Public Debate Association was founded as a small regional association to help serve the needs of a local forensics community. The original impetus for this association was to promote an alternative debate format which had proven quite successful and popular as an experimental tournament event. But in a surprisingly short period of time, the IPDA grew to become a global enterprise which included a number of international forensics activities.
The Public Debate format was the starting point of the association. There are many different kinds of debate activities available. Each has its own particular excellence. Public Debate was intended to provide an alternative which offered a balance among these other formats and which put an especially strong emphasis on real-world, audience-centered delivery.
The International Public Debate Association has dedicated itself to help serve the needs of Students of Debate, both traditional and non-traditional, native speakers and those learning English as a second language. Toward this end, the Public Debate format was designed to emphasize audience analysis, creative thinking, sound speaking styles, and the appropriate use of humor over pure logic, the recitation of evidence, and the speed-reading of prewritten briefs. It is intended that those who compete in IPDA tournaments will develop highly effective speaking and argumentation skills for business, law and the professions. Public Debate was designed so that classroom principles apply directly to competition. It is a format which allows novice students to compete comfortably and productively.
The International Public Debate Association has dedicated itself to help serve the needs of Forensics Educators. It was developed to provide a showcase for debate activities. Educators can proudly invite colleagues, administrators, and community members to observe Public Debate rounds. Involvement in the IPDA is intended to increase a forensics program's visibility and fund-raising potential. It has also been structured to encourage alumni members to remain active participants and supporters. This association was set up to provide a financially superior alternative to traditional debate. Costs are Constitutionally limited and Tournament Directors are encouraged to keep fees as low as is reasonably possible. The IPDA encourages Educators to become active participants as well as judges, to remain sensitive to their students' experience, keep their own skills sharp, provide models of excellence for students to follow, and provide additional avenues of instruction through mentoring. Finally, The International Public Debate Association encourages the scholarly and heuristic study of the pragmatics of effective argumentation and debate as it applies to real-world contexts, formats and audiences and provides a variety of outlets for those intellectual efforts.
And the International Public Debate Association has also dedicated itself to help serve the needs of the global forensics community. The IPDA has sponsored an Annual International Email Debate Tournament and is working to establish Email competition in a variety of languages. Toward this and other ends, the IPDA has begun establishing a set of regional coordinators to promote forensics in various countries around the world. Most recently, the IPDA has begun sponsoring international debate exchange tours. And there is a strong interest in taking a leadership position in the dissemination of debate-related educational materials.
HISTORY
Written by Alan Cirlin, Executive Secretary1
Posted: 25 July 1999
The Origins of the IPDA
The history of the International Public Debate Association2 officially begins with its Inaugural Tournament held at St. Mary's University on February 15, 1997. But the roots of the association can be traced back to Classical Greece. The founders of the IPDA were trying to create a truly educational, audience-centered form of academic debate. In this sense, we were hardly breaking new ground. The recognition that practice debate is perhaps the best educational method for training future orators, politicians, business persons, advocates, clergy members, and leaders of all types emerged almost as soon as the teaching of rhetoric began.
Protagoras of Abdera, the "father of modern debate" was the first teacher of rhetoric to employ a debate format. He is, at any rate, credited with being the first sophist who used a debate format as a cornerstone of his teaching methods. His extremely effective innovation was to have students learn oratorical skills by arguing opposing sides of the same issue in real time.
Isocrates was the most successful Sophist of antiquity. His students read like a Who's Who of the classical world for a period of nearly 200 years. From Isocrates we appreciate the critical importance of direct practice in reading, writing, studying and delivering speeches. Aristotle by contrast, a contemporary of Isocrates, utilized the teaching method of lecture and discussion. He talked; his students listened. Later there was group discussion. Aristotle left in his wake a massive collection of student notes which were later transcribed by monks during the middle ages into his corpus of works. Yet of all his thousands and thousands of students, we only know of two who achieved any notable success. His most famous student was the son of Philip of Macedonia, the future Alexander the Great. But Alexander would have been famous with or without him. Hence we understand the critical importance of getting students involved in actual public speaking and debating activities, and not just reading about, listening to lectures about, and discussing rhetorical skills.
As a graduate student, I was extremely impressed with both Protagoras and Isocrates. As an educator, I found these twin basic concepts of the debate format and lots of practice to be wonderful foundations for the educational process. And more importantly, I found that they achieved actual results which were far superior to the lecture and discussion alternatives. Of course, the quintessential arena for these two basic educational processes is the academic debate circuit. And debate team members, the modern equivalent of Isocrates' students, receive the epitome of effective rhetorical training.
Yet, there was a fly in the ointment. While the theory was fine, the actual debate models I grew up with were not very good. NDT-style debate (which I had debated as an undergraduate), and later CEDA (which became the basis of my early coaching career) were both filled with all kinds of anti-rhetorical practices which made their study a very mixed blessing. Hence my discontent as an educator and my desire to find something better. And hence the development of Public Debate as an educationally superior alternative.
The following historical (and rather autobiographical) discussion will be divided into periods: the origins of the IPDA, the organizational period, and then each of the IPDA regular seasons. It is my intention to continue editing this essay (and adding "chapters" season by season) until such time as I am overtaken by senility or otherwise put out to pasture. [Next]
Note: As this document has gotten longer, the size and downloading time have become progressively more problematic. So please excuse having blocked this history into the following separate files:
The six original documents authored by Dr. Cirlin detailing the genesis and progress of the IPDA have been preserved in their entirety for debaters to gain an appreciation of where IPDA came from, how it grew, and where they may find IPDA in the future.
Mission Statement & Introduction I - The Origins of IPDA II - The Organizational Period III - The First Season [1997-98] IV - The Second Season [1998-99] V - The Future of IPDA VI - Endnotes