PACS 98/198: Addressing Inequality through Urban Debate
Bay Area Urban Debate League (BAUDL) Practicum
Spring 2015
Th 7-9pm, Dwinelle 206
Course Facilitators:
Abhik Pramanik
abhikkp@berkeley.edu
Kaycee Antosiak
kayceeantosiak@berkeley.edu
Josh Martin
joshuamartin@berkeley.edu
Instructor of Record:
Professor Cecilia Lucas
cecilialucas@berkeley.edu
Course Overview
The objective of this course is to expose its students to urban education and youth development and
train them to be effective mentors and positive role models to urban youth. To this end, students
will work closely with staff of the Bay Area Urban Debate League (BAUDL), a local non-profit
organization that works with Bay Area school districts to create and maintain debate teams at innercity schools. Participants will study and gain experience in working with urban youth, supporting
veteran urban educators, and growing a non-profit organization. The course is worth 2 P/NP units.
Outcomes and Expectations
Meetings and research assignments will engage students in reflection on the institutional,
programmatic, and personal components necessary to sustain the public-private partnership of an
urban debate league. Students will discuss and gather information on partnering schools and
districts, theories and best practices for youth development programs, and the specific needs and
characteristics of the students served by the BAUDL. By the end of the semester, students should
have a working understanding of what it takes to run a successful afterschool program serving an
under-resourced urban public school district.
Students will work directly with students in Oakland public schools to build and maintain strong,
motivated teams. Meetings and some small readings will help familiarize students with the social
world of the young people served by BAUDL and aid reflection on the approaches and tactics that
will most benefit those young people. Using paradigms of urban education and debate training to
cut against each other, the course will encourage and support its students in developing plans and
pedagogies that effectively motivate and enable the transformation of urban public school students
into serious debaters and advocates. Further, students should be able to place their work in the
context of urban school reform and situate it in relation to predominant pedagogical approaches.
Course Content/Grading
There are many roles that Berkeley students can play in support of the BAUDL, making the most of
their unique strengths and interests. This course is designed to allow students flexibility in tailoring
their work with the BAUDL to their individual experience level and schedules.
To this end, course credit is earned through the accumulation of “points.” A passing grade will
require that students meet all mandatory requirements and also earn 60 points across the course of
the semester.
Mandatory Requirements
Attendance: Meetings will be held once every 2 weeks over the course of the semester, for a total of
8 meetings. Each meeting will typically last 2 hours. Because meetings are infrequent, attending each
one is crucial. More than two unexcused absences will result in a failing grade.
Readings: Students are expected to complete the assigned readings each week before class. These
readings will serve as important foundations for class discussions and work with BAUDL students.
Reflection Paper: A short (2-3 page, double spaced) paper will be due on the last class meeting. This
paper should reflect on some aspect of the students’ experience with the BAUDL and relate those
experiences to one or more of the course readings.
Specialized Tracks
Each student will choose one of two “tracks” to complete during the course. These tracks are
designed to allow students to tailor their course participation to their individual levels of experience
and comfort with debate and urban education.
Mentor Track:
Students pair with one of BAUDL’s debate teams and work with their coaches to build strong and
happy teams. This includes attending weekly debate practices and working directly with students.
This gives students a total of 45 points.
Mentor-in-Training track:
Students will be expected to attend training sessions during class time on the weeks we do not have
all-class meetings to get a more in-depth discussion of debate concepts and teaching tools. Mentorsin-training will also be paired with a current mentor and will be responsible for providing weekly
support, including giving input on curriculum design. This gives students a total of 30 points.
Elective Points
All students will need to complete some elective points to reach their 60 point requirement. The
BAUDL has many needs for volunteers, and elective points give our participants an opportunity to
take on unique roles at BAUDL tournaments and workshops and/or provide support through other
logistical or research projects.
 Tournaments – These occur once a month and require a whole-day commitment (usually 9
– 12 hours, including travel time) – 12 points each
 Workshops – These occur once a month and require a half-day commitment (usually 6 – 8
hours) – 8 points each
 Research projects – 1-4 points each (value to be determined by facilitators on a case-bycase basis)
 Logistical projects – 1-8 points each (value to be determined by facilitators on a case-bycase basis)
Students will be responsible for recording their points. These logs must be initialed by one of the
league facilitators or BAUDL staff if the points are based on event attendance (workshops or
tournaments).
Reading List
Readings for each class will be posted up on the class website. Students will be expected to complete
these readings before class.
Week 1 (January 29th, 2015): Introduction
No reading. Please review syllabus.
Week 3 (February 12th, 2015): The Case for Urban Debate Leagues
Mezuk, Briana. 2009. "Urban Debate and High School Educational Outcomes for African American
Males: Evidence from the Chicago Debate League," The Journal of Negro Education.
Lee, Edward. 2005. Speech to the Baltimore Urban Debate League.
Week 5 (February 26th, 2015): Teaching Policy Debate
Bay Area Urban Debate League (BAUDL). 2010. BAUDL Debate Textbook. Self-published.
- For those unfamiliar with policy debate, read “Unit One: Introduction to Debate.”
- For those already familiar with policy debate, read at least one “activity” under each unit
Week 7 (March 12th, 2015): Urban Education
Carter, Prudence. 2003. “'Black' Cultural Capital, Status Positioning, and Schooling Conflicts for
Low-Income African American Youth,” Social Problems 50(1): 136-155.
Week 9 (April 2nd, 2015): Urban Education, Cont.
Delpit, Lisa and J.K. Dowdy, eds. 2002. The Skin We Speak: Thoughts on language and culture in
the classroom. New York: The New Press.
- “Trilingualism” and “No Kinda Sense”
Delpit, Lisa. “The Silenced Dialogue”
Week 11 (April 16th, 2015): Communication and Debate
Fraser, Nancy. 1993. “Rethinking the public sphere: A contribution to the critique of actually
existing democracy.” In Bruce Robbins, ed. The Phantom Public Sphere. Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota Press.
Young, Iris Marion. “Activist Challenges to Deliberative Democracy,” Political Theory, Vol. 29, No.
5 (Oct., 2001), pp. 670-690.
Week 13 (April 30th, 2015): The Problems and Possibilities of Debate
Warner, Ede and John Bruschke. 2001. “'Gone on Debating': Competitive Academic Debate As A
Tool of Empowerment.” Contemporary Journal of Argumentation and Debate 22: 1-28.
Warner, Ede. 2003. “Go Homers, Makeovers or Takeovers? A Privilege Analysis of Debate as a
Gaming Simulation.” Contemporary Argumentation and Debate 24: 65-80.