Show your judging skills - judges at this year's World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC, or Worlds) in Botswana have to do an adjudication test today! A sample of the adjudication test may be watched on Botswana Worlds website. The real test has to be done virtually as well. The motion of the adjudication test reads "This house supports the trade with organs for profit." The test is compuslory for everyone judging at Worlds in Gaborone. Those who will not do the test until today will be regarded as "unreliable judges", as is reported in an e-mail from the chief adjudicators' ...

Shortly before the World Debating Championships (WUDC or Worlds) 2011 start in Gaborone - some very early birds have already travelled to southern Africa - the convenors ask to get it over with the last technicalities. Therefore, read the survival guide available on the Botswana Worlds 2011 website. What is it you need to know? Well, bring sun screen, ethernet wire, insect repellent, electrical adaptors and other things you might not be able to live without during your ten-day stay in Botswana's capital. Another requirement is to do the adjudication test which will be held online on www.botswanaworlds.com from 18 December. ...

The next big event of the ZEIT DEBATTEN series is just around the corner: Nicolas Eberle, president of Debattierclub Johannes Gutenberg (DCJG), announced registration open for the ZEIT DEBATTE in Mainz from 14 to 16 January. The convenors allure to German speaking debaters with a system new to the format of OPD (open parliamentary debate) which allows all speakers to enjoy five debates instead of the usual three. On top of that, they show great hospitality so typical for Rhineland-Palatinate: accommodation in a four-star hotel, free cider for everybody, winetasting under the guidance of the wine queen representing the wine-growing ...

Please read the German version of this article on how a reporter from the newspaper Badische Neueste Nachrichten visited Debatte Karlsruhe. ...

Pics! Till Kroeger from Debating Club Heidelberg shot pictures at BaWü 2010 - see them now online! ...

Chief adjudicators of the Berlin bid for Worlds 2013 are now announced: Sharmila Parmanand and Doug Cochran will be in charge of the motions of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC a.k.a. Worlds) 2013 in Berlin as is reported by Patrick Ehmann, president of the Berlin Debating Union. Both Sharmila and Doug have gained a lot of experience on the international debating circuit: Sharmila, a political scientist from Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines, was octo-finalist at Dublin Worlds 2007. At this year's Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships in Auckland, New Zealand, she was deputy chief adjudicator. The "Australs" see themselves as one ...

It's women only when the Cambridge Union Society invites female debaters to the Cambridge Women's Open 2011. The Oxford Union showed the way with their Women's Open in spring, now the ladies of Cambridge follow them: The girls-only tournament will take place in Cambridge on 25 and 26 February. Chief adjudicator is Mary Nugent, convenors are Natalie Smith and Maria English. Mary and Natalie won this year's Women's Open at Oxford in spring. Crash for the Cambridge competition will be available from female hosts. Language is English, the format will be BPS. Registration is open from New Year 2011, please ...

Shout outs to Heidelberg from all directions! Read more on how Debattierclub Johannes Gutenberg (DCJG) and Debattierclub Freiburg hail Debating Club Heidelberg for hosting one of the best tournaments - see the German version of this article! apf / glx ...

Watch the final of ZEIT DEBATTE Greifswald 2010 now! ...

In early November, Pauline Leopold and Peter Croonenbroeck from Streitkultur Tübingen talked to the radio broadcaster SWR4. The complete interview is available on the internet. apf / glx

Competition for Berlin: The Croatian capital Zagreb bids for the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC, a.k.a. Worlds) 2013. The organizational committee under the aegis of Petar Bezjak advertises their unlimited team cap on their homepage. And debaters will be delighted to see that the Croatians already announced their experienced chief adjudicator: Jonathan Leader Maynard, just recently chief adjudicator of this year’s Euros in Amsterdam, on top of that two-times Worlds finalist (Koç 2010 and Cork 2009) plus EUDC champion (Newcastle 2009). Jonathan promises: “I believe it is vital to do a lot of work to ensure that motions are fair ...

Way ahead, but already we have news from Worlds 2012 in Manila: Applications wanted for deputy chief adjudicators (DCA)! The chief adjudicators of next year’s World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC a.k.a. Worlds) in Manila, Philippines, have just announced that the application process for the office of deputy chief adjudicators is open. Sam Block (best speaker at WUDC 2008 and at EUDC 2007) and Lucinda David (WUDC semi-finalist ESL) emphasize that the DCAs are “key parts of the adjudication team, and contribute to the effort of running the debating side of the tournament.” Responsibilities include the selection of motions, ranking of ...

The Berlin Debating Union (BDU) has made a decision: They want to bring the Worlds to Germany! On Saturday, Patrick Ehmann, John Eltringham and Cloud Ramasendaran are going to present their bid for convening the World Universities Debating Championships at the Oxford IV. The support of VDCH, the Association of Debating Societies at Universities, facilitated the decision of Berlin Debating Union: “Only because we know we have the German debating circuit to support us we dare to do this,” BDU president Patrick admits. He is even more delighted to have other German debaters at the Oxford IV to back BDU’s presentation ...

“How far have you travelled?“is the starting sentence into any kind of conversation this weekend. It is the kick-off into the new season of ZEIT DEBATTEN series at Greifswald. Flirts, smalltalk - they all start with the "How long did it take you to get here" question. Indeed, the Hanseatic town by the Bodden, a bay at the Baltic Sea, is located in quite a remote area. However, about 65 debaters found their ways to Greifswald. Many of them split their journey - it took them a two-day's travel via Berlin or Hamburg to get to Meck-Pomm. To read more on ...

