About MUDS
The Macquarie University Debating Society is the debating society of Macquarie University. Founded in 1993, Macquarie University has a proud tradition in debating, having successfully competed both nationally and internationally in debating tournaments. Macquarie had bestowed upon it the honour of winning the World Universities Debating Championships ( Worlds ) in 1996 . At Worlds in Manila 1999 , Macquarie made it through to the semi finals. More recently at Worlds in Sydney, Macquarie made the Octo-Finals. MUDS is ranked within the top 40 of all universities worldwide. First semester is done in Australian Three's style, while second semester is done in the British Parliamentary style.
Since 2000, we have run three “ Macquarie Schools' Cup ”s each year for Senior, Intermediate and Junior Divisions respectively. Bringing up to 80 teams to Macquarie University each year, this introduces students to the University and helps us in serving the community and fostering debating within it. For younger years, we have been in partnership with the Rotary Foundation of Epping in running the Epping Primary Schools Debating Competition annually since 2003.
All students from around the campus are encouraged to join and be active in the society. As a multi-disciplined society we are able to bring together a wide variety of academic skills and ways of thinking to ensure success.
MUDS caters for debaters of all abilities and talents. We run programs aiming to bring out the fantastic speaker in everyone. The Australian Championships, known as ‘ Easters ' because it is traditionally held over the Easter long weekend, is a novice tournament seeking to develop the skills of those new to university debating. Not only do you get an excellent chance to improve your skills, the tournament is a fantastic way to meet debaters from all over the country, and especially your own university. In 2008, Macquarie University has the honour of the honour of hosting the tournament, for the first time since 1993!
WEEKLY EVENTS: MUDS also has an internal competition which runs every Monday. This may be held in either first or second semester (or both), and is also a great chance to refine your skills. In addition to ‘ Easters' , MUDS also participates in the Sydney Regionals Competition in both first and second semester. This weekly meeting brings together debaters from Sydney, Macquarie, UNSW and UTS.
Macquarie also participates in the AustralAsians Intervarsity Debating Competition ( Australs for short). This competition, bringing students from as far away as India and Japan, is the next step in a debating career. A great deal of fun, Macquarie has done very well. We were champions in 1994 and Octo-Finalists in both 2000 and 2004 . In 2007, we sent three teams to Australs at UT MARA Malaysia. In 2008, we travel to Ateneo de Manila University , in The Phillippines.
Finally, MUDS also participates in the Worlds competition, held over the New Year period. With nine preliminary rounds, a Comedy competition, a public-speaking competition, a 32-team “break” to finals, but most importantly the best social events ever, this is a fantastic tournament. It is no secret that the Aussies do very well at debating (as a country we are ranked 1). ( Worlds is done in British Parliamentary style), positions are always competitive.
Enough said. Want to know more? Read Locquacissmi , attend Internals on a Monday Night at X5B 132 from 6pm as everyone there will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Why Join MUDS |
