Global Debate

Bard Network Debate 2017 Conference at Central European University, Hungary

Bard Network Debate

Since 2014, Bard College has helped to establish and support debating societies at five Bard network institutions (Al-Quds Bard College, American University of Central Asia, Bard College Berlin, European Humanities University, and Smolny College), seven Bard Early Colleges and Early College Centers (Manhattan, Newark, Queens, Cleveland, Baltimore, Harlem, Hudson), and three prisons through the Bard Prison Initiative (Easten, Fishkill, Coxsackie) – all while continuing to develop Bard’s world-renown debate program in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY.

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Debate in Liberal Arts Education

Through our various efforts, we are working to re-conceptualize the role and function of a college debate program – to understand debate not just as an extra-curricular activity but as a centerpiece of liberal arts education, not just as a competitive endeavor but as a means to engage with and serve the community. Debate in the Bard Network has five pillars:

Inter-Collegiate Competitive Debating
Public Debates on Campus
Debate in the Classroom
Debate Outreach in the Local Community
Virtual Debates with International Partners

The Bard Network Debate Conference

Each year students, faculty, and staff from network institutions join together annually at Central European University (in Budapest, Hungary) for the Bard Network Debate Conference – a week-long conference focused on the sharing of best practices and strategies for running university debate programs and for using debate as a tool of community building and civic engagement; the conference culminates in a researched and rehearsed public debate in front of a live audience, featuring a participant from each institution.

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