Steve Hager

Blazing through a campus near you is the “Great Debate,” the debate on legalization of marijuana. This is the event that’s been called “the best program we’ve ever had” by schools all over the country. It’s so simple: Steve Hager, longtime editor of High Times Magazine takes on hard-hitting DEA veteran Robert Stutman on the multitude of issues surrounding marijuana legalization. What makes it so successful? For one, students are drawn to the topic (and our full-color posters). Secondly, the entire event is interactive – it’s completely driven by student questions. Finally, it provides a well-balanced forum for students and community on both sides of this embattled topic.

Pornography is a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States alone, but serious discussion of the issue is rare. Is it degrading to women, or empowering? Is it an addictive and destructive habit, or a window to a fun fantasy world? In this intelligent and multi-faceted debate, all aspects of the Pornography issue are discussed and examined.

Featuring Ron Jeremy or Nina Hartley on the pro side and Susan Cole, Craig Gross or Michael Leahy, speaking against porn.

Months before voters go to the polls, powerful media outlets have shaped our opinions of the candidates – their haircuts and cleavage, their religious views and marital troubles.  Are media now obstacles to serious discussion of the issues?  Can Democrats get a fair shake at the hands of conservative media conglomerates?  Are Republicans undermined by liberal reporters and public broadcasting?  How is campaign coverage being changed by the Internet.  By YouTube?  By Comedy Central?

Two (out of three) of our country’s top media critics – one on the left, one on the right – offer a lively, cutting-edge debate on the media’s crucial role in the 2008 campaign. 

William Dembski

President Bush’s recent remarks about the teaching of Intelligent Design alongside the theory of evolution in public schools has rekindled the public debate over how the beginnings of life and the origin of humans should be handled by teachers and school boards. At present, over a dozen states have pending legislation that would require the teaching of Intelligent Design as an alternative to evolution.

Cheryl Jacques

This debate started out small and for a time, it was mostly confined to the courtroom. But that all changed on February 4, 2004 when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that only full, equal marriage rights for gay couples was constitutional. That decision opened the door to thousands of same-sex marriages in Massachusetts. Despite intense opposition, couples in California and New York followed suit, throwing the debate full bore into the national arena... and it's gotten ugly.

Dinesh D’Souza

In this debate on what are arguably two of the most important questions in the culture wars today — Is Religion a Force for Good or Evil? and Can you be Good without God? — the conservative Christian author and cultural scholar Dinesh D’Souza and the libertarian skeptic writer and social scientist Michael Shermer, square off to resolve these and related issues, such as the relationship between science and religion and the nature and existence of God.

Anisa Mehdi

This debate is a fresh approach to academic lectures on conflict in the Middle East. The presenters, Anisa Mehdi, an Emmy-award winning journalist and filmmaker specializing in Islam and Michael Lame, a management consultant and organizational trainer conducting leadership and communications programs, will explore and discuss with the audience various perspectives that keep peace between Israelis and Palestinians at bay. Sharing the floor Anisa and Michael demonstrate the art of respectful dispute, while simultaneously they “argue” points of history, religion, aggression, victimization, justice, and conflict resolution.

Dr. Doug Geivett

This debate pushes the boundaries of our faith and how we believe. While three of the world's most widespread religions, Islam, Judaism, and Catholicism, sit atop the headlines, there are no clear answers to who's right and who's wrong. Dr. Michael Shermer, founder of the Skeptics Society squares off against Dr. Doug Geivett, professor of theology at Biola University. They challenge the audience to look directly into the eye of their beliefs and affirm their faith in God or to cast religion aside as an outdated way to explain the unexplainable.

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Jack Thompson

US Videogame sales in 2005 hit a record $10.5 billion, reaching over 60 million American households (that's 55% of all households!). Fifteen percent of these games received an ESRB rating of "M" meaning they are intended for mature audiences over the age of 17 due to graphic violence, profanity, sexual themes, or depiction of alcohol or illegal drug consumption. With the average gamer spending about 10 hours per week playing videogames, that translates to many hours of repeated exposure to violence and graphic content.  The correlation itself – between exposure to violent gaming imagery and real violence in society – is at the heart of this growing, timely debate.

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