From the editor: NYC's longest standing debate series, the Smith Debates bring together two to four panelists to debate and discuss foreign and domestic issues. Not as swish as the Intelligence Squared events, but what the Smith talks lack in polish, they more than make up for in what - this editor thinks - is a more frank and friendly dialogue.
From the Smith website:
The Need for a Forum
Until 2001, New York City did not have a high-profile forum devoted primarily to public policy debates.
A Forum is Created
Now, The Smith Family Foundation brings together some of the most interesting and influential policy makers and authors in the world, help to present their ideas to an audience of professionals, students, media, and other interested members of the public, the likes of which only New York City can gather.
Our Role
The Foundation does not take sides, functioning only as a host and moderator. Yet, its impact on policy arguments will, we hope, be profound. With debaters and audiences of the caliber we invite, simply changing the thinking of our participants affects the broader intellectual climate. (When future historians of ideas discuss trends in twenty-first century thought, they may well record that time and again the seeds of change could be found in talks held at the Smith Foundation.)
Our Mission
The Foundation defends free speech and a free society through the critical examination of ideas, sponsoring debates and related activities in the New York area. In a world where philosophical arguments all too often take the form of partisan rancor and anti-intellectual appeals, the Foundation hopes to serve as a reminder that we are united by a deeper loyalty: to skeptical analysis, reason, and truth-seeking. The Foundation aims to foster informed debates that are both vigorous and civil, on topics ranging from economics to ethics, from politics to art, and beyond. Some debates will yield clear answers and some debates can never be settled, but the argumentative process itself can serve as a model of rational discourse in an often divided society.
