Prospective Students

Thank you for your interest in the BQDC. If you’re a prospective student and would like to know more about our program, browse our website and FAQ section in the drop-down menu, or feel free to reach out to us if you have questions, we’d love to hear from you!

Lauren L. Buisker

Assistant Professor of Rhetoric, Film, and Screen Studies and Director of Debate

lbuisker@bates.edu

Rhetoric, Film, and Screen Studies 207-786-6475

A tale of two trees (and one map)

For at least 151 years, a hemlock and its close neighbor, a red oak, have grown up together on the Bates campus, close enough to overlap branches, while buildings popped up around them. Their survival is a mystery but thanks to a new interactive historic map of Bates, their shared history can at least be glimpsed.

MLK Day 2026

Martin Luther King Jr. Day at Bates is not a “day off” — it’s a “day on,” where classes are canceled and faculty, staff, and students instead participate in a day of programming around MLK’s enduring legacy and teachings. This year's theme was “Love, Anger and the Struggle for Justice.”