Communication Studies

The University of Miami Debate Team hosted a three-person team of debaters from Ireland on Monday, April 4, at the Shalala Student Activity Center. The public debate focused on the motion that this house believes the political success of Donald J. Trump in the Republican primaries is a reflection of the demise of American democracy. The two teams competed in a hybrid debate combining elements of British parliamentary debate and town hall debate. During British parliamentary debate, each speaker is given seven minutes to state their argument for or against [...]

The University of Miami’s Debate Team will host three award-winning Irish debaters on Monday, April 4, at 6 p.m. in the Shalala Student Activity Center, Activities Room South, third floor on the motion this house believes the political success of Donald J. Trump in the Republican primaries is a reflection of the demise of American democracy.  The Irish Times newspaper has hosted the debate tour to the U.S. since 1980. Every year, four schools are selected to host the team and UM has been selected to host for the past [...]

On March 30 from 12 to 12:30 p.m. EST, lecturer Dr. Valerie Giroux will lead an online presentation and Q&A session on the importance of communication skills to everything from patient compliance and quality of life to satisfaction and even the potential for malpractice suits. The lunch-and-learn webinar Essential Communication Skills for Healthcare Providers is free and open to all. Dr. Giroux teaches Interpersonal Communication in the online master’s in Communication Studies and has taught Leadership Studies, The Executive Communicator, Nonverbal Communication, and other courses on campus. She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership/Administration and her M.A. in Speech [...]

The first televised debate between candidates vying for their party’s nomination for president during the primaries occurred in 1956 between Democratic contenders Adlai Stevenson and Estes Kefauver. That first debate was broadcast from the WTVJ studio here in Miami. That year my co-author on Argumentation and Debate: Critical Thinking for Reasoned Decision Making, the late Dr. Austin J. Freeley led a group of professors of speech and debate to form the Committee on Presidential Campaign Debates to call on the candidates for the presidency to meet in debate in the [...]

The University of Miami Debate Team will host The U Debates on the Coral Gables Campus for the Miami-Dade Urban Debate League (UDL), on February 27. Since last year, the UM Debate Team has been working with the National Association of Urban Debate League and the newly formed Miami Dade Urban Debate League to close the achievement gap in local urban schools by giving students the opportunity to compete in academic debate. UM has been integral in launching the Miami league. Since September, UM has hosted five workshops, a practice [...]

The University of Miami Debate Team is working with the newly formed Miami-Dade Urban Debate League to teach the art of debate to students from almost 20 local high schools and middle schools. The National Association of Urban Debate Leagues (NAUDL) is a national organization that works to close the achievement gap in urban public schools by giving students the opportunity to compete in academic debate. UDL has chapters in 22 cities across the United States. Just last year, Miami was the largest city in the U.S. without a chapter, [...]