ABSTRACT
Community-Based Participatory Debate (CBPD) features the involvement of local communities in the design, implementation, and evaluation of debate projects to inspire multidirectional learning and growth. This chapter describes recent work on debate-community partnership. In recent years, debate practitioners have demonstrated exceptional pedagogical dexterity, especially in terms of developing approaches sensitive to community norms. To address community interests in developing approaches to public health and improving the delivery of care in ways that are sensitive to community norms and practices, some researchers in medicine have turned to Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR). The basic assumptions of the CBPR approach provide a useful way to frame key elements of the effort to inspire ongoing debate-community partnerships with an emphasis on the community rather than debate. More importantly, CBPD offers a new modality of civic practice for intercollegiate debate, namely synergizing changes in practice with changes in research.
