{"id":78,"date":"2014-01-21T23:52:49","date_gmt":"2014-01-21T23:52:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/debate\/?page_id=78"},"modified":"2026-01-12T13:26:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T18:26:11","slug":"faq","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/debate\/prospective-students\/faq\/","title":{"rendered":"FAQ"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Members
Members of the BQDC at King\u2019s College in New York City.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I know nothing about debate; can I still join the team?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Yes.  Almost all of our debaters learned to debate at Bates. Our varsity members will train you to learn the art of debate from the ground up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I never debated in high school; can I still join the team?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Yes.  Every year we teach our new debaters how to debate, regardless of their experience levels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you \u201ccut\u201d novice debaters from the team?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

No. The BQDC is committed to inclusivity and does not cut any debaters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do I have to major in Politics or Philosophy to debate?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

No. Our debaters major in everything from Physics to Art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What topics does the BQDC debate about?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Everything. Each debater can write his\/her own cases about anything from international relations, to superheroes, to religion, to history, to economic policy, and everything in between.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How often does the BQDC meet?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

We typically meet 3 times per week in the afternoons after classes.  We attend tournaments throughout the US and world each weekend (see next question).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Am I obligated to attend all practices and tournaments?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

No.  Debaters may debate as often or as little as they please.  We recognize that our debaters have various other commitments and engagements.  If you do not plan to attend a tournament on a given weekend, you are not obligated to attend practice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What style of debate do you compete in?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

We compete in both the British and American Parliamentary Styles.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For information about the American Parliamentary Style and the APDA circuit, visit this website: http:\/\/www.apdaweb.org<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For information about the British Style, visit this website: 
https:\/\/www.cus.org\/members\/debating\/what-debating<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This all sounds really expensive, what are the membership dues?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to the generosity of our school and alumni, participation on our team is free to all members.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I know nothing about debate; can I still join the team? Yes. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"parent":26,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_dimp_site_id":"","_dimp_override_contact":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"class_list":["post-78","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/debate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/78","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/debate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/debate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/debate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/debate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/debate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/78\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":684,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/debate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/78\/revisions\/684"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/debate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/debate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}