CORE Resource Spotlight: Munk Debates

Here's a new addition to the CORE resources that can be used to support learning in Social Studies, English Language Arts, Journalism, and Debate at the high school level.

Check out these great debate resources in CORE on a range of great topics including: Healthcare, China, Foreign Aid, Religion, Climate Change, Humanitarian Intervention, Taxing the Rich, North American Economy, Europe, Gender, and the next one (that will be streamed live on May 2, 2014) on State Surveillance. 

Debaters include significant thinkers like: Tony Blair, Niall Ferguson, Henry Kissinger, Stephen Lewis, Mia Farrow, Elizabeth May, Caitlin Moran and more.

After the event, you can access transcripts and short video clips. We've included a full list of the debates here in CORE. NOTE: Free sign-up required to access resources. 

Here's a small taste of a few of the debate questions:

• Healthcare. Do ballooning healthcare spending, evermore expensive prescription drugs and an increased use of private medicine foreshadow the wholesale reform of Canada’s universal, single-payer system? Or, are the divisive debates, social inequities, and sky-high expenditures associated with the U.S. experience with private medicine a validation of Canada’s universal Medicare system?

• China. Is China's rise unstoppable? Powered by the human capital of 1.3 billion citizens, the latest technological advances, and a comparatively efficient system of state-directed capitalism, China seems poised to become the global super power in the coming century. The MunkDebates will table the motion: Be it resolved, the 21st century will belong to China.

• Foreign Aid. In a world where over 3 billion people live on under $2 a day, where economies and threats are globally interconnected, and where only small amounts of aid are given, should wealthy nations do more? Or, given the poor track record of aid, the support it provides to dictators and tyrants, and the actual need for individual entrepreneurialism and free markets, should we focus our limited resources elsewhere? The debate question was: Is foreign aid doing more harm than good?

• Gender. Since the beginning of human civilization, men have been the dominant sex. But now, for the first time, a host of indicators suggest that women are not only achieving equality with men but are fast emerging as the more successful sex of the species. Are men, and the age-old power structures associated with “maleness,” permanently in decline? Or do men still retain significant control over the workplace, the family and society at large, including women? Where are the sexes headed in the 21st century?

From the site: Held semi-annually since 2008, the Munk Debates are Canada’s premier public policy forum. The Debates take place in Toronto in the evening in front of an audience of 3,000 people at Roy Thomson Hall. The event lasts approximately an hour and a half. Two panelists argue for a debate style motion and two against. The format is short opening statements followed by a civil and substantive moderated panel discussion, followed by short closing statements.

Have you used these resources? How? Leave a comment below this post or about the specific resource directly in CORE. We encourage all students and staff to leave ratings and comments in CORE (your first name will appear with your comment)!