DEBATES
Weekly Debates The Oxford Union was founded as a debating society, and indeed debating remains at the core of what we do. Every Thursday evening during term the Union hosts one of its main debates. Speeches from many of these can be found online, and often attract significant media attention worldwide. However, nothing compares to witnessing our famous debates live; the atmosphere is always stirring as world experts argue passionately about their conflicting beliefs. In recent debates, Mehdi Hassan described why Islam is a religion of peace, and Angela Davis argued that extremism in defence of liberty is no vice to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Malcolm X’s visit to the Union. During every debate, our members are given a chance to have their say. Not only can students speak alongside guest speakers, but members of the audience can challenge points that have been made when the debate is opened up to the floor; the outcome of many a debate has been swung by an impassioned student speech. Results are determined by how many students walk out the door marked ‘Ayes’, and the door marked ‘Noes’, in much the same way as done at the House of Commons. Each of our main debates is preceded by an ‘Emergency Debate’ – a smaller scale, student only affair about a particularly current topic. This provides an opportunity for our members to hone their debating skills, and speak their mind in a more relaxed environment than the forthcoming main debate. Many seasoned Union debaters and contributors first took to the floor during an Emergency Debate.
10