Frontiers of the 21st Century: Argumentation, Debate and the Struggle for a Civil Society

Frontiers of the 21st Century brings together the papers presented at the 2004 and 2005 International Debate Education Association Conferences in Turkey and Estonia. Twenty-nine papers deal with topics in: Argumentation; Training Younger Debaters; Debate and the Public Sphere; Debate as an educational Method; Dangers of Debate Training; Special Topics. Among the specific topics discussed are: The Issue of Terrorism in Public Debate in Russia; The Middle School Public Debate Program, Design and Function; Thwarting Civic Skepticism: Nontraditional Pathways to Promoting Civic Virtue; The Role of Debate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language; Are We Training Better Demagogues?

Alfred C. Snider is the Edwin W. Lawrence Professor of Forensics at the University of Vermont. A debate coach for over 30 years, he has received numerous national coaching and teaching awards. For the last 20 years he has been the Director of the World Debate Institute.