Frequently Asked Questions
What is policy debate?
Why is debate important for students?
What is “urban debate”?
What is Detroit Urban Debate Education?
Who are our partners?
What are the short-term goals of Detroit Urban Debate Education?
What are the long-term goals of Detroit Urban Debate Education?
What is policy debate?
Policy debate is a competitive public speaking activity where two 2-person teams debate an annual resolution by advocating a specific policy. For example, the 2007-2008 resolution was: “Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its public health assistance to Sub-Saharan Africa.” A topical affirmative policy would have been: “Thus we advocate that the United States Congress should provide free anti-retroviral drugs to HIV patients in sub-Saharan Africa.”
At a debate tournament, a team will typically be for the resolution half of the time, and against the resolution half the time. Sometimes, they will even have to argue against their own case being advocated by another team. That is why this form of debate is often referred to as “switch-side”.
Policy debate typically involves researching a policy to advocate, strategizing against the policies advocated by other teams, practicing speaking techniques, learning to take rapid notes, and adeptly conducting cross-examination.
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Why is debate important for students?
A large and growing body of empirical and anecdotal evidence indicates that the pedagogical benefits of policy debate at the high school level are virtually unmatched by any other activity. A 2004 study by the University of Missouri-Kansas City indicates that a year's participation in debate can improve a student’s literacy by 25 percent and makes that student three times less likely to engage in high-risk behaviors such as fighting and skipping school. In a pilot urban debate program in Baltimore, a city where only 34.6 percent of students graduate, debaters graduated at a rate of 90 percent.
By forcing students to argue both sides of an issue, policy debate can be one of the most effective and engaging forms of education. Growing recognition of the powerful dynamism of debate is causing many universities to restructure their curriculum around organized debates, which means that having a program in high-school in the best possible preparation for the changing collegiate environment. Studies on the development of cognitive thinking show that debate as a pedagogy improves writing, speaking, research and inter-personal communication skills in a way that no other program or pedagogical formula has been capable of doing. In comparison to other forms of high school education, it is hard to overestimate the impact and importance of incorporating debate education into a student’s learning experience.
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What is “urban debate”?
While the benefits of policy debate have been recognized for some time, access to these valuable educational resources has been distributed unequally. The public education gap that even now serves to stratify American society along racial, ethnic and classist lines is greatly magnified in policy debate where many schools that do not prioritize debate education have either terminated their programs or have never had one to begin with. Considering the vast quantity of unique opportunities available through policy debate for motivated students, this trend of re-entrenching established privilege through the educational system should be understood as nothing less than an unmitigated tragedy.
The national urban debate movement seeks to provide debate opportunities to all students regardless of class or color. Urban debate leagues in Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles and many other cities are making great strides with the support of George Soros’ Open Society Institute, and creating opportunities for thousands of students. Unfortunately, among the great urban centers of the United States, Detroit’s lagging economy and reduced public budgets has caused the tempo of its urban debate programs to drastically slow, as programs are being cut and coaches are forced to either donate their time and energy or simply give up.
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What is Detroit Urban Debate Education?
An organization predominantly composed of University of Michigan students with a background in policy debate that works to provide debate education opportunities to all students in the Detroit-metro area. On paper we are a registered student organization at the University of Michigan.
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Who are our partners?
We work with the Michigan Debate Team, the U-MGinsburgCenter, the U-M Student Activities & Leadership Office, Project Community, NAUDL, Wayne State University's Debate Team and a number of area high schools to pool resources and facilitate cooperation.
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What are the short-term goals of Detroit Urban Debate Education?
-To provide assistance to current debate programs in the Detroit-metro area.
-To create opportunities for new debate programs in the Detroit-metro area.
-To provide workshops for coaches interested in acquiring greater background in debate and in judging debates.
-To host an annual tournament for participating schools.
-To create opportunities for competitive Detroit-area teams to travel at the local, regional and national level.
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What are the long-term goals of Detroit Urban Debate Education?
-To make our ability to achieve our annual short-term goals sustainable
-To grow the number of participating schools and partner organizations
-To operate as a regional non-profit organization
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