Defending and Challenging American Empire: The 1927-28 University of Oregon Forensics Program World Debate Tour and the November 25, 1927, Manila "Debate of the Century"

Authors

Trond Jacobsen, University of OregonFollow
David Frank, University of OregonFollow

Abstract

From October 1927 through April 1928, three Oregon debaters traveled more than 25,000 miles to seventeen countries on four continents, participating in thirty-two debates and seventy-five public speaking engagements as part of the first-ever Debate World Tour. This tour was audacious, but indicative of a remarkable history of debate at Oregon. Drawing on archival materials held by the Special Collections and University Archive at the University of Oregon and other primary and contemporary materials, we document that world tour and feature a November 25, 1927, debate on Filipino independence at the Manila Opera House and the tour of America by University of the Philippines debaters the following spring that it inspired. We conclude with a review of the tour's impressive legacy and reflections on the expedition's significance in the history of forensics and academic debate.

Recommended Citation

Jacobsen, Trond and Frank, David (2026) "Defending and Challenging American Empire: The 1927-28 University of Oregon Forensics Program World Debate Tour and the November 25, 1927, Manila "Debate of the Century"," Studies in Debate and Oratory: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 1.
Available at: https://scholar.stjohns.edu/sido/vol3/iss1/1