A face lift every now and then... well, it’s always welcome with elderly homepages. That is the case with the website of the Debating Society Germany (DSG). After the total make-over, you may now find everything nicely and well-arranged. Most striking is the logo of the British Embassy Berlin – since early July a strong supporter of English language debating from under the roof of DSG. “Online resoures” leads you to a page full with useful debate-related links, directing you to the format of Worlds Schools Debating for instance. Or to an online debate database. Under “Regions” you will see ...

Sina Strupp was awarded for being the most promising debater new on the German language deating circuit at the German Language Debating Championship in Heidelberg in June this year. Deutsche Debattiergesellschaft, the alumni debating society of Germany, grants this award every year to one of the up-and-coming debaters. Read here the interview of a first year who will soon be debating with and against old stagers at the Masters' Cup in Eisenach. It's in German, though. “Wie eine Explosion“ war es für Sina Strupp, als sie im Sommer bei der Deutschen Debattiermeisterschaft (DDM) in Heidelberg mit dem Nachwuchspreis ausgezeichnet wurde. Den ...

Kyiv? What is that? That's the Ukrainian capital that is also called Kiev. The Kyiv Open will be held there on October 1 and 2 hosted by the Ukrainian Youth non-governmental organization Debate Academy. Language of the tournament by the river Dnieper is English, the format will be BPS. Registration fees are 15 Euros for members of the Ukrainian Debate Academy, 30 Euros for all other debaters and 10 Euros for judges. Participants are offered accommodation, meals and transfer around Kyiv. The team cap is 40, the convenors insist on the n-1 rule. Chief adjudicator is Anne Valkering (The Netherlands) ...

The UCU Open fits into the series of tournaments in the coming debating season. Hosted already for the second time by the Dutch University College Utrecht (UCU) Debating Union on November 4 and 5, this Open will be "bigger and " according to the org com. Convenor Marlies Hombergen and her team offer five prelims, a semifinal and a final. Registration has already opened (n-1 applies). CA  the ESL world champion Anne Valkering (ASDV Bonaparte), reg fee is €25. Crash accommodation will be provided both from Friday to Saturday and from Saturday to Sunday. More information is available ...

Would you like to spend a few days in the warm tropics, a cool sea breeze playing in your hair, the sun high in an immaculately blue sky, as a turquoise sea crashes onto a secluded beach? So would we. Nevertheless, you may also be interested in the 2011 Centrale Paris IV taking place on December 2 and 3. It will be staged at the “picturesque campus” of the École Centrale de Paris – only half an hour by public transport from the centre of Paris. Très centrale! Language of debate is English, the format will be British Parliamentary Style (BPS). ...

After the the rules for OPD (a format called Offene Parlamentarische Debatte which is widely spread in Germany) have been revised, so have the materials for introduction and training. Streitkultur Tübingen have made the documents available on their homepage.

Facts: BPS workshop (advanced) Mainz September 16 to 18, 2011 BPS, German 15 Euros Coaches: Marcus Ewald, Lukas Haffert registration until September 7

Supporting debate events in any language is the main and common goal of IDEA and OSF. IDEA stands for International Debate Education Association, OSF for Open Society Foundations.Both aim at building democracies that are responsible to their citizens, both do that through supporting debate activities - this time on a very local basis with (limited) financial means. You're planing a debate event? Or have an innovative idea that needs to be subsidized? Apply now for support! More info is available from the website of OSF. General standards for assigning subsidies are the following: Only groups established for a not-for-profit purpose with ...

Facts: September 17, 2011 Zurich BPS, German 20 Euros ProAm teams registration until 10. September

Ahhhh, summer holidays! Finally: Sleeping in, extended breakfast, enjoy the summer day, relax from school. A good book might compete with the all-too-fast online world. Uhm, well, the German delegation who went to the World Schools Debating Championships (WSDC or World Schools) 2011 in Dundee obviuosly meant to do the oppositie of all this: Long trip to Scottland, getting up early in the morning, out into Scottish weather, in to the next debate, out of the  debate, doing late night online research for the next day. Tired, hungry, disappointed by losses, totally euphoric from wins, running between venues, competing with ...

