The CEU Debate Society and The CEU Weekly is launching a series of publications covering the issues the CEU Debate Society engages itself during its weekly practices. As an introduction we made an interview with the President and the Vice-President of the Debate Society, Zsófia Murányi and Endre Borbáth. TCW: What is the mission of the CEU Debate Society?
Zsófi: Our main goal is to equip students with some of the skills which don't always receive enough emphasis in the standard curriculum. Competitive university debating is an academic sort of sports, an exercise in critical thinking, active listening, public speaking, engagement and argumentation. We hold weekly practice debates to acquaint students with these skills. We also participate in international debate tournaments and organize our own!
Endre: Besides all these, we usually debate questions which are fun to ask. For instance last time, the motion was “provided we have the technology this house would erase the memories of bad relationships” or previously we debated whether technology should be used to lower our level of IQ, so we experience less anxiety in our everyday life. Both the pro side, the government -, and the con, the opposition benches are coming up with arguments and try to convince the judges about their perspective. In every instance the debate is something which inspires you to think outside of the box, and to challenge your own views. Of course, we also have more serious motions, on current affairs, international relations, economy, etc.
TCW: How are the debates you are doing different from the debates CEU students have at the RC’s Bambus Bar?
Zsófi: Our debates are very structured, everyone has to adhere to a set of formal rules and time constraints. But these rules don't merely exist for their own sake – they serve to create better, clearer debates and a more systematic process of improving personal skills. Additionally, in our debates you are assigned a position randomly, so you may have to defend a view you strongly disagree with!
Endre: I would also emphasize the role of structure and engagement. In our debates, precisely because of their competitive nature, you have to listen to the other side’s argument because if you do not rebut them you remain isolated in the debate and eventually you might lose. You have to make sure that you formulate your own arguments as clearly as possible so the judges and your opponents know what you meant and they engage with your points.
TCW: Who can participate?
Zsófi: Absolutely anyone, whether or not you have previous experience in debating. We are lucky to welcome not only current students but also many CEU alumni, people from other Budapest universities as well as some ambitious high school students at our practices.
TCW: How can someone interested learn more? Where can we find you?
Zsófi: Our Facebook page features a schedule of upcoming practices (just search for CEU Debate Society.) We also post regular updates there and on our mailing list. Interested students can send an email to debate@ceu.hu.
TCW: What competitions have CEU teams already participated in this year? How did it go?
Endre: We have been to Split Open in Croatia, where both CEU’s and Corvinus University’s teams made their way into the final debate of the tournament. We also went to Belgrade Open, where we got close to breaking into the semifinal. Then, we organized in collaboration with the Global Debate and Public Policy Challenge program a debate tournament in Budapest, where CEU’s team broke into the semifinal. And in August we went to the European Debating Championship in Manchester where we experienced how competitive debating looks like in one of the most prestigious tournaments.
Zsófi: Additionally, the first tournament of the current semester, the Vienna Freshers' has just finished this past weekend. Two of our newest members bravely took part after less than two months of training, and we are very proud of them!
TCW: What motivated you personally to get involved in the CEU Debate Society?
Zsófi: I've always been a bit of a squabbler, I like to argue for argument's sake, but I also had a huge problem with stage fright. When members of the Debate Society came to hold a demonstration debate at my previous university, I was very impressed and wanted to learn to express ideas on controversial issues with the strength and eloquence I saw in the speakers there. My current motivation after two years' experience as a debater is to become a good trainer and help spread the values of debating.
Endre: I first heard about academic debating in Romania, and I was very much interested in the movement, since the whole idea of having a structured clash of ideas on a topic of general interest seemed more than appealing. I had a blog at the time, plus I was writing articles for a news website, and I guess I thought of debating as something which complements all these and eventually helps me with formulating my ideas more clearly. At the time, I did not have any available debate societies to join, so when I came to CEU this was among my priorities and signing up for them was one of the first things I did at the Welcome Afternoon.TCW: Besides the regular meetings what other activities have you planned for this year?
Endre: We will organize the Budapest Open debate tournament which is the biggest student organized events at CEU targeting non-CEU students. In March 2014 we will have the third edition of the tournament which in previous years was attended by more than 100 teams, from approx. 45 countries, representing Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Canada and the United States. It is organized on a voluntary basis in collaboration with Corvinus and ELTE universities’ debate societies, with the goal of promoting debating in Hungary, and providing the opportunity to our debaters to take part in one of the best European international tournaments without leaving their beloved Budapest.
Zsófi: We would also like to hold a series of policy debates on current affairs of interest to the CEU community.
Interview by Julia Michalsky, History, Germany
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