors students just beginning their careers."

Dr. Constance B. Rynder, Professor of History, University of Tampa, Florida