Debating Both Sides: What Nineteenth-Century College Literary Societies Can Teach Us about Critical Pedagogies

Abstract

Nineteenth-century college literary and debating societies, which required at least some students to publicly question dominant ideologies and the status quo, offer a potentially rich historical analogy to some of today's critical pedagogies. Using archival evidence from the Clariosophic Society of South Carolina College, the author points out the limitations of using certain kinds of agonism, specifically pro-con debate, to achieve the goals of critical pedagogies.