Budapest Open is the perfect tournament for many reasons. It's perfect for a good early Euros prep, for an amazing weekend, or even as Chapter One of the Austro-Hungarian Debate Week, since Vienna IV is precisely the following weekend. Registration fee is 50 EUR for debaters and judges alike.  For this, you get almost everything you can wish for during these few days, including meals, accommodation in a three-star hotel for two nights, debate and socials venues and drinks coupons so you only have to spend a minimum amount on all your self-destruction needs. An additional night's stay is available at ...

When on Saturday a teaser video poped up in Facebook, promising that a "debate related event will take place in 2016" accompany by Syrtaki music,  rumours araised that Greece will bid for World Universities Debating Championship 2016.  The Debating Society of Greece and the Open Communication Debating Network then proudly presented the University of Macedonia bid for WUDC 2016 at the Cambridge IV. The Championship are to be held 27 December 2015 - 4 January 2016 in Thessaloniki, Greece. The host city of Thessaloniki has been a metropolis of international standing since the Roman times, being an important trade and cultural ...

Nein, gemütlich war das Turnier nicht. Auch nicht entspannt. Dafür aber lehrreich und traditionsreich. Am Wochenende fand in der berühmten britischen Universitätsstadt das Cambridge IV statt.  Ganze 132 Teams unter anderem aus Yale und Harvard, Bangladesh und Alaska fanden sich am Freitag in der kleinen Ortschaft ein. Einige waren bereits bei dem in der Woche vorher stattgefindenen Oxford IV angetreten. Starke Konkurrenz also für die VDCH-Teams, die sich aber dennoch zu behaupten wussten. In der Kategorie English as a Second Language standen sich unter anderem Peer Klüßendorf und seine Partnerin Lucinda Davids, die für Lund antraten, und Khang On sowie ...

Unless you were exiled to some sort of cave of Debateland, if you’re an European novice debater you probably heard about the Vienna Freshers’ that happened last week. True to the motto “Take off to your debating life” 32 teams from 9 countries were introduced to the debate tournament atmosphere, departing from Vienna, to… well, anywhere you want, or so I’ve heard. I’m looking forward to finding out how far the debating life can take someone. Friday afternoon we gathered at the WU campus, mentally thanking the one who came up with the great idea of getting free energy drinks for ...

Shafiq Bazari and Jonathan Leader Maynard (Chief Adjudicators, Malaysia Worlds 2015) are pleased to announce that fourteen people have applied to be considered for the position of Deputy Chief Adjudicator at Malaysia Worlds 2015. Among the candidates is our very own Dessislava Kirova from Berlin (ESL-Finalist at Manila Worlds, DCA at Manchester Euros and senior member of the OrgComm of Berlin Worlds). The Americas: Sarah Balakrishnan, Brett Frazer, Paul Gross, Buzz Klinger, Romeo Maione, Arlán A. Narváez-Vaz R. Middle East/Africa: Engin Arikan, Ngcwele Khumalo , Paidamwoyo Mangondo Australasis: Paul Karp, Madeline Jennifer Schultz, Sebastian Templeton Continental Europe: Dessislava Kirova, Danique van Koppenhagen The Chief Adjudicators are now asking the world debating community to submit feedback, regarding the suitability ...

In 2014 the World University Debating Championship will take place in Chennai. This week, the adjudication team, consisting in Harish Natajaran, Michael Baer, Ely Zosa, Michael Shapira, Fiona Prowse and Steven Whittington, published a Preliminary Briefing for the participants. You can find the original text here: As many individuals and institutions begin preparing for WUDC over the coming months, the Chennai Worlds Adjudication Team thought it would be helpful to provide some guidance on policies that we will be adopting. The vast majority of this year’s briefings (including much of what follows) will match last year’s briefings in Berlin. We want to ...

The 15th SSE Riga Inter-Varsity Debate Tournament is one of the biggest and oldest debate tournaments in Eastern Europe. It will take place in November 30 – December 1. This far already teams from 9 different countries have confirmed their participation. Deadline for registration & payments is due 12th of November; see details below. Chief Adjudicator of this tournament will be Stephanie Bell, who is a distinguished debater and adjudicator; you may recognize her as the CA of Oxford IV of 2013. Her achievements include: Grand-finalist at the WUDC 2012 and 2nd best speaker, quarter-finalist at WUDC 2011. Location: Stockholm School ...

