online debaters’ network
international and open to all
Nalanda DEBATE HOUSE
About Nalanda Debate House
At the end of each Debate School course, a significant number of students consistently voice a desire to have some form of ongoing debate practice - as is only natural, since it is a skill that needs continued practice… and is extremely fun!
Our goal is to provide the support needed for people wishing to either initially learn the skill of debate and for those who have learned the format but want opportunities to practice. This support consists of:
An online meeting space that is user-friendly, optimized for both group and 1-on-1 interactions, and open to all.
Regular meeting times so people know that they’ll be able to join and find a debate partner
A network of like-minded debate enthusiasts and students
Experienced debate coaches to give guidance as needed
Prepared debate topic-sheets, as well as written and video materials to help train in the basic format of debate
The idea behind a debaters’ network is to allow people from different groups learning debate - or simply any interested person, regardless of prior debate experience - to come together, sharing the most valuable resource of other people to debate with!
Please continue reading below for specific details of when and where we meet, as well as the topics that we are debating.
WhatsApp Group
If you would like to come to a debate meeting, please join the Nalanda Debate House WhatsApp group, where we will give regular updates, announce cancellations or schedule changes, etc:
SCHEDULE
At this time, we are hosting regular meetings once per week at the following time:
Every Sunday
11:00 am EST / 8:30 pm IST
As more people join the network, we will be able to increase the number of weekly meetings.
ONLINE MEETING PLACE
We meet at the virtual Sera Jey Monastery debate courtyard, courtesy of the Gather platform:
https://app.gather.town/app/NDfLHrErRJpvEasj/DebateWinterSchool
If you have never used Gather before, please review the short introductory video to acquaint yourself with how to use it:
DEBATE TOPICS
We have prepared a series of debate questions inspired by topics from the Lam Rim (a genre of Tibetan literature about the full set of spiritual practices and trainings to achieve awakening). However, the questions are formulated in a secular way, making the debates universally appealing and engaging. We are confident that anyone who debates these topic will come away with new insights and learning.
Each month we will send out a new .pdf document with debate questions associated with a particular topic. Please click the image below to download the latest .pdf or CLICK HERE to access the cloud storage folder with all debate .pdf’s that have been used to date.
Please go to the Resources page for general learning materials about the debate format, etc.
*No one is required to debate these topics - if you are taking a course at another institution and would like to debate on the topics that you’re studying there, that is encouraged.