The World of Debate (Basic Info):
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Many people often hear the word "debate" and immediately associate it with people fighting and bickering back and forth about an issue. While a debate certainly does center around a disagreement, academic debate is far from a fight. Rather, academic debate an intellectual discussion of ideas centered around a given topic. Students engaged in an academic debate come prepared with evidence-based arguments that are well reasoned. As you present and hear the arguments of your opponents, you have to find logical inconsistencies or errors that make your arguments more persuasive to the judge in the room. And while you may have a strong feeling one way or the other with a topic, in academic debate you have to prepare arguments supporting both sides because you never know what side you will have to defend until you are at a tournament.
Debate is an enjoyable activity because you form highly informed opinions about important issues with which our society engages in conversation daily. Your knowledge grants you access to having thoughtful discussions with people about issues that could truly influence the lives of those in the world. There are three different formats of debate that you can participate in while on the Jay Debate Team. However, only one format can be chosen on a given year. Each of these formats have their event-specific rules and topics. For more information about the specific types, hover your cursor over "Team Resources" and then again on "Debate Resources". The three debate formats are: |
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