After the Nordic Debating Championship in 2013 and the first Helsinki Open last year, the debating societies from Aalto University (ADS) and Helsinki University (HDS) invite debaters in the Far North: to the second Helsinki Open on May 9 and 10, 2015 - one of the Northernmost debating tournaments. The organizers are confident to present a wonderful, not-so-cold event featuring five preliminary rounds with a break into semi-finals as well as socials including traditional Finnish sauna. The tournament will be on Saturday and Sunday, but there will be a social on Friday night. A Google Doc for registration is already ...

Auf den vergangen Weltmeisterschaften im universitären Debattieren (WUDC) 2015 in Kuala Lumpur war eine Abstimmung über den Ausrichtungsort der WUDC 2017 vorgesehen. Da die bis dahin einzige bestehende Bewerbung noch zwei unterschiedliche Unterkunftskonzepte prüfen wollte, wurde sie auf den Weltmeisterschaften zurückgezogen. Das WUDC Council, das höchste Gremium der  internationalen Debattierszene, welches jährlich auf den Weltmeisterschaften tagt, entschied daraufhin, die Frist für potenzielle Bewerber zu verlängern, die Abstimmung zu vertagen und online dezentral nachzuholen.Das bisher übliche Prozedere sah vor, dass sich die deutsche Delegation – alle deutschen Teilnehmer an den Weltmeisterschaften – auf den WUDC trifft und über die Bewerbungen abstimmt. ...

The Glasgow University Union (GUU) invites debaters from all over the world to participate at the GUU Ancients and the GUU Women's on Friday, May 15 to Sunday, May 17, 2015. The organising comitee promises a three course black-tie dinner and yakka.The Chief Adjudicaters for GUU Ancients are Emilia Carlqvist, Simon Tunnicliffe, Hugh Guidera and Heather Whiteside. For GUU Women's, Parnian Sadeghi, Hannah Martin and Maria Ni Fhlatharta sit on the panel.Important information for GUU Ancients:Host: GUUDate: 15 and 16 May 2015Convener: Duncan CroweRounds: Five preliminary rounds, break to the semisChief Adjudicators: Emilia Carlqvist, Simon Tunnicliffe, Hugh Guidera and Heather WhitesideRegistration fee: £40 in advance for UK based institutions and Open teams (£50 on ...

The CBS Debating Society announced the second Copenhagen Open. The tournament takes place from the 27th to the 29th of March 2015 and will provide five preliminary rounds with seven minute speeches and a break to semifinals. The detailed schedule is available at the Facebook-Event.There are going to be two Chief Adjudicators (CAs) and two Deputy Chief Adjudicators (DCAs):CA Dessislava Kirova, who served as DCA at Manchester European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) 2013, Co-CA of the Pan-African University Debating Championship in Limpopo 2014 and is an English as a Second Language (ESL) Finalist of the Zagreb EUDC 2014, Finalist of ...

Südafrika bewirbt sich um die Ausrichtung der World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC) 2017. Sollte die Bewerbung erfolgreich sein, wäre Dessislava Kirova gemeinsam mit Gemma Buckley aus Australien und Syed Saddiq aus Malaysia Teil der Chefjury. Anne Gaa sprach mit ihr über ihre Pläne für die Weltmeisterschaft.Achte Minute: Wie kam es dazu, dass du vom Organisations-Team Südafrikas schon bei dem Bid für 2016 als Chefjurorin angefragt wurdest? Gibt es eine besondere Beziehung zwischen den beiden Debattierländern?[caption id="attachment_25765" align="alignright" width="231"] (c) privat[/caption]Dessislava Kirova: Das war ziemlich überraschend. Auf dem Paris Open 2013 hat mich eine der damaligen Co-Organisatoren kennengelernt. So entstanden Kontakte, ...

The Organising Committee (OrgCom) of the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC or Euros) 2015 in Vienna published their call for international volunteers. Everyone can apply to support the existing crew and be part of the this year's EUDC.Stage one of the application process consists in reading the International Crew Recruitment Guideline and filling out the International Crew Recruitment Survey. In stage two beginning in mid-April, the OrgCom will contact the applicants if they have questions or need their expertise and knowledge. Stage three is the tournament itself.Everyone can apply for being an international volunteer - the OrgCom emphasizes that age, ...

Genug von langer Diagonale und linken Kategorien? Es gibt außer dem British Parliamentary Style (BPS) und der Offenen Parlamentarischen Debatte (OPD) noch viele andere Formate, in denen irgendwo auf der Welt debattiert wird oder wurde. Zeit, einen Blick über den Tellerrand zu werfen!Debattieren in der American Parliamentary Debate Association„Unser Thema ist ganz einfach“, sagt der Premierminister. „Wir glauben, dass die Welt besser wäre, hätte die landwirtschaftliche Revolution nie stattgefunden.“ Er lehnt sich auf das Rednerpult und schaut erwartungsvoll zur Opposition, die fieberhaft nach Fragen sucht. „Meint ihr die Grüne Revolution?“ – „Nein, wir glauben, die Menschen hätten niemals sesshaft werden ...

