The World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) is the largest international debating tournament. The first WUDC took place in Glasgow in 1981. Back then, 43 teams from seven nations participated. This year, more than 400 teams from all continents compete for the title of World Debating Champion. The WUDC 2015 will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is hosted by The Debate Society of the Universiti Technologiki Mara, one of the largest universities in Malaysia. The tournament starts on December 26th and lasts until January 3rd. The organisers published the following video:   Adjudication Team Chief Adjudicators (CAs) of the Malaysia Worlds will be ...

The European Universities Debate Champions 2014 have been announced. In the category English as a Second Language, Stefan Siridzanski and Helena Ivanov from Belgrade B in Opening Opposition won the debate with the motion „This house would, assuming it was technically feasible, remove the ability of soldiers to feel fear.” In the Open final, Adam Hawksbee and Matthew Willmore from Sheffield A in Closing Opposition were able to beat their competitors in a debate with the motion „This house believes that the feminist movement should oppose military interventions that claim to further women's rights.” [caption id="attachment_24372" align="alignright" width="240"] Venue of the Open and ESL ...

The break to the finals at the European Universities Debating Championship 2014 has been announced. In the ESL category, Berlin A, Lund A, Belgrade B and BBU A made it through the semi-finals with the motion "This house believes that leaders of minority religions in Europe should strongly encourage their congregations to refrain from public displays of their faith". In the Open break, Oxford A, Sheffield A, Nottingham A, and Edinburgh A won the semi-finals with the motion "THBT the US should invade and forceably partition Iraq". Semi-finals of the Zagreb EUDC In the Open semi-final 1, the following teams competed: OG: Edinburgh A OO: ...

The break of the European Universities Debating Championship 2014 in Zagreb has been announced. The following teams will compete in the out-rounds on the 22nd of August (data might be inaccurate): Open Break 23: Cambridge C 22: Oxford B 21: Cambridge B 21: Oxford A 21: GUU A 20: Cambridge A 20: Oxford C 19: Edinburgh A 19: LSE A 19: Sheffield A 19: Durham B 19: KCL A 19: Hebrew A 19: Nottingham A 19: Durham C 18: BPP A ESL Break 19: Hebrew A 18; Belgrade B 18: Lund A 18: Tartu A 18: Berlin A 17: Tel Aviv B 17: Leiden A 17: Bucharest A 17: BBU A 17: Tilbury House A 17: Mannheim A 17: ELTE A 17 BGU A 16: Belgrade A 16: Tel Aviv A 16: tie of ...

Auch der zweite Vorrundentag der European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC) 2014 sorgte für Kontroversen in der Debattiercommunity. Nikos Bosse, EUDC-Korrespondent der Achten Minute, berichtet über die Ereignisse im Equity Forum und die weitergeführten Diskussionen über die Pronoun Introductions und fasst die Ergebnisse der Teams aus dem VDCH-Land nach dem zweiten Vorrundentag zusammen. Equity-Forum [caption id="attachment_24344" align="alignright" width="330"] Teilnehmer der Zagreb EUDC 2014 (c) Zagreb Foto Team[/caption] Wie die Achte Minute bereits berichtete, kam es zu Beginn der Euros am Montag, dem 18.08., beim Speaker Briefing zu Meinungsverschiedenheiten zwischen dem Chefjurorenteam und dem Equity-Team über die Einführung von Pronoun Introductions. Während die Chefjuroren die ...

Bereits der erste Tag der European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC) 2014 sorgte für Spannung: Neben der Eröffnungsfeier boten Differenzen zwischen den Chefjuroren und dem Equity Team reichlich Gesprächsstoff. Nikos Bosse, EUDC-Korrespondent der Achten Minute, fasst die wichtigsten Ereignisse des ersten Tages sowie die Ergebnisse der Teams aus dem VDCH-Land zusammen. Heitere Eröffnungsfeier Die Eröffnungsfeier der Euros 2014 fand bei sommerlich-lauen Temperaturen im Museum für Zeitgenössische Kunst in Zagreb statt. Neben einigen Freigetränken konnten die Teilnehmer die Ausstellungen des Museums genießen, über eine Rutsche gelangten sie anschließend vom zweiten und dritten Stock direkt zur Terrasse. Dort begleiteten Bands den ersten Abend des Turniers ...

Update: The Hashtag that will be used for Twitter from the 19th August on is #EUDC14 This Monday, the 18th of August, the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) 2014 starts in Zagreb, Croatia. For the next six days, 216 teams from 33 countries will compete in nine preliminary rounds, quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final for the title of European Debate Champion in the Open Break and in the category English as a Second Language (ESL). A list of all VDCH* teams will follow shortly. Nikos Bosse will be responsible for covering all news around the Zagreb EUDC for Achte Minute. Regular updates ...

At the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) in Zagreb, the EUDC council will meet to decide who will host the EUDC in 2016. A couple of weeks ago, the University of Cork announced their bid for the EUDC 2016. Now there is a second bid: The University of Warsaw Debate Society has joined the ranks of the applicants to host the prestigious tournament. Marcus Ewald, former President of the EUDC council, asked both bidding societies to provide information to enable debaters to compare the bids. The full information gathered is compiled in a Google Doc. As a caveat, Marcus notes that ...

On the 18th and 19th of October, the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) Debating Society at the University of London will hold their annual SOAS IV in London, England. The first Chief Adjudicator (CA) who has already been announced is Andrew Ford. Remaining CAs are yet to be announced. Equity officer will be Leah Wright. The tournament features five preliminary rounds with seven minute speeches, a break to quarter-finals as well as a break to semi-finals for teams in the category English as a Second Language (ESL), provided there are enough ESL teams for an ESL semi-final. From the 25th ...

The Roosevelt Debating Society will host the third Roosevelt Open on October 17th and 18th in Middleburg in the South-West of the Netherlands. The conveners will be Sarah Rust and Jordy van Rijsingen. According to the information on the Roosevelt Open facebook page, the tournament is supported by the European Commission, Province of Zeeland and the municipality of Goes. This promotion video has been published by the conveners: The Roosevelt Open will feature five preliminary rounds with seven minute speeches, semi-finals, a final as well as a novice final. The team cap is 40 and the n-1 rule will apply for ...

On Sunday November 23rd 2014, the first Cambridge Women’s Open will take place right after the Cambridge IV 2014 on the weekend before. It is a one day tournament featuring four rounds with seven minute speeches, semi-finals, and a final as well as a Novice final. During lunchtime, there will be open discussions on women in debating. Chief Adjudicators Chief Adjudicators (CAs) will be Emilia Carlqvist, winner of the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) 2013 in Manchester in the category English as a Second Language (ESL) and Deputy Chief Adjudicator of the Vienna EUDC 2015, and Srishti Krishnamoorthy, breaking judge and speaker ...

The Cambridge IV 2014 will take place on the 21st and 22nd November in Cambridge, England. The tournament features five preliminary rounds with seven minute speeches, quarter finals, semi finals, and a final, as well as semi finals and a final for teams in the category English as a Second Language (ESL). It will start at 3 o'clock on Friday with team registration and will end with a Black Tie Social on Saturday night. On Sunday, the first Cambridge Women's Open 2014 will take place. Chief Adjudicators (CAs) of the tournament will be Madeline Schultz, Deputy Chief Adjudicator (DCA) of the World Universities ...

Adjudicators for the upcoming European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) 2014 in Zagreb have to complete a mandatory adjudication test. This test will influence their ranking as a judge in the tournament and improve the allocation of judges to the different rooms. The test comprises of three sections. The first is a test debate all adjudicators have to judge. The second part consists of theoretical questions about the rules of BP debating and the third part is the judge's personal information and a list of his past achievements as a speaker and judge. As the Chief Adjudicators wrote on facebook, the submission deadline ...

From October 31st  to November 2nd, the Ρητορική Εταιρεία - Debating Society of Greece invites the debate community to the Thessaloniki Open 2014. As the World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) 2016 takes place in Thessaloniki as well, the Thessaloniki Open will give a first impression of what Worlds could feel like in Greece. According to the Debating Society of Greece, the tournament is an official event of the European Youth Capital 2014 programme and is supported by the Centre for Democracy and Reconciliation in Southeast Europe and the Association for Democracy in the Balkans. The Thessaloniki Open will feature five preliminary ...

The German Peer Klüßendorf, who has been debating for Lund University for the last two years and won the European Championship 2013, went to the second French World Debating Championship in Paris. In this week’s Mittwochs-Feature, he summarises his experiences and writes about different debating formats, French humour, and a Grand Final judging panel that refused to announce the winner before an encore with reversed roles. A suavely suited up young man walks on stage. With his loud voice he fills the historic auditorium easily. He raises a sword. 30 seconds later, he is sitting on the President's chair, still speaking, ...

Editor's note: International registration is now open and can be accessed through the registration form on the Oxford IV homepage. From the 14th to the 15th November 2014, Molly McParland and Jamie Jackson of the Oxford Union will organise the annual Oxford IV in England. For international participants, the tournament offers a program already starting on Thursday the 13th November. The program comprises the Oxford Union Debate and an International Social on Thursday evening as well as a tour of Oxford and debating workshops on Friday. The tournament will feature five preliminary rounds with seven minute speeches, quarter- and semi-finals and a ...

Having been openly trans for a while, at the beginning of this year I abandoned my old name and started dressing more unambiguously femininely. When I went to debating competitions it was obvious that there were some practical things that needed to do be done to make debating an enjoyable experience for transgender people. In particular, I argued that the debating circuit should implement pronoun introductions at the start of debates. Since then I’ve been really pleased with the UK debating circuit’s openness to pronoun introductions, and numerous competitions have used them successfully. For reference, I use the words trans and ...

From the 24th to the 26th October 2014, conveners Khanh Van Le and Beenish Waris from the Jacobs University Bremen Debating Society will host the annual Jacobs Open in Bremen, Germany. Henrik Maedler, whom Chief Adjudicator Niels Schröter called the "007 of debating", will also be part of the organisation team.  The tournament features four Chief Adjudicators (CAs) and three Independent Adjudicators. The CA-team consists of the following: Peer Klüßendorf, European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) winner in the category English as a Second Language (ESL); Niels Schröter, EUDC ESL finalist; Cerys Bradley, EUDC semi-finalist; and Bionda Merckens, CA of the ...

Die Schlange ist lang. Während die Sonne bei 36 Grad über dem Innenhof der Dathe-Schule brütet, erwarten die Teilnehmer der Deutschsprachigen Debattiermeisterschaft (DDM) 2014 sehnsüchtig Waffeln und Eis. Doch nicht alle können den Moment der Ruhe genießen. In einem verlassenen Debattenraum abseits des Getümmels steht eine Handvoll Debattierer und führt nervösen Smalltalk. Gleich sollen sie geprüft werden, eingestuft in eine von sechs Kategorien. Der Grund dafür: Sie sind DaF. Das steht für Deutsch als Fremdsprache und ist eine der Neuheiten, auf die die Ausrichter der DDM mächtig stolz sind. So, wie es im internationalen Debattieren die Kategorie English as a Second ...

Yael Bell and Dan Lahav have won the first BBU Open that took place from the 11th to the 13th July 2014 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The team from Tel Aviv won from Closing Opposition in a debate with the motion: You are a scientist. You have discovered absolute conclusive proof that God does not exist. This house would destroy the information. [caption id="attachment_23996" align="alignleft" width="320"] Yael Bell and Dan Lahav(c) BBU DS[/caption] In Opening Government, Belgrade with Helena Ivanov and Stefan Siridžansky competed against Lund with Michael Saliba and Peer Klüßendorf in Opening Opposition and a Mixed team with Georgiana Mihut and AJ ...

From the 9th to the 10th of August, the Westminster IV will take place in London and gives debaters another opportunity to prepare for the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC) in Zagreb. Only participants from the same university are allowed to compete at Westminster IV. The tournament features five rounds, an open final as well as an ESL final, if at least 12 ESL teams register. Chief Adjudicators (CAs) are Matt Handley, EUDC finalist and a two time semi-finalist of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC), and Amanda Moorghen, designated Deputy Chief Adjudicator of the EUDC 2015 in Vienna. Becki Howarth, winner ...

From the 2nd to the 3rd of August, the Imperial IV will be hosted by the Imperial College Union Debating Society in London. The tournament features five preliminary rounds with seven minute speeches, a break to semi-finals and a final. The two out of three Chief Adjudicators (CAs) already announced are Ruairidh Macintosh and Daniel Bramble. Registration costs £45 and does not include accommodation. For all those who need accommodation, the organisers can provide contact details of hostels in the vicinity. Everybody who goes to the Imperial IV as well as the Westminster IV one week later will receive a 20 ...

From the 22nd to the 30th of November, the 12th International Debate Academy Slovenia (IDAS) will be held in Kranjska Gora and in Ljubljana. In the year before, over a hundred students from four different continents attended the Debate Academy, according to the organisers. The first part of IDAS consists of a training program taking place in Kranjska Gora. The second part from the 28th on will be a tournament in Ljubljana, Slovenia's capital. [caption id="attachment_23644" align="alignright" width="280"] Ljubljana[/caption] Videos of past debates and training sessions can be found in the Academy's vimeo channel. During the first days, debaters will listen to lectures ...

From the 17th to the 19th of October, the University of Turku Debating Club hosts the Turku Open for the second time in Finland. The tournament features 5 preliminary rounds of BPS debating with a break to semi-finals and a final. Speeches will be 7 minutes in length, the team cap is 32 teams. The Chief Adjudicators (CAs) are Harish Natarajan, CA of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC) 2014 in Chennai, Peer Klüßendorf, European Champion in the category English as a second Language (ESL) and ESL finalist at WUDC 2014, and Helena Ivanov, ESL Finalist as well as Best EFL ...

From the 9th to the  12th of August, the Riječka Debatna Unija will organise the RiOpen 2014 in Rijeka, Croatia. The tournament offers debaters heading for the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) in Zagreb another possibility to prepare and train. There will be five Chief Adjudicators (CAs) for the tournament: Viktor Prlja, best speaker at the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) 2013 in Manchester in the category English as a Second Language (ESL) and CA for the Cork EUDC 2016 bid; Tijana Mijalković, ESL quarter finalist at the World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) 2013 in Berlin and Deputy Chief Adjudicator (DCA) at the ...

The organisers of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC), taking place in Kuala Lumpur from 27 December to 4 January, have opened the first application round for Independent Adjudicators. According to the hosts, there will be two application rounds, the first until late June and the second in September, in order to allocate fundings and judging spots as effectively as possible. On the 12th of May, the organisers published general information on the independent adjudicator application process on facebook. On the 24th, they posted another message including the application link and more detailled information about the first phase. Below, the two ...

The Adjudication team of the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC) 2015 in Vienna, Austria, is now complete as the hosts have released the names of the three deputy chief adjudicators. Gavin Illsley, Emilia Carlqvist and Amanda Moorghen will join the Chief Adjudicators (CAs) Christine Simpson and Michael Shapira. Together, the five will set the motions for the tournament, set up the judging panels and select independent adjudicator for Euros. Gavin Illsley has won Euros in 2006 and has judged two finals of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC). Emilia Carlqvist has won Euros 2013 in Manchester in the category English ...

From August 29th to August 31st, the third Athens Open will be hosted by the Deree College Debating Club. The tournament takes place merely one week after the European Universities Debating Championship in Zagreb and welcomes all debaters who want to extend their holiday stay in the South East of Europe. The Athens Open will be held in British Parliamentary Style and features 5 preliminary rounds with 7 minute speeches, Semi-Finals and a Final. Chief Adjudicators (CAs) will be Christine Simpson, CA of Zagreb EUDC 2014, and Michael Shapira, CA of Vienna EUDC 2015. Registration is open. Registration Fee is 60 Euros ...

From the 21st until the 25th of July, the Erasmus Debate Society (EDS) invites debaters from all over the World to join DAPDI 2014, the annual debate training camp held in Rotterdam. The training week is meant to give beginners as well as advanced debaters training for the European Debating Championship 2014 in Zagreb an opportunity to improve their skills. Like in the previous years, trainers from the Oxford Debating Union will offer trainings to participants according to their specific skill levels from beginners to advanced debaters. After a three day training period, there will be a two day tournament, ...

Die Europameisterschaft wird 2015 in Wien ausgetragen und findet damit erstmals seit 2006 wieder im Gebiet des Verbandes der Debattierclubs an Hochschulen e.V. (VDCH) statt. Während der European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC) wird mindestens einmal der European Council tagen. In dieses Gremium wird aus jedem Teilnehmerland ein Delegierter entsandt. Es legt alle Regeln rund um die Europameisterschaft fest, etwa die Kriterien für den Break, bestimmt die Ausrichter der künftigen EUDC und diskutiert rund um das Turnier anfallende Probleme und Fragen. Dem Council steht der Council President vor. Marcus Ewald war im Jahr 2012/13 nach Jens Fischer der zweite Deutsche, der ...