CHICAGO, Sept. 16, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On October 12, as a part of Chicago's Ideas Week, Intelligence Squared U.S. (IQ2US) makes its Chicago debut with a controversial resolution that asks whether higher education is really necessary for America's youth: Too Many Kids Go to College. Student loan debt has surpassed credit card debt, unemployment for those with a bachelor's degree is at an all-time high, and entrepreneurs like the founders of Facebook and Microsoft have been successful without graduating. Given the many costs of college, is it time to rethink America's love affair with higher education? Is it time for young people to skip college and go straight into the workforce, or is higher education still a necessary stepping-stone to success?
Intelligence Squared U.S. is the lauded New York-based, Oxford-style debate series that has hosted over 50 topical public policy debates since 2006, ranging from global warming to the current financial crisis. Each debate pits the highest caliber of authorities against each other to present both sides of the most important issues of our day. The audience votes in advance on which side they support, and again at the end of the evening – a winner is chosen based on which side has changed the most minds.
Headlining the panel are PayPal founder Peter Thiel, whose 20 Under 20 Thiel Fellowship will pay twenty young people $100,000 NOT to go to college, and Henry Bienen, President Emeritus of Northwestern University.
Executive Producer Dana Wolfe says, "We are thrilled to be taking part in the inaugural Chicago Ideas Week festival. IQ2US has a great following in Chicago through public radio's WBEZ, and it's been a longtime goal to take the live debate on the road to more cities outside of New York."
Moderated by ABC News Nightline's John Donvan, Intelligence Squared U.S.'s fall season, presented in partnership with Slate, will air on WNET and more than 220 NPR stations nationwide.
WHAT: Intelligence Squared U.S. Debates: "Too Many Kids Go to College"
WHEN: Wednesday, October 12 / Reception 5:45 - 6:30 PM / Debate 6:45 - 8:30
WHERE: Venue Six10 at The Spertus Center / 610 S. Michigan Avenue Chicago, IL 60605
For the motion:
Peter Thiel, PayPal Co-founder, Tech Entrepreneur, Investor & Philanthropist
Charles Murray, Author of AEI Article, "Are Too Many People Going to College?" and the controversial best-seller, The Bell Curve, analyzing the role of IQ in shaping America's class structure
Against the motion:
Vivek Wadhwa, The Washington Post and Bloomberg BusinessWeek columnist, Director of Research at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization at Duke University and a Senior Research Associate for the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School
Henry Bienen, President Emeritus, Northwestern University, and member of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's Economic Development and Planning Committee
The Moderator:
John Donvan is a correspondent for ABC News Nightline. He has served as ABC White House Correspondent, along with postings in Moscow, London, Jerusalem and Amman.
The debate will take place in front of a live audience at Venue Six10 at The Spertus Center. Audience members will vote to decide the winning team of this significant debate. Tickets: $40 ($12 for students w/ID) To purchase, visit www.iq2us.org.
ABOUT INTELLIGENCE SQUARED DEBATES (IQ2US)
Rethink your point of view with Intelligence Squared U.S. (IQ2US), Oxford-style debates.
Based on the highly successful debate program based in London, Intelligence Squared, Intelligence Squared U.S. has presented over 50 debates on a wide range of provocative and timely topics. From global warming and the financial crisis, to Afghanistan/Pakistan and the death of mainstream media, Intelligence Squared U.S. brings together the world's leading authorities on the day's most important issues.
Since its inception in 2006, the goals of The Intelligence Squared U.S. Foundation have been to provide a new forum for intelligent discussion, grounded in facts and informed by reasoned analysis; to transcend the toxically emotional and the reflexively ideological; and to encourage recognition that the opposing side has intellectually respectable views.
IQ2US struck a media partnership with the online magazine Slate that launches in this fall. The Rosenkranz Foundation initiated the Intelligence Squared U.S. Debate Series and continues to provide major support.
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