AM

The Debating Society is coming along, a little slowly, but I'm meeting one of the Student Union people on Friday morning to finalise things and work out advertising, membership fees, booking rooms etc, so possibly last week of term or the first week back I'll be able to have the first meeting. Miriam has mentioned using the society as a way of debating something surrounding her own project, which would be great as topic selection is something I'm trying to work out at the moment. It's definitely a way of other people in the year getting a new spin on their own territories.

I had to fill out a form for it, which I kind of spent a few days longer than I should have doing because I wanted the answers to be really effective, until our group had a tutorial with each other, after which I finally filled it in and sent it off. These were the most important questions, the others being the society name, contacts etc.

The aims and objectives of the society are as follows:

The debating society will seek to engage people in considered and intelligent debate on a range of topics and issues. It will aim to develop the communication and rhetorical skills of it’s members as well as introducing beginners to the world of debating.

The purpose of your Society:

To promote and engage in debate both formal and informal, allowing for exploration of differing opinions and viewpoints on a wide range of issues.

Events your Society has planned:

Debates every week/every other week depending on interest expressed.
Experimenting with different styles and methods of debating
Possible visiting speakers if this can be arranged.

I wrote out my context outline which helped me a little in working out what on earth my project is actually about.

“I believe if there's any kind of God it wouldn't be in any of us. Not you
or me but just this little space in between. If there's any kind of magic
in this world it must be in the attempt of understanding someone, sharing
something. I know, it's almost impossible to succeed but who cares really?
The answer must be in the attempt.”

My context report and project focuses around discussion and debate. The
above quote was the really one of the initial points of inspiration that
my project arose from. Over the last few weeks I’ve been studying places
of debate and discussion ranging from the House of Commons to pubs and
cafés as places of rich human interaction. I’m fascinated by this idea of
the “space in between” different people where personalities, histories and
areas of expertise collide and form their own unique and fertile ground.
Physical spaces of discussion are also of interest to me, along with the
idea of formal discussion on serious subjects happening in informal
locations.

Recently, through researching what it takes to be a good debator, I’ve
become interested in Barack Obama as an example of a talented debator and
orator. As an extension of this the art of rhetoric, persuasion and
formulation of belief are all areas that I’m now beginning to expand into,
looking out the training of politicians and public speakers, the
“spectacle of debate”. Currently I’m in the process of setting up a
debating society within Goldsmiths, with the intention of having a space
of debate that I can design and control with various styles of debating,
props, seating arrangements etc. Alongside this I’d also like to return to
the less formal side of my project, further exploring the idea of pub
politics and informal discussion.