What is Parliamentary Debate?

Which schools compete on the APDA circuit?

There are too many schools to list, however the schools that individually comprise more than 1% of APDA league attendance include:

American University, Amherst, Bates, Boston University, Brandeis, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Fordham, Harvard, Hobart and William Smith, Johns Hopkins, Middlebury, MIT, Mount Holyoke, NYU, Princeton, Providence College, Rutgers, Smith, Stanford, Swarthmore, Tufts, University of Maryland, University of Pennsylvania, Wellesley, Wesleyan, West Point Academy, William and Mary, Yale, and The University of Chicago.

We welcome debaters of all experience levels to join the team.  You can join the team at any point in your undergraduate career simply by attending meetings.  However, we also have a formal recruitment process that begins each year with a demo debate and introduction to the Parliamentary style and culminates with an in-house tournament for new members.  To receive information about meetings and upcoming events, please join the parlidebate listhost.  For questions about joining the team, please contact hfmurphy@uchicago.edu.

How can I learn more about debate?

You can learn more about debate by watching videotaped rounds that are archived online at www.parlidebate.com.  There are also many good books that give overviews of good debate topics and public speaking strategies.  One particularly helpful book is The Oxford Union Guide to Successful Public Speaking (also on reserve at the Regenstein).

How do I get access to the Online Casebook?

If you are a member of the team, you may request to be given access to the Online Casebook.  Novice members are given viewing privileges.  Varsity members have editing privileges.  E-mail hfmurphy@uchicago.edu.

How do tournament selections work?

We try to send as many debaters as possible to tournaments, however since we must fly to tournaments, we cannot afford to send every debater to every tournament they wish to attend.  We generally try to send novices who attend meetings and show a commitment to the team to a tournament during their first quarter on the team, but the Officer Board’s selections are ultimately dictated by the financial situation of the team.  Tournament selections are also, to an extent, dictated by our need to be competitive on the APDA circuit.  Nonetheless, we encourage people who have never participated in debate to join the team.  Several of our most successful members including one member of our nationals team this year and our current president had no prior debate experience before joining the team.  We don’t cut anyone from the team, and members of the team will gladly help you get acquainted with debate and hone your skills.

I would like to receive more information about the team.

For all alumni affairs, media inquiries, and other questions, please e-mail bfield@uchicago.edu.