Intelligence Squared

Just a note about an organization called "Intelligence Squared." They are kind of like "Ted Talks," only with debates.

To use their own description: "About IQ2US A nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, Intelligence Squared U.S. is a debate series working to restore civility, reasoned analysis, and constructive public discourse to today’s media landscape."

I use them, particularly with my class discussions on persuasion and argument. It's helpful for students to see the "oral" versions of arguments, and how similar yet different they are from the written arguments we make in class.

Interesting for them to be able to identify the elements of an argument, including logos, pathos, ethos, fallacy, inductive, deductive, and abductive reasoning, and of course, types of evidence, including facts, examples, and anecdotes.

Death is Not Final

Policing is Racially Biased

This semester we discussed the debates "Death is Not Final"and "Policing is Racially Biased." The former topic is a classic that I've done frequently; the latter is very much "ripped from the headlines," and opens up doors of conversation in our classroom that are microcosms of conversations that need to be happening all over the country in as many forums as we can manage.

© Ray Cattie