The Oxford Muntada provides an intensive four-week residential forum at Oxford for a group of approximately twenty-five young Muslim men and women, aged under 30, to achieve through dialogue, a better understanding of three inter-related themes:

• self-understanding and well-being of Muslim majority societies and of Muslim minorities in the West
• the interaction of religious and cultural values with the effects of political, economic and cultural globalisation
• challenges and opportunities for Muslim leaders operating at the inter-face of Islamic and Western societies.

The forum will be conducted in English and will involve lectures, discussion groups, workshops and visits to cultural, political and economic institutions in Britain. The central focus of such activities will be on Islam and its role in the contemporary world and its interaction with the West as reflected in British culture and society. It will consider the following:

• religion and society: faith, secularism and a sense of the sacred
• government and society: good governance, justice and the rule of law, political institutions, accountability and consensus, Muslim participation in plural societies such as Britain
• economy and society: market forces and social and ethical values, inequalities in the global economy, financial management, resources, environment, and sustainable development
• culture and society: individual cultural identity and inter-cultural communication and dialogue, education, challenges posed by advances in science and technology, the role of the family and community, the media and freedom of expression.

The Chatham House Rule
British Council seminars are designed to be interactive and participative, and those attending are encouraged to contribute in their own personal capacity. In order to maintain the confidentiality of discussions, all seminars are held under the Chatham House Rule.

The rule means that participants are free to use the information and views received during the event, but that no individual contributor or participant should be quoted (or their identity or affiliation revealed) without their express permission. Any exceptions to this practice (e.g. because a contributor wishes to be on the record) will be stated at the time.