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 ...

The cancellation of a public debate in Oxford on the topic "This House believes Britain's abortion culture hurts us all" caused a controversial and emotional debate in the United Kingdom. After Tim Squirrell, current president of the Cambridge Union Society, published an article in the students' newspaper "The Tab," saying, "it’s about time we recognised that and started thinking responsibly and considerately about freedom of speech," he was exposed to hostilities. Tim allowed us to republish his latest article from his blog "Squirrelling the Motion" that reflects on the ongoing discussion. Besides offering an overview on the events of the ...

The preparations for the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) 2015 in Vienna are in full swing. Stefan Zweiker convenes the event, which will host 800 participants in Austria’s capital. Press representative of Debattierklub Wien (DKWien) Damita Pressl conducted a short interview. Stefan, how is the organisation going at the moment? What details have been confirmed so far? For one thing, we have a key organisation committee, meaning that up to this point, we had around 20 people completing most tasks. That number is now set to grow, and I would guess around another 20 people are going to join us and take ...

"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 ...

As a prominent part of the thematic focus on Europe, the VDCH – Association of German Speaking University Debating Societies – and two member clubs organized two “European Debates Conferences”. They aim to bring the participants of the other projects and many other debating societies together to jointly debate about controversial political, economic and societal issues. The participants are not only improving their knowledge about Europe and their rhetorical and argumentative skills. They also get to know students from up to 11 other countries and learn about the differences and similarities in their points of view on common challenges. [caption id="attachment_25351" ...

Dan Lahav and Yair Har-Oz won the Tilbury House IV - the 2nd European Debates Conference. They beat Osnabrück A (Stefan Torges, Jan Dirk Capelle), Maastricht Guess The Novice (Srdjan Miletic, Evelyn Svingen) and BDU Die schweigenden Lämmer (Rebecca Irvine, Philippe Holzhey) in the final, debating the motion "This House would ban anti EU parties from participating in the EU elections."  The final was jugded by Senna Maatoug (Chair), Itay Ben Yair, John Harper, Leo Münstermann and Emma Hartholt. [caption id="attachment_25062" align="alignright" width="320"] The final of the Tilbury House IV 2014. © Achte Minute[/caption] The following teams broke to the semi-finals and ...

In the year of the European Elections, the Association of German Speaking University Debating Societies (VDCH) chose to make Europe the main focus of its work. For that purpose, it participates in conducting 22 public “European Debates” in 7 countries, to invite students and the broad public to actively take part in debates concerning the most important subjects of European policy. Also, this years’ German-Speaking University Debating Championship was held under the motto “Speaking German – Thinking European” and hosted participants from many other European countries. As a prominent part of the thematic focus on Europe, the VDCH and two member ...

For the eleventh time, the Leiden Debating Union will host the Leiden Open. The tournament will last from February 28 to March 1 and features five preliminary rounds and breaks into semi-finals as well as a novice final. The tournament will be on Saturday and Sunday, but there will be a social on Friday night. A detailed schedule will be announced soon on the tournament’s facebook event. There will be one Chief Adjudicator (CA) with three Deputy Chief Adjudicators (DCAs): CA Daan Welling won last year’s Leiden Open and was a finalist at the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC) in Berlin 2013. ...

It is one of the oldest tournaments in Europe: This December, for the 16th time, the SSE Riga IV will take place. Latvia’s capital is European Capital of Culture in 2014.  The British Parliamentary Style-tournament will have five preliminary rounds and a break to quarterfinals as well as a novice final. On Saturday night, a spiritual debate will take place. Steven Ramesh Rajavinothan and Gediminas Užkuraitis are Chief Adjudicators. Both the Tabmaster and the Equity Officer are yet to be announced. Up to 72 teams can participate in the tournament. For more information, see the facebook event. Ruta Gabalina is the ...

On the weekend of November 14-15, the Debattierklub Wien will host a novice tournament in British Parliamentary Style (BPS). Everyone with less than a year of experience in debating and over the age of 18 may participate in the four rounds with a direct break into final. Speeches will be only five minutes long. Peer Klüßendorf, Madlen Stottmeyer and Ioana Stupariu will be the Chief Adjudicators. Additional information can be found at the tournament’s facebook event. Here is the information in a nutshell: Date: November 14-15 Chief Adjudicators: Peer Klüßendorf, Madlen Stottmeyer, Ioana Stupariu Team cap: 32 Rounds: Four preliminary rounds, final Registration Fee: €35, including ...