There’s no other time in the year where more outstanding, successful, brilliant, superb, mind-blowing, astonishing, fascinating debaters meet at one location then whilst WUDC. That makes worlds the perfect time to talk to some of these people and get them to share their secrets to success. We have spoken to three more people from The Netherlands, Israel, Bangladesh and Germany. The interviews were conducted by Helena Hecke. In this Article you’ll hear about the tricks of the trade from Marc-Andre Schulz – Aachen Emma Lucas and Gigi Gil – Leiden Monica Forman - Tel Aviv Ratib Ali - Dhaka [caption id="attachment_30787" align="alignright" width="229"] Marc-Andre Schulz - ...

The second day of the World Universities Debating Championship in The Hague is coming to an end and of course the Achte Minute was there once again and has interviewed some of the participants from all around the world. Today six people from three continents were interviewed and there will be more coming the following days. The interviews were conducted by Helena Hecke. In this part you can find the interviews with: Ngozi Sibulele and Inga Macingwano – South Africa Charles Lewis and Alan Chan – Canada Minji Kim and Do Hyung Shin – South Korea   Ngozi Sibulele and Inga Macingwano – South Africa [caption id="attachment_30797" align="alignleft" ...

There is no other time in the year where more outstanding, successful, brilliant, superb, mind-blowing, astonishing, fascinating debaters meet at one location than whilst at WUDC. This makes Worlds the perfect time to talk to some of those people and get them to share their secrets to success. Today on the day of the first rounds, the Achte Minute has spoken to three different people from Sweden and New Zealand. In this article you’ll find the tricks of the trade. Gustaf Lundgren and Johan Båge – Stockholm Sebastian Templeton – Wellington Gustaf Lundgren and Johan Båge – Stockholm Gustaf and Johan are ...

The first day of the World University Debating Championship 2017 in The Hague is coming to an end and of course the Achte Minute was there and interviewed some of the participants from all around the world. Today seven people from three continents were interviewed and more will be coming the following days. Interviewing for the Achte Minute was Helena Hecke. In this part you can find the interviews with: Pradeepta Adhikari and Shreya Josmi – Nepal Roshelle Pinnock, Patrice Minto and Germaine Barrett – Jamaica Tyler Whitney and Lemuel Daher, Northwest University Kirkland – USA Pradeepta Adhikari and Shreya Josmi – Nepal [caption id="attachment_30746" align="alