The Tilbury House Debating Society has announced that the Tilbury House IV 2013 will be staged on December 13th to December 15th. There will be 5 preliminary rounds plus the semi-finals and the grand final. CA will be Henk van Zuilen (Finalist of EUDC 2013). The registration will prospectively close Friday at 6 pm, the final will be done on Sunday at approximately 4 pm. To get more information visit the societies homepage where it shall be postet asap. You may also join the Facebook event to find out more. Quick Facts: Tilbury House IV 2013 December 13 to 15 Cologne, Germany BPS, English CAs: Henk van Zuilen, ...

The Debating society of the European Business School (EBS), EBS Communicate,will host their fist tournament this year. The EBS Open 2013 will be held in Wiesbaden October 11th - 13th. The Team-Cap is 36 teams, with an insitution-cap of three teams per institution. N-1 will apply, though EBS Communicate encourages aditional judges. The Reg-Fee is 15 Euro and covers meals, socials and a workshop. Crash will be provided if required. The tournament has four preliminary rounds with break to semis. Michael Shapira and Marietta Gädeke will be serving as CAs. Teams can register here, adjudicators find the registration form here. Please check ...

The hosts of EUDC 2015, the Debattierklub Wien, has announced the Vienna IV 2014. To celebrate DKWien's 10th anniversary the DK is hosting the largest Vienna IV so far from March 7th-9th 2014. Team Cap is 100 Teams, the debating Venues are on the brand-new campus where Vienna's EUDC 2015 are going to take place. There will be 3-star accommodation, socials and plenty of activities, the DK promises an "outstanding debating and sightseeing experience". You can watch their Tailer online and join the Facebook-Event for further updates. Registration starts early November 2013, n-1 rule will apply. The DK Wien has asked Christine Simpson, Nicole Loiter and Stefan Zweiker to serve as ...

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. ...

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="324"] Front page of the report[/caption] During the Glasgow Ancients Final the Team of Opening Government, defending the motion "This House Regrets the Centralization of Religion", was booed and "shame"-d by male debaters in the audience, adding to the list of problematic remarks on women in the Glasgow Debating Union observed during the weekend. Achte Minute documented parts of the debate in an article. Now one of the victims of this incident, Rebecca Meredith published together with Matt Hezell and Clara Spera a report, that shows the spread of misogyny and sexisim within debating. The report collects contributions from a survey started after the final of the Glasgow Ancients 2013 in ...

Achte Minute features today a online post by Daan Welling that can also be found on his blog. He says, that as he is now part of the “old crowd” on the Dutch debating scene, he thinks it ought to be time for him to sit down on the sofa of self-appointed wisdom, and give some general suggestions, ideas and inspirations for the coming debating season. We are excited to see what you think about his ideas. I think our circuit is incredibly fun and inclusive, and serves as a great addition to one’s (student) life. Nonetheless, there are always ...

This article is only avaiable in German.

This article is only available in German.

Fred Cowell and Danique van Koppenhagen, the CAs of Durham EUDC 2014 have openned the application process for Deputy Chief  Adjudicators. All infromations about where to apply can be found on the EUDC Druham website. The requirements for future DACs are outlined here.  Applicants need to fill in the form by 11.59pm 30th of August. fpu

This article is only available in German.

This article is only available in German.

This article is only available in German.

[caption id="attachment_17141" align="alignright" width="324"] Beyond black and white: Danique van Koppenhagen (l) and Fred Cowell (r) are looking for Co-DCAs[/caption] The DCAs of the Durham EUDC 2014 bid contacted Achte Minute about the application process for Druham EUDC DCAs. Below are all the informations you need if you want to consider an application. "We will not be appointing DCAs on a specifically regional basis but will instead be appointing those individuals who meet the qualifications and are best placed to fulfil the duties and expectations of a DCA. The qualifications and duties of a DCA are set out below, we will be ...

