Manchester Debating Union

The Manchester Debating Union or MDU is a debating society in the city of Manchester, England, whose membership is drawn from Higher Education Institutions in Manchester, including the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University. It was founded in 1996 and is modeled on other similar university debating societies in the UK. The MDU organises the participation of Manchester students in intervarsity debating competitions as well as arranging public debates and hosting its own competitions at university and school level. [ [http://mdu.manchester.ac.uk The Manchester Debating Union ] ] It was placed 6th in Britishdebate.com's 2007/2008 UK university debate rankings. [ [http://www.britishdebate.com/universities/results/rankings/index.asp | British Debate | Universities | Rankings ] ]

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Membership

For the purposes of UMSU, membership of the MDU is determined by the number of those who have signed their list of members form. By this count the MDU has well over a thousand members. However in order to participate fully in the competitive debating function of the MDU debaters must purchase a life membership, which is currently £10.

The Committee

The MDU is run by its committee. This is split into the 5 elected members of the executive committee, and the currently 6 non executive positions who are not elected. The executive committee may appoint or dismiss non executive members. [http://www.mdu.manchester.ac.uk/constitution/constitution.pdf] Current positions and the MDU members filling those roles are listed above.

Debating Competitions

The MDU holds 3 competitions throughout the year, one Intervarsity, one national schools competition, and one local schools competition. As part of their local schools competition MDU members provide debate training to schools within the Greater Manchester Area. The dates for the three competitions in the 2007/08 academic year are or were respectively; 29th February to 2nd March, 12th April and 15th April. A fourth competition exclusively for novice debaters is currently under proposal for 2008/09.

Other Activities

The MDU holds regular public debates on Tuesdays during University Semester. Although these are often conducted by MDU members the society also holds debates with guest speakers such as Tony Lloyd MP and Professor Richard Clegg. The MDU also trains its members for participation in competitive debating. Regular practice debates are held on Thursdays and occasional master classes in issues such as International Politics and specific aspects of debating are also held.

References