The Crazy IV offers on October 15 a tournament of a very special kind. The University of Strathclyde's convenor Sorana Goga promises on the Facebook page: "We are going to bring to you a set of original motions, each one set in a fantasy world/alternate reality based either on a film or book ranging from Harry Potter to Inception and going through everything in between". The relevant books and films are to be announced shortly. But why would one organise such an uncommon debating competition? Their inspiration was their last year's successful show debate on topic "This house would tell the ...

The next season of the German debating ZEIT DEBATTEN series is set: the general assembly of VDCH, the Association of Debating Societies at Universities, came together in August and decided upon dates and locations of four ZEIT DEBATTEN tournaments, three regional championships and the German debating championship (MDD) 2012. An overview over the coming season 2011/12 is provided here: ZEIT DEBATTE Karlsruhe, 25 to 27 November 2011 Organised by Debatte Karlsruhe, CAs Yin Cai (DC Heidelberg), Christoph Krakowiak and Mario Dießner (both SK Berlin), ormat OPD. ZEIT DEBATTE Hamburg, 13. to 15. Januar 2012 Organised by Debattierclub Hamburg, ...

Gudrun Lux, president of Deutsche Debattiergesellschaft (DDG), the German alumni association for debaters, announced the CA team of Masters' Cup 2011. Traditionally, one member each from VDCH and DDG executive boards are the chief adjudicators of Masters’ Cup. This year, this will be the recently elected president of VDCH Benedikt Nufer and Gudrun's deputy, DDG vice president Isabelle Loewe. The Masters’ Cup is the annual tournament which is staged at Eisenach since 2005. The venue for the final is the ballroom at the world heritage site Wartburg. The Masters’ style was specifically developed ...

The general assembly of VDCH (the Association of Debating Societies at Universities) elected a new president and his deputies: Benedikt Nufer, Tom-Michael Hesse, Simeon Reusch and Philipp Stiel constitute the new VDCH executive board. Benedikt has already been part of the executive bord last year. He is a member of the debating society at Hamburg University where he works on his Ph.D. thesis in history. Simeon Reusch will be in charge of the German debating tournament series ZEIT DEBATTEN for the forthcoming year. He is doing his Bachelor studies in Philosophy and Politics in Halle where ...

Extra, extra! The first women only debating tournament in the history of German debating took place: Jena hosted the girls from August 17 to 19. Chief adjudicators Andrea Gau (Mainz), Sarah Jaglitz (Greifswald) and Dessislava Kirova (Berlin) and female debaters from Greifswald, Halle, Münster, Mainz, Tübingen and Jena assembled in the Thuringian town to debate. Fun Fact No. 1:  It was the boys who were catering for the girls: Coffee, cake, and hot'n'spicy Curry à la Clemens Lechner. Yummy! Fun Fact No. 2: Half of the debaters for vegetarians. Hence, the vegetarian curry. Fun Fact No. 3: An ...

The Committee on OPD Rules (Regelkommission) sat and adapted a few changes. OPD? Yepp, that's the most popular format of debating on the German language circuit: Offene Parlamentarische Debatte, or open parliamentary debate (OPD). It was founded in 2002 and since then updated whenever necessary. The authors of the set of rules are Bernd Rex, Ansgar Kemmann and Michael Hoppmann, all of them debaters from Streitkultur Tübingen, Germany's oldest deb soc. Included in the set is now the permission to use electronic devices such as smart phones during prep time - or more exactly: the convenors may decided upon the permission ...

From 17 to 19 August the first women only debating tournament took place in Germany organized by the Debattiergesellschaft Jena. 16 speakers argued in five preliminary rounds and the final. Sophie Binas (Klartext Halle) and Franziska Bröker (S.A.E.C.L.O. Greifswald), the latter just finished grammar school, won the final from the position of Closing Opposition. To learn more about the tournament and its motions, please read the German version of this article. Get an impression of the tournament from the video that broadcaster Jena-TV published on their website. vro / apf

Furor on the web about the ESL final motion and more blogs and articles that report from the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC or Euros): That’s what we found for you on the internet. ...