The Org Com of the Red Sea Open 2013 has opend the registration for the tournament. The fourth installment of this tournament comes with "Alcohol that flows like a river, Sun that leaves you slightly toasted, An amazing adjudication team, and Debaters from all over the world" and will, according to sources, offer "5 days of Pure Enjoyment!". Teams and judges can register here for the tournament that will will be held in Eilat, Israel from September 9th-September - 12th 2013. Michael Shapira will serve as CA, Harish Natatajan, Pam Cohn and Monica Forman are going to be his DCAs. For more information like the Facebook-Event. fpu/ ak

DKWien invites all newcomers to debating to its novice* tournament in Vienna from 8th - 9th November 2013. The organizers state: "Are you new to debating? Can you feel the urge to take the bird off the runway and kiss the sky? Take some flying lessons and spread your wings at the second edition of Vienna Freshers'! This tourney will get start your debating life in a nice and circumspect way."   Chief adjudicators (CA) a.k.a Chief Aviators: Senna Maatoug and Melanie Sindelar Format: British Parliamentary Style (BPS), English language, 5 min speeches, extra long prep-time 25 min Reg fee: 25 € per person Team cap: 24 N-1 ...

The UTU Debating Club announced the Turku Open, that will take place in Finland from 25th to 27th October 2013. 5 Preliminary Rounds with Break to the Semi-Finals Chief Adjudicator: Manos Moschopoulos Team Cap: 32 teams (no limitation to the number of teams each institution can send) First come-first serve criteria n-1 rule apply Registration Fee is 50€/debater with accommodation and 35€/debater without Registration Fee is 40€/adjudicator with accommodation and 25€/adjudicator without. Registration Deadline: 30th of September or when the Team Cap is reached The organizers give three reasons, why debaters should come: " Because you love debate and we promise you amazing motions, a well-known CA, great judges and ...

To all debaters who still want ot attend the Berlin IV 2013: there are still some spots up for grab. The Berlin IV will take place from the 21st of June to the 23rd of June, so if you want to come to Berlin contact the Berlin Debating Union as soon as possible and make sure you pay the reg fee quickly. For mor informations check out the Facebook-Event. The Berlin IV 2013 is all about 2013 alternative freedom. In Berlin IV will not feature any fancy banquets but a wide array of scoial acitivities, ranging from barbecues and ice cream to ...

The Debattierklub Wien announced another tournement. Achte Minute copy-pasted  the invitation.  You expect those Vienna People to come up with something really big and massive, when they announce a summer tournament and all what you get is something called 'Mini'? Like, seriously? My dear friend, life should have taught you that size is not all that matters. Sometimes the pleasure sprouts from the tiny things, just look what Vienna Mini does for you: If you've been focussing too much on your exams recently, Vienna Mini cleans off the rust from your debating skills. If debating is your staff of life,these four rounds ...

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="400"] ( Photo by Anne Valkering)[/caption] Achte Minute reported about the Debate Changing Europe programm. Now the winners and organisers of the six tournemantes, including ZEIT Debatte Aaachen and Vienna IVs went on a trip to Maastricht and Brussels. Anne Valkering went with them.  Thirty students from several European countries convened in Maastricht under the banner of Debate changing Europe from June 2 to 6. The Common European Event aimed to increase their understanding of the inner workings of the European Union. They met up with people working on the ground in Brussels and discussed the topic of youth employment and how ...

Last weekend the Jacobs Open 2013 took place in Bremen. The winner after five preliminary rounds, semi-finals and final is Lund A (Emilia Carlquist and Peer Klüßendorf). The motions of the Jacobs open 2013 were: 1. THW remove all "sin taxes" 2. TH, as US President, would grant the Chinese Christian refugees asylum 3. THBT Governments should fund and publicly display art which viscerally portrays the suffering of victims created by state policies/actions (eg war, failure to go to war, poverty at home and abroad) 4. THW only allow election campaigns to be funded by a fixed budget provided by the state 5. TH, as the ...

In the past the Deputy Chief Adjudicators of the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC) were choosen in advance. Danique van Koppenhagen one of the Chief Adjudicators of the Durham EUDC bid shares her and Fred Crowell ideas about a reform. Comment and discuss away!  At EUDC council in Belgrade, a decision was made to no longer allow bids for EUDC to announce more than two members of their prospective CA team. The Durham EUDC bid for 2014 has taken this to heart, and announced only Fred Cowell and myself as co-CA’s. DCA’s will be announced after the bid has been awarded. The change ...

