I've been teaching undergraduate communication courses for some time now, at several institutions. Although I don't teach debate, I honor the fundamentals of effective persuasion and the persuasive speech. One university insisted that instructors not use the term "debate" but instead, "dialogue." I think this was an subtle gesture toward protecting student's "feelings" while adhering to the dominant narrative espoused by the administration. As a result students learn the fine art of being even more passive-aggressive and quick to "cancel" when their ideas are challenged rather than meeting the challenge with assertiveness, logic, and reasoning.
Interesting! I think dialogue is very helpful, and so is debate. Perhaps they apply to different situations. Dialogue (defined as "a discussion to resolve a problem") seems better suited to solving interpersonal issues. Debate seems better suited to reasoning, logic, clear thinking, hashing out differing viewpoints to try and get at an accurate conception of the truth, and persuasion.
The *always* is important, as in we shouldn't always trust our feelings. Our feelings may point to something true or they may not. We may *feel* like someone hates us or that we're in danger, but we might actually be misinterpreting what's really going on.
I'm guessing you've already seen this.
https://www.thefp.com/p/judges-ruin-high-school-debate-tournaments
Yes, excellent and sobering piece. I linked to it above.
I've been teaching undergraduate communication courses for some time now, at several institutions. Although I don't teach debate, I honor the fundamentals of effective persuasion and the persuasive speech. One university insisted that instructors not use the term "debate" but instead, "dialogue." I think this was an subtle gesture toward protecting student's "feelings" while adhering to the dominant narrative espoused by the administration. As a result students learn the fine art of being even more passive-aggressive and quick to "cancel" when their ideas are challenged rather than meeting the challenge with assertiveness, logic, and reasoning.
Wow, very interesting! I can't say I'm surprised by the administration's response.
Interesting! I think dialogue is very helpful, and so is debate. Perhaps they apply to different situations. Dialogue (defined as "a discussion to resolve a problem") seems better suited to solving interpersonal issues. Debate seems better suited to reasoning, logic, clear thinking, hashing out differing viewpoints to try and get at an accurate conception of the truth, and persuasion.
Such a fascinating and important topic! I can see producing a whole documentary just on debating (there probably already is one).
Funny you should mention that -- there might be such a film in the works!
I’m curious about untruth #2. Why shouldn’t we trust our feelings? I guess I’ll need to watch the movie…
The *always* is important, as in we shouldn't always trust our feelings. Our feelings may point to something true or they may not. We may *feel* like someone hates us or that we're in danger, but we might actually be misinterpreting what's really going on.