The Graduates Memorial Building (GMB) is set to host debates covering artificial intelligence (AI), Russia’s war in Ukraine, and permanent peace in Israel-Palestine as the debating societies have revealed their term cards ahead of the new semester.
The College Historical Society (the Hist) and the University Philosophical Society (the Phil) revealed a mix of humorous topics and more politically charged motions sure to draw crowds throughout Michaelmas term.
The Phil, whose debates take place at 7.30pm on Thursdays, kicked off the year last week with the motion This House Believes Brat Summer Wasn’t For You exploring the unexpected mainstream success of pop artist Charli XCX’s latest album.
In the coming weeks, the Phil will be debating topics that touch on broad political and social issues such as the possibility of POC solidarity, “a world without profit”, and the pitfalls of online activism. Collaborating with other societies such as Trinity Law Society (LawSoc), the Politics Society, and SOFIA, they ask more direct questions such as a TikTok ban, a peace deal with Russia and Ireland’s relationship to immigration. Nearly a year after last November’s Dublin riots, caused by anti-immigrant sentiments, this topic is sure to draw in a crowd.
The Phil admitted the Russia debate is “a topic that might invite extreme responses, but we believe it’s a debate worth having with informed people who can discuss it maturely”.
The society aimed to offer “a set of motions that is both thought-provoking and intriguing to our members”, and are “really excited about the breadth of conversations we’ll be hosting this term”.
They further plan to host a debate with Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TDCSU) newly established Gaeilge officer on a once-off Tuesday debate.
Some of the Phil’s more lighthearted debates include This House Would Wait for Marriage, in collaboration with DU Players. The Phil will also be hosting their annual honorary members debate, featuring Phil alumni, which will discuss the motion This House Has No Faith in the Irish Government.
The most glaring difference between both societies’ term cards is that the Hist will touch on the topic of a two state solution in Israel and Palestine, while the Phil has stated that “on the topic of the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, we believe that there’s frankly not much for college students in a first world country to debate”.
The Hist, which has seen terrific success in the past 12 months, achieving two Guinness World Records and a first place win at the European University Debating Championships, promises to host debates of diverse topics every Wednesday at 7.30pm.
They will be collaborating with societies such as Trinity VDP, LawSoc, and DU History.
Adam Rainbolt, Hist correspondence secretary, told Trinity News that the “week one debate absolutely knocked it out of the park with attendance” and that the society “more than filled up chamber”. The motion put forward was This House Would Eat the Rich.
The Hist will tackle prevalent topics such as This House Would Have Faith In AI and This House Supports a Two-State Solution for Israel-Palestine. Last year, the Phil had planned a debate around the two-state solution for October, which was ultimately cancelled in favour of a panel discussion on the topic.
The Hist anticipates that the Israel-Palestine debate “will, of course, be a topic of conversation”. Asked if there was any hesitations about approaching the Israel-Palestine issue, Rainbolt said that “the Hist has been discussing the issues which are most presently important to society for as long as it’s been around, and I think that it’s important for us to live up to that”.
He highlighted that sensitive issues such as this require “a higher duty of care in ensuring that [the Hist] are treating it with the gravity that it obviously deserves, and highlighting voices who are actually productive in this conversation”.
They plan to debate more “comedy-focused” topics, which aim to create a “fun atmosphere”. Topics like This House Would Rather Be A Culchie Than A Dub and This House Would Ghost Them will be debated in the GMB chamber this term.
Both societies will close out the term with their respective Maidens finals, a competition for new debaters.