The Leiden IV 2013, from the 22nd to the 23rd of March brought together 53 teams (including teams from DK Wien, Berlin Debating Union and Tilbury House), competing against one another in a pleasant atmosphere, which can be attributed to the formidable organizational effort of the convenors, as well as the social and open-minded attitude of the mostly Dutch contestants. The location of Leiden certainly also played a part though. It can justly be described as an idyllic small university town, perpetuating Dutch stereotypes, concerning their generally friendly and tolerant attitude and a heavy, widespread use of bicycles. The tournament consisted of ...

[caption id="attachment_15655" align="alignright" width="267"] (Photo by Ton Zonneveldt)[/caption] Anne Valkering is a former debater and well known figure in the Debate circle. For Achte Minute she writes about IDEA- the International Debate Education Association. Anne is a program officer and develops projects like Debate changing Europe  does fundraising, implements and coordinates them. What is IDEA? The International Debate Education Association (IDEA) aims to bring debate to places where it is not practiced. IDEA develops, organises and promotes debate and debate-related activities in communities throughout the world to promote civic engagement, focused on young people between 15 and 25. IDEA was created out of the Open Society ...

DKWien, the Viennese debating societey, announced their intention to set up a bid for the ‘craziest WUDC 2016 ever’ on 1st April 2013, apparently because the K in DKWien stands for “krazy”. Exact details have not been released yet, but according to verified sources the bid is dead set ridgy didgy sure. The organising team claims they are sure they will be able to supply 500 teams and an equal number of  judges with so much Red Bull over 8 days that participants at Vienna WUDC could easily do twice as many rounds as at a normal WUDC. Yet, this ...

The Imperial College Union Debating Society has announced an IV just one week prior to Manchester Euros. The tournament will be held on August 10th/11th in London. There are no details as of now on CAs, Team-Cap, Reg-Fee and Rounds. We´ll keep you posted. Save the date and check out the Facebook-Event. fpu

The Debating Society of the School of African and Oriental Studies in London has anounced the SOAS Open 2013 which will take place on August 3rd. Just two weeks prior to Manchester Euros four rounds with a berak to a Final will be offerd for a Reg-Fee of £35 per person.  Rebecca Meredith is the CA, Ben Adams and James Wood have been anounced as DCAs. You can check the Facebook-Event for updates. fpu

The first ever Swedish Debating Tournament, the Sockholm IV, will take place May 10th - 12th in Stockholm. The Team-Cap is 48, the Reg-Fee is 45 Euro per participant. Delgeations must conform to n-1, the CAs are Michael Shapira, Frederick Cowell and Ben Gladnikoff. There will be five Rounds with a Break to Semi-Finals and possibly an ESL-Break. You can find more information on the website. fpu

The Belgrad Open 2013 will take place in the Serbinan Capital on May 17th and 19th. The CA Team consist of CA Harish Natarajan, DCAs Seena Maatoug and Manos Moschopoulos, Regional DCA Črt Podlogar and Local DCA Goran Jankuloski. The 11th installment of the Belgrade Open comes with 5 Rounds and a Break to Semis. The Reg fee is 50 EUR per PARTICIPANT, the Team-Cap is 64 Teams. The Registration opens on April 1st (no joking). For more Information you can check out the website. fpu

The Split Open take place in Split (Croatia)  April, 26th - 28th. The Team-Cap is 48, contingents must conform to n-1. CAs are Michael Shapira, Goran Jankuloski and Maja Cimerman. For more infos check out the Facebook-Event. fpu

The fourth tournament of the famous “ZEIT-DEBATTEN” series will be held in Aachen form May, 10th till May, 12th. The RTWH Aachen Debating Society will host the last German language BP tournament before the German National Championships. This tournament is part of the “Debate Changing Europe” series, giving it an international touch. For the first time in German debating history non-native German language speakers are explicitly encouraged to participate. The tournament will be held in Worlds/BP-Style. Over the course of three days there will be 6 preliminary rounds, semifinals, a Grand Final, and a “German as Foreign Language” final (depending on ...