Disclaimer: This article reflects my (Manos Moschopoulos’) own personal point of view, which does not necessarily reflect the opinion of anyone else involved with the Adjudication core or Organizing Committee of Belgrade EUDC 2012. Addendum: Manos' text refers to a Facebook group where a Dutch debater complains about the motion of the ESL final at the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC or Euros) at Galway, Ireland. This very debater, Eric Stam, has also voiced his opinion on the website of the Dutch debating assosication. By the way, the motion read "This house believes ...

Numbers, winners, facts and pictures! That and more is to be found in international media about the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC or Euros) that were held at Galway, Ireland from August 7 to 13. Since we assume that our appreciated readers do not want to waste their precious time on thorough research, but still wanna know what's going on - well, your Achte Minute team provides you with a quick overview. ...

Since we guess that our appreciated readers follow us on Twitter your head will most probably be replete with impressions from Galway Euros. But what are the facts and figures about the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC or Euros)? Or maybe you have been there yourself and want to sort things out now? Your Achte Minute team provides you with all you might want to know - and even beyond. By the way, you still might wanna follow the Hashtag #EUDC on Twitter - you'll find funny stories and how everybody copes with the ...

Deutschlandradio interviewed Marcus Ewald, vice president of the umbrella organization Association of Debating Societies at Universities (VDCH or Verband der Debattierclubs an Hochschulen). To read what Marcus has to say on speaking in public, see the online version of the interview. xzy / apf

Debattierclub Göttingen elected their executive board. David Lamouroux and Franziska Frese were confirmed in their offices as president and member respectively. The newbies on board are Christoph Weißermel as vice president, Jannis Lennartz and Nicolas Friebe. Congrats and good luck!

One week of debating, nine preliminary rounds, quarters, semis and now the final! This year's European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC or Euros) held at Glaway, Ireland, produced new champions in the open break as well as in the category ESL, English as a Second Language. ...

Diner is over, everybody is well fed, veeeery sweet "sticky toffee" fudge as dessert. But here is, what you're probably really interested in instead of our diet. Maybe the motions of the quarters? Open break quarters: "This house would never fight for King and Country." ESL break quarters: "This house would ban all EU arms companies from selling arms outside the EU." From quarters, it was the following teams who advanced to semis: ...

Tel Aviv A is double breaking at Galway Euros! That is in the open and in the ESL break. Something that is only possible at Euros, not at Worlds. Find the rest of the break to quarter finals below - we have it all for you: The open break as well as the ESL break. That was one exciting announcement ... my goodness! OPEN BREAK The competitors of the open break have to be early birds: Debate starts at 9 a.m., ... Quarter final 1: TCD Hist B King's Inn A UCD L&H A UCC Philosoph B Quarter final 2: Oxford A KCL A UCC Law B Warwick ...

Wow, great applause to our volunteers here at Galway! They are doing a great job and more than deserved the standing ovations they were payed to. They're doing an amazing job. We're right now enjoying a nice and decent soial with traditional Irish music. Everybody's a little tired after nine prelims up to now - but at the same time rrrrrrrreally excited: Who is going to break tonight? Who will compete in tomorrow's quarter finals? It's a tough competition - yeah, really, what else are we supposed to say about it? It is ...

swifObama's taxation failure, donor siblings and hacking - yesterday's motions swiftly summed up. The first was about the debt deal in the United states, the second about siblings selected as donors for much looked-after tissue for their older brothers or sisters and the third was about the question if hacking is an appropriate means of protest. We hope all our much appreciated readers followed us on Twitter during the debates, so we would not bother you with boring summaries of the debates. Two great news from yesterday, the first: There was no rain! ...

Achtung, the Germans! The teams from the German speaking regions make up one of the largest groups here at Galway Euros, the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC and Euros) held in Ireland this year. 17 teams from Germany and Austria are competing for the title at the western coast of the Emerald Isle. To make sure you keep your fingers crossed for the right teams, we are presenting you with the names: ...

... Manos Moschopoulos and Art Ward. Besides live tweeting from the rounds and rooms, we've gone completely, no, not insane, but multimedia. You don't know who Manos and Art are? Then meet them in our video taken Monday night at Galway Euros. They are both involved in the Belgrade bid for Euros next year, Art is chief adjudicator and Manos one of the forces behind this bid from Serbia. The European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC or Euros) have been held annually since 1999. It was started in Rotterdam where 32 ...