English debating team 26 mars au 9 avril

The function of this workshop is to utilize the topic or thematic of “Woke” or “Wokeism” as a stage for a discussion and debate. The dichotomy of “Enlightenment” or “Estrangement” sets the stage for this discussion within a French context. The hope is to provide a lens into the history of “Woke” from Erykah Badu’s first popularization of the term in her song, “Master Teacher” to the more recent denigrations of the term from the Far Right. Through this thematic, we will teach the fundamentals of argumentation, debate, and rhetoric offering perspectives from many sides on the history and contemporary transformation of the term. We will read and discuss articles/essays, study rhetorical devices and methods of argumentation, as well as learn and practice the structure and model of the French Debate Association as a means of discovering students interested in participating in the Paris-Nanterre Debate Team going forward. This workshop will prepare students for the “negative” connotation of being associated with “Wokeism” and get students who would like to join the debate team ready with counterarguments regarding “Wokeism” from any other debate team or persons they may encounter along the way.