Shortly after this year's World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) in Malaysia, Gemma Buckley wrote down her thoughts on the topic of discrimination based on language skills and the existing power structures in the debating community. Her article caused a broad debate on that issue on Facebook. She allowed the Achte Minute to republish it on this blog. You can discuss it here or add a comment to the existing discussion. Judging at this year's WUDC was an eye opening (and occasionally devastating) experience for me, as has been made clear through my recent posts on Facebook. After many took offense to ...

The World Universities Debating Championship 2015 in Malaysia has its champions:And the winners are...The Open CategorySydney A (Edward Miller, Nick Chung) won the final in the Open Category. They debated the motion "This House believes that humanitarian organisations should, and should be allowed to, give funding, resources or services to illegal armed groups when this is made a condition for access to vulnerable civilians." and won against Oxford A (Patrick Bateman, Natasha Rachman) in Opening Government, BPP A  (Steven Rajavinothan, Michael O'Dwyer) in Opening Opposition and Harvard A (Bo Seo, Fanelesibonge Mashwama) in Closing Opposition. The final was adjudicated by Shafiq Bazari (chair), Dominic ...

Team break Out of the contingent of the Association of German Speaking University Debating Societies (VDCH) we are very happy to report the break of one team at this year’s Worlds in Malaysia! In the category "English as a foreign language" (EFL) the team Potsdam A (comprised of Mathias Hamann and Moritz Kirchner) broke in 4th place with 14 team points in total. The next round for them will be the EFL Semi Final on Friday, 2 January 2015. It will take place at 1 pm local time in Malaysia (which translates into 6 am local time in Germany) and will be streamed ...

Yesterday the 35th World University Debating Championships were officially started by the grand Opening Ceremony. The German speaking debating circuit is represented by a strong delegation this year. Seven members of the VDCH – the Association of German Speaking University Debating Societies are comprised of ten teams and ten adjudicators. Debating societies Berlin Debating Union (BDU, Berlin), Debattierclub Goethes Faust Frankfurt (Frankfurt), Debattierclub Kiel, Debattierclub München (Munich), Debattierclub Münster, Wortgefechte Potsdam, Debattierklub Wien (Vienna). [caption id="attachment_25445" align="alignright" width="400"] The Opening Ceremony. © 2014 Matthias Carcasona[/caption] Debate teams BDU A: Philip Schröder, Christina Dexel BDU B: Lilian Seffer, Alexander Hans BDU C: Pegah Maham, Christof Kebschull Frankfurt A: Andreas Dreher, Sven Schuppener Kiel ...

 It is the most important tournament of the year: From December 27 until January 4, more than 1000 participants will gather in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for the World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC). Registration opened at 8 am on Saturday, December 27. The official program will start in the evening at 8 pm with welcoming drinks. Up to this point, registration was smooth with no major problems and short waiting times. For many, the only problem is becoming accustomed to the tropical weather with temperatures between 24-30°C and a humidity of almost 100 percent. The participants are being accomodated in the five-star Pullmann Kuala Lumpur ...

Update: As not enough teams have registered, the Open Worlds have been canceled.In the summer of 2015, Las Vegas will be the glamourous site for the Open Worlds. This is a new, week-long tournament meant to complement the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC). Just as at WUDC, the Open Worlds uses British Parliamentary Style. The main difference however is that as an open tournament, there is no restriction to university institutions.Teams may register independently or represent universities or even employers. “Too often debating is restricted to university students when experience tells us that communication skills, and the ability to develop ...

Die Vorbereitungen für die European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC) 2015 in Wien sind im vollen Gange. Stefan Zweiker ist der Convenor des Events, das 800 Gäste in der österreichischen Hauptstadt unterbringen wird. Die Pressesprecherin des Debattierklub Wien (DKWien) Damita Pressl führte ein kurzes Interview. Stefan, wie läuft die Organisation derzeit? Was steht alles schon fest? Einerseits steht der Kern des Organisationskomitees fest. Das heißt, bis jetzt haben ungefähr 20 Leute die allermeisten Aufgaben erledigt. Ich würde sagen, dass wir da kurz vor einem Wachstum stehen, und ich schätze, dass nochmals 20 Leute dazukommen werden, um zusätzliche Aufgaben zu übernehmen, da die ...

"Was your institution invited to debate at WUDC Malaysia but not able to attend because you're an Israeli institution? Were you ranked 7th on your institution's list, just missing the cut? Is a €380 registration fee to high for your club to cover?" For debaters who have to answer one of these questions with "yes" but don't want to stay home, the Jerusalem Open might be the solution. [caption id="attachment_25110" align="alignright" width="400"] Debaters who are not able to participate at this year's WUDC can visit Jerusalem instead.[/caption] The idea of hosting a tournament simultaniously to the World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) in ...

The Debattierclub Magdeburg announced to host the first English judging seminar in Magdeburg. On Saturday, November 22, the participants will have one day of workshops and training. It will focus on how to arrive at a just call with the panel and how to justify it before the speakers. The workshop will be held by Rebecca Irvine and is aimed at debaters with little judging experience (knowledge of the rules of the British Parliamentary Style is assumed, but not much active judging experience is required). Felicia Hoer wrote that there are ten spots for members from other societies. If necessary, the ...