The Hist is the longest established student organisation in Trinity College Dublin and the oldest student society in the world. The Society first met on Wednesday, 21st of March 1770, thirteen students meeting in the Senior Common Room, and since then has seen great Irish figures such as Wolfe Tone, Robert Emmet, Oscar Wilde, Samuel Beckett, Ernest Walton, Douglas Hyde and Mary Robinson become members.
As the original debating society, the Hist helped set the model for similar societies around the world, in Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard and Yale, and throughout the British Isles and the United States. In February 1815, CHS committee members travelled to Cambridge University to assist the foundation of their debating union, a society which exists to this day as one of CHS’s sister organisations.
The Hist’s Wednesday Night Debate, is the Society’s flagship event. It often attracts hundreds of students and prominent figures from the world of politics, media and the arts. In its time it has been addressed by figures such as W.B Yeats, William Churchill, Ted Kennedy, Bob Geldof, and Desmond Tutu.
This coming session will be no different. In the first term, the Hist will be welcoming Professor Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Laureate in Economics, former Chief Economist of the World Bank and Chairman of the Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisors. After that the society will be addressed by Professor Noam Chomsky, deemed by the New York Times to be ‘arguably the most important intellectual alive’ and Robert Fisk who has interviewed Osama Bin Laden three times and holds more international awards for journalism than any other foreign correspondent.
Although the Hist acknowledges that debating is in of itself is one of the world’s most sexy activities, it also offers other opportunities to have the fun. During Freshers Week, the Hist will be having its annual Colours Debate against UCD Dublin, and has arranged for Ardal O’Hanlon (Father Dougal from Father Ted) to address the society. Damien Rice will also be giving a very special performance and the Hist will also be arranging the cheapest nights out in the best clubs in Dublin, with a Traffic Light Ball in DTwo on the Monday, a Beach Party in Bondi on Tuesday, and the annual Freshers Week Ball on Wednesday.