The Debattierclub Stuttgart (DCS) took part in a cultural event called Stuttgartnacht, Stuttgart Night. Together with Rederei Heidelberg, DCS battled in a night long debate marathon and discussed motions like "Should Swabian become official languge?" or "Should history be manipulated to teach moral lessons?". Read more on this in the German version of this article. apf / glx

Mixed teams of all kind are welcome at the Streitkultur Cup 2010. That comprises novices and experienced speakers, male and female debaters, and even debaters from different institutions. The most renowned open competition on the German speaking debating circuit will take place on 11 December in Tübingen and will be held in the format of OPD (open parliamentary debate, a format developed by the hosting society), hence teams of three may now register via vorstand[at]streitkultur.net. Please let your host, the famous Streitkultur Tübingen, know how many teams your institution is going to send to the tournament. Registration fees are 10 Euros ...

The Debattiergesellschaft Jena (DGJ) presented their debating society at Friedrich Schiller University. They allured students interested in debating with home-made cakes and issues of DIE ZEIT. On DGJ’s website, it is reported that students were introduced to and had the chance to deliver impromptu speeches with motions such as “A woman’s place is in the kitchen”. Other rhetoric games included the explanation of made-up inkhorn terms such as ‘vulgivag’ or ‘kökkenmödinger’. apf /glx

Since late September, Hannes Budelmann does not hold any honorary office – for the first time in years. For the past three years, he had been member of the executive board of Deutsche Debattiergesellschaft (DDG), the German alumni association for debaters. Hannes talked to Achte Minute about his work for debating, his personal future, and perspectives of the alumni association. Achte Minute: Hannes, you had been on the DDG executive board for the past three years, 2009/2010 as their president – what did you like most? Hannes Budelmann: Let me think about that… Actually, it was organizing that was the most fun: ...

Less than four months until the worldwide debating circuit assembles in Gaborone, Botswana for the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC, a.k.a. Worlds) 2011 from 27 December 2010 until 4 January 2011! But before you open your new textbooks and work on your Setswana, the official language besides English, stop and check the technicalities. You need to make sure you have made your final payments. The conveners point out that banks charge a fee up to 25 US-Dollars for international wire transfer. Those who forgot about that fee may pay cash or with a check during physical check-in in Gaborone in ...

The web presence of the Deutsche Debattiergesellschaft (DDG), the German alumni association for debaters, hosts a now broadened range of pages for those interested in the history of the alumni association, the various events such as the traditional Masters’ Cup or the award for the up-and-coming debaters at the German debating championships where just recently Florian Umscheid was elected best junior speaker by the DDG members present since he convinced the jury with his wit and deep analysis. Even freshmen and newcomers to the alumni association will find some things to explore on the re-fashioned DDG pages: the present executive board ...

With the Amsterdam Euros still going on - final rounds (ESL and main break) are still to be held in the Dutch capital on Friday - next year’s host is fixed: the National University of Ireland (NUI) at Galway, sited on the Emerald Isle’s west coast. The Law Society and the Literary and Debating Society of NUI at Galway cooperated in bidding for staging the Euros in 2011. Being the only bidders, the council being in session at Amsterdam European Universities Debating Championship Thursday night accepted their bid. Those wanting to take part in next year’s Euros may want to allocate the ...

While by now, we may have gotten used to Vuvuzelas during the football world cup, Africa is already gearing up for another large event: The World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC) in Botswana! The Chief Adjudicators around Logandran Balavijendran want to guarantee that the judges pool meets the highest standards and therefore pledge special financial assistance for sixty judges from Africa and the rest of the world. Adjuticators who receive the assistance are exempt from participation fees. They will also be reimbursed up to USD 1,000 in travel costs. Conditions for assistance are previous WUDC participation (as speaker or adjudicator) as well as ...

We are sorry, this article is not or not yet available in English. Please check back later.

Pinkus, Logos, Hypochonder - dieses und einiges mehr, was uns während der DDM heiter bis glücklich gemacht hat! Pinkus Pils! Kommt angeblich aus der "ältesten Bio-Brauerei der Welt", auf jeden Fall aber aus der letzten von ehemals über 150 Brauereien in Münster. Wir erlagen dem Charme von grün-gelbem Retro-Label und Plopp-Verschluss und befand nach einer Reihe von Selbstversuchen: Die feinherbe Süffigkeit macht das Pinkus zum DDM-Lieblingsbier. Prost! ...

Die Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) widmet dem Debattieren in ihrer Ausgabe vom heutigen Dienstag, 25. Mai, einen fünfspaltigen Artikel (S. 45). Unter der Überschrift "Überzeugungsredner" berichtet Andreas Lochner davon, dass "Politisches Debattieren [...] mittlerweile auch an deutschen Unis mit Leidenschaft geübt" wird. Locher besuchte die Streitkultur Tübingen und bettet Informationen rund um das Debattieren in szenische Beobachtungen von einem Tübinger Clubabend. Leider ist der Artikel noch nicht online abrufbar, also lauft zum Kiosk und kauft Euch eine SZ! Aktualisierung 14 Uhr: Der Artikel steht jetzt auch unter dem Titel "Es lebe die Freiheit" online zu Verfügung. Hier gibt es ein paar Zitate aus dem ...