The George Washington Debate & Literary Society strives to use debate and communication as tools for service by promoting global debate education and developing literary projects that contribute to society. This primarily includes developing service elements as a part of our civic debate projects. Our service projects have included:
The Forum for International Tourism and the Environment (FITE): As a part of our partnership with the Indonesian tourism ministry, GWDebate helped ot increase education on sustainable tourism. The FITE program reached over 200 Indonesian students, each of whom produced an advocacy video on how to best address issues of sustainable tourism. These videos currently have over 60,000 views, dramatically expanding the reach of the FITE program.
The '68 DC Riots: GWDebate is currently developing a documentary for the 50th anniversary of the '68 DC Riots. Team members will be interviewing historians, and individuals who witnessed and participated in the riots in order to create a digital library that future generations can utilize in their research.
The Morehouse Social Justice Debates: GWDebate has partnered with Morehouse College to develop the Morehouse Social Justice Debates, which focus on different social justice scholars each year. In 2017 the debates included a Fall "Derek Bell Debates" tournament, hosted at GW. The Debates bring together students, and social justice advocates and scholars to discuss some of the most pressing issues of our time. In the 2016-2017 academic year, the Debates focused on the writings of scholar Derek Bell, and how his work applies to activists today
Middle School Public Debate League: GWDebate works to run tournaments for the local DC Middle School Public Debate League, facilitating their debate experience. This also includes preparing exhibition debates by the team for the students. In 2017 this exhibition debate was on the Morehouse Social Justice Debates topic.
Assisting the 29th Division on their Hero's Tour: In 2014 the GWDebate team travelled to Normandy to assist the Veterans of the 29th Division on their Hero's Tour for the 70th Anniversary of D-Day. Students conducted original interviews with WWII veterans, which were submitted to the Library of Congress as part of the LOC's Veterans' History Project.
