About
On June 8, 2007, the Miller Center of Public Affairs announced the implementation of its National Discussion and Debate Series (NDDS). As part of the Center's mission to research, reflect, and report on issues of national importance to the country's governance, Miller Center Director Gerald L. Baliles created this program to encourage a vigorous, well-informed discussion on the national stage about the major issues of our time. "Too often, the idea of 'debate' in this country is overtaken by sound bites and squabbles rather than a reasoned, informed exchange of ideas," said Baliles. "This series is an extension of the Miller Center's mission to examine important issues, and through it we aim to contribute to the national conversation with a genuine, thoughtful give-and-take that will both inform people and provoke dialogue."
The intent of this series is to examine America's role in the world, its responsibilities to its citizens, and how it fulfills the principles upon which it was founded. Since the Miller Center's founding in 1975, it has worked to fulfill Thomas Jefferson's public service mission by serving as a national meeting place for engaged citizens, scholars, students, media representatives, and government officials to address issues of national importance.
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Education and the Economy continue reading →
Resolution: To remain a world class economic power, the U.S. needs more college graduates in the workforce.
Date: February 26, 2010
Location: National Press Club, Washington, DC
Moderator: Paul Solman, Business and Economics Correspondent, PBS NewsHour
White Paper: William Zumeta, Professor, Daniel J. Evans School of
Public Affairs and College of Education, University of Washington
Debaters:
- Pro: Margaret Spellings, Pres. and CEO, Margaret Spellings & Company; former Secretary of Education
- Pro: Michael L. Lomax, Pres. and CEO, United Negro College Fund
- Con: Richard Vedder, Distinguished Professor of Economics, Ohio University
- Con: George Leef, Director of Research, John William Pope Center for Higher Education
End-of-Life-Care continue reading →
Resolution: The United States must ration costly end-of-life care.
Date: March 24, 2010
Location: National Press Club, Washington, DC
Moderator: Susan Dentzer, Editor-in-Chief, Health Affairs
White Paper: Dr. Lois Shepherd, University of Virginia
Debaters:
- Pro: Arthur Caplan, Emmanuel and Robert Hart Director of the Center for Bioethics; Sydney D. Caplan Professor of Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania
- Pro: Ira Byock, Director of Palliative Medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center; Professor at Dartmouth Medical School
- Con: Ken Connor, Chairman of The Center for a Just Society; former President of the Family Research Council
- Con: Marie Hilliard, Director of Bioethics and Public Policy at the National Catholic Bioethics Center
The Cost of Higher Education
Resolution: The business model of higher education is broken.
Date: April 27, 2010
Location: National Press Club, Washington, DC
Moderator: Ray Suarez, Senior Correspondent, PBS NewsHour
Internet and Democracy
Resolution: Democracy is threatened by the unchecked nature of information on the Internet.
Date: May 18, 2010
Location: National Press Club, Washington, DC
Moderator: Robin MacNeil, former co-anchor of the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour
