House M.D., Philosophy and the art of debate

4 April 2019

Within the framework of the project “Foreign Language Competence Development of TSU students” three groups of first year students majoring in Chemistry gathered in the classroom to watch several episodes of critically acclaimed American TV series House M.D.and discuss both immediately apparent and deeper themes of the showin English.

Watching session, envisioned as intensive listening and speaking practice, turned out to be a success in these particular regards. Silence was broken the same second credits of the last episode started rolling. Just a few questions addressed to the audience later, debate escalated dramatically and became highly philosophical. Which was what Sergei Molchanov, teacher of English, actually aimed for, when he handpicked those particular episodes – as several of the themes brought up in them, such as significance of routine, social approval, and value of life are philosophical and divisive by their very nature, and, more importantly, are a sensitive subject for many young people.

Even though this hour-long dispute didn’t result in any kind of consensus,numerous opinions and arguments voiced during it definitely succeeded in makingparticipants see discussed subjects from a different perspective and in giving them better understanding of principles of debating.