Wir hatten das große Glück, letztes Wochenende am Turku Open 2013 in Finnland teilnehmen zu dürfen. Angetreten waren 36 Teams aus Schweden, Griechenland und Finnland. Wir waren das einzige Team aus Deutschland. Allerdings traten 3 weitere Deutsche an, die in Schweden studieren. Los ging es Freitag mit einer kleinen Verzögerung mit dem Thema:  R1: THW make welfare payments conditional on recipients engaging in fulltime community service. Der Antrag in unserem Raum war etwas unklar gestellt und wir konnten als Opening Opposition auch nur mäßig glänzen, da es so viel zu kritisieren gab. R2: THW forcibly remove the children of Roma parents ...

Warsaw Open is the first international tournament in Poland. The team promises "Amazing people, lots of fun, delicious food and many many attractions!" Some general tournament details: - Chief Adjudicator: Manos Moschopoulos - December 6th - 8th 2013 - 7 min speeches - 4 preliminary rounds, break to semi-finals - team cap of 40 - costs are 25 euros per debater, judges 15 euros (covers food, accomodation and alcohol) - n-1 rule applies To registration go to the Google form.  You can contact the team at klubdebat@gmail.com, find more information on their Facebook site and watch the promo video on Youtube. ak

The International Debate Academy Slovenia (IDAS) will be held from November 23rd to December 1st. You can attend the instructional week and the British Parliamentary debate tournament. The weeks consists of a full program for trainers, teachers, coaches, club leaders, judges at any level in any debate format. If not interested in the whole programme, you may apply for the tournament only. The application deadline is the 30th of October. The whole event costs 340 euros, the tournament-only option 80 euros. Facilities As displayed by the picture above, participants will be accommodated in Hotel Špik, in the impressive ambient of Kranjska Gora. Results IDAS is mainly ...

Die World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) 2013 in Berlin wäre ohne den Einsatz der zahlreichen freiwilligen Helfer, kurz Volunteers, nicht möglich gewesen. Die Kompetenzen, die sie dabei erlernt und angewandt haben, sind auch international gefragt. So werden bei der kommenden Weltmeisterschaft im studentischen Debattieren im indischen Chennai mehrere Helfer aus der deutschsprachigen Debattierszene bei der Organisation mitwirken. Darunter auch Marietta Gädeke, die 2013 als Chief of Staff fungierte und ihren Nachfolger beraten wird, und Torsten Rössing, der den Krisenstab und das Lagezentrum leitet.  Die Achte Minute sprach mit beiden über die Mitwirkung der Deutschen bei der WUDC 2014. Achte Minute: Marietta, ...

Shafiq Bazari and Jonathan Leader Maynard (Chief Adjudicators, Malaysia Worlds 2015)  are pleased to inform the World Debating Community that applications for the positions of Deputy Chief Adjudicator (DCA) at Malaysia Worlds 2015 is now open. The submission Deadline is 31st October 2013. They hope to select the DCAs from a large pool of applications, and therefore strongly encourage applications from all who believe they would be able to fill the role of a Worlds DCA with excellence. In general, candidates should: Be able to commit to being at the tournament, and to travel to Malaysia shortly before its formal start date. Have excellent ...

Zehn Debattierer aus VDCH-Land werden in den kommenden Wochen und Monaten in Kolumbien, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Tadschikistan und Myanmar den Aufbau von kompetitivem Debattieren und demokratischer Streitkultur vorantreiben. Die fünf Workshops sind der zweite Teil des WUDC Berlin 2013 Scholarship Programme. Die Bewilligung des Projektantrags durch die Open Society Foundations war wohl die beste Nachricht, die – im Juli 2012 – das Hauptquartier der World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) im Berliner Wedding erreichte. Die OSF-Mittel flossen größtenteils zweckgebunden in das in Berlin ersonnene Scholarship-Programm, das es 110 Stipendiaten aus aller Welt ermöglichte, nach Deutschland zu kommen und an der Weltmeisterschaft sowie ...

On October 11 and 12 the Roosevelt Debating Society hosted the second edition of the Roosevelt Open. The tournament was held in lovely Middelburg, all the way in the south-west corner of the Netherlands. Among the VDCH-speaker were Stefan Torges, Madlen Stottmeyer, Leonard Muenstermann, Moritz Justen, Kai Dittmann, Jan-Dirk Capelle and Christopher Kroesmann. The tournament was won by Anne Valkering and Rogier Baart. Unfortuantly no VDCH-teams were in the break rounds, but the individual results of the teams and speaker can be found in the individual Speaker Tab and Team Tab. Motions R1: This House would no longer arrest or prosecute individual members of drug gangs operating in highly violent areas if ...

Last weekend, the first EBS Open organized by Bhavesh Agarval took place in Wiesbaden. There were only 16 teams due to the fact that a lot of teams canceled only a few days before the tournament. However, all participants were happy with the small EBS Open! Chief Adjudicators were Marietta Gädeke and Michael Shapira. Motions: R1: THW make EU voting compulsory. R2: You are a 19 year old boy who just finished his Abitur. As this boy, THW join the Bundeswehr (an infoslide was provided). R3: THW ban private Universities. R4: THW grant all Ethnic Germans a full Right of Return (an infoslide was provided as ...

"Following on from the success of UKDC last year, we're delighted to invite you to UKDC 2013, a World’s prep quality IV with a strong judging pool, an affordable registration fee, and a welcoming and inclusive debating environment including a novice break." says the UKDC OrgCom. As a not-for-profit tournament, 100% of the registration fees will be used to deliver great judges, food, and socials. While this year's UKDC is being graciously hosted at Nottingham Trent University and convened by Leah Wright, UKDC as a whole is run collaboratively by an experienced team from many different supporting UK universities. Details: Chief Adjudicators: Sally Rooney ...

The registration for Moscow Open 2013 is now open!  The Org Com says that the will provide food, crash and alcohol (“pretty decent socials sponsored by our business consulting friends") . Additionally they will help with the visa: “So just put on a big fur coat, google Navalny and practice your vodka drinking. Russia can't wait to have you!” Details: 5 rounds, break to semifinals There is no registration fee for international teams & judges. Please note that n-1 rule applies to Moscow teams. Deadline for registration is November 11. CA - Sally Rooney (EUDC 2013 Top Speaker, EUDC 2013 Finalist, EUDC 2012 Semi-finalist, winner of the International Mace and ...

The World Universities Debating Championship 2014 will take place in Chennai, India. The tournament starts on december 26th and lasts until january 3rd. It will be hosted by Rajalakshmi Institutions, a the group of educational institutes founded in 1997. This group of institutes provide higher education and school level educations to students in and around India. It is one of the top and largest educational institutions in India. Each year the event is hosted by a different university, selected by the World Universities Debating Council at the World Championship taking place. This follows a bidding process conducted at the World Championships ...

Between September 8 and 11 2013 BGU carried out the Red Sea Open for the fourth time. Convened by Mor Zoran and Noa Golan hyper-funded by the Ben Gurion University the rounds took place on the Eilat Campus of BGU. 32 teams, an outstanding Chief Adjudication team and an all round board combined an intimate debate atmosphere with a party holiday mood.  And the debate community has a new contender that wants to host EUDC 2016. Eilat, a rather Unconventional Debate Scenery From around a dozen tournaments yearly generated on the Israeli circuit the Red Sea Open is the only one truly ...

This years SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) IV will be held from october 19th to october 20th. The organiser promise a "veritable "fun fest" of five competitive rounds, of 7 minute speeches, breaking to quarters and ESL quarters, with excellent feedback guaranteed and two fantastic socials. We are expecting more than 100 teams." Adjudication team: CA: Amanda Moorghen (Euros Final judge, WUDC Quarter Finalist) DCA Elise Trewick (Euros Semi-Finalist) DCA: Andrea Bos (Euros Quarter Finalist) The event takes place at SOAS Vernon Square and Russell Square Campus, with the final held in the Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre. Registration is now open. Please follow the ...

The OrgComm of Zagreb EUDC 2014 has announced that they opened the DCA application process to the feedback stage. They would like to invite all members of the international debating community to provide feedback on the applicants based on their personal experience of working with them either as debaters, judges, CAs or DCAs. They are interested in feedback regarding judging ability and motion setting. In addition, they welcome any feedback on how well applicants work in teams and their other personal attributes. In alphabetical order, the applicants are: Alon van Dam (Israel, RRIS) Andreas Lazar (Germany, University of Stuttgart) Ashish Kumar (IONA, Cambridge University) Ben ...

On August 23 EUDC Council assembled in Manchester. Amongst other things the decisions on who will host Euros in 2014 and 2015 were made, with bids by Durham and Zagreb for EUDC 2014 and a bid by Vienna for EUDC 2015. Zagreb took the win over Durham and will host Euros next year.  Vienna’s bid was confirmed, which makes them the hosts for Euros the year after next. Teresa Widlok  was present in Council in her capacity as International Officer of the Association of German Speaking University Debating Societies and German delegate to Council. The following article describes her impressions ...

On October 11 and 12 the Roosevelt Debating Society will host the second edition of the Roosevelt Open. The tournament will be held in lovely Middelburg, all the way in the south-west corner of the Netherlands. Last year's Open was a great success, and this year the Org Comm promise a well-organized and fun tournament. Through collaboration with the Nationale Jeugdraad (NJR), they strive to make this tournament environmentally friendly. Concise info: British Parliamentary 7-minute speeches 5 rounds & break to semis Max €25 per speaker Domestic team cap of 5 Total team cap of 40 N-1 Adjudication Rule Registration Chief Adjudicators: Daan Welling: EUDC 2012 ESL Champion, WUDC 2013 ...

The University of Birmingham Debating Society is delighted to invite you all to the Birmingham IV 2013! It will take place from December 20th untill 22th.  Both convenors (Jamie Batchelor and David Irvine) have just finished an Erasmus year in Berlin. Jamies says: " Having seen what you guys can do we are aiming to extend participation in the Birmingham IV to institutions throughout continental Europe. We have a fantastic CA team lined up, and we’ll be running 5 rounds of 7 minute speeches, breaking to Open semi-finals as well as an ESL final. The weekend before Christmas, it promises ...

The Europen Universities Debating Championship 2014 will take place from 18th - 24th August 2014 in the capital of Croatia Zagreb. The championsships will be organised by joint efforts of the Zagreb Deebating Union, Open Communication and Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Nika Jelaska, Prospective Convener of Zagreb EUDC 2014, said: "Zagreb’s EUDC bid was motivated by a desire to bring debating back to the Balkans. Debating is an important and integral activity - it plays a role in how we engage, communicate and persuade. While in some societies debating is recognized and valued as an activity that should be ...

Wie Nika Jelaska, Cheforganisator der Europameisterschaft 2014 in Zagreb, bekannt gegeben hat, ist die Bewerbungsphase für einen Posten als Chefjuror eröffnet. Das Bewerbungsformular kann hier heruntergeladen werden. Über das Anforderungsprofil und den Bewerbungsprozess heißt es: Selection Criteria: Zagreb EUDC plans to appoint five Deputy Chief Adjudicators. The Org Comm says, that they have a strong preference for a geographically diverse adjudication team, with DCA’s that come from all over the continent. The team will ideally have members from developed and developing circuits, as well as a mix of those with extensive adjudication experience and those with less experience on adjudication teams. They are ...

The 4th UCU Open will be held in Utrecht, Netherlands on the 29th and 30th of November 2013. The registration for the BPS tournament will open on the 1st of September, the fee is 30€ per participant, judges are free (N-1 rule applies). There will be 5 preliminary rounds with a break to semi finals. Sam Block will serve as CA (DCAs: TBA) For more information visit the Facebook group or the homepage. Franziska Städter/ak

Last weekend a dream that many debaters dream came true for Peer Klüßendorf and Emilia Carlqvist: They became European Debating Champions in English as a second language. Peer started debating in highschool when he attended "Jugend debattiert" and advanced to its national and international final in 2007. One year ago, he resumed debating when he moved to Lund. Emilia just moved to Lund in 2011 and tried debating at a local tournament. Despite liking it, she was too busy and did not debate again until 2012 when she decided to run for the board of Lund Debate Society. Achte Minute ...

Am Donnerstag und Freitag fanden in Manchester die Ausscheidungsrunden sowie das Finale der European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) statt. Per Twitter und Facebook wurden die Gewinner bereits kurz nach der Siegerehrung am Freitagabend bekannt gegeben. Der Vollständigkeit halber gibt es hier die Themen und Gewinner nochmals zum Nachlesen. English as a Foreign Language: ESL Quarter-Finals: THBT men should consistently 'call out' and correct chauvinistic claims made by friends and coworkers ESL Semi-Finals: THBT environmentalists should start a campaign of sabotage and property damage aimed at major polluting companies ESL Final: THB the state should not fund works of art/ performance that average citizens would not ...

The Break of the EUDC Manchester 2013 has just been announced. It has been quite a wait. https://twitter.com/TheHist/status/370309338704785408 Open Break 1. TCD Hist A 2. Cambridge A 3. Sheffield A 4. Bristol A 5. GUU A 6. Cambridge B 7. TCD Phil A 8. Edinburgh A 9. UCC Phil A 10. Oxford A 11. St Andrews A 12. Nottingham A 13. Warwick A 14. Durham B 15. KCL A 16. Birmingham A ESL-Break 1. Tel Aviv 2. BDU A (Niels Schröter and Hauke Blume) 3. Belgrade A 4. Groningen B 5. Roosevelt A 6. Lund A 7. IDC A 8. Vienna A (Stefan Zweiker and Christoph Jäger) 9. Munich A (Marco Witzmann and Wladi Jachtchenko) 10. BBU A 11. RRIS A 12. Belgrade B 13. Stuttgart A (Nils Haneklaus and Andreas Lazar) 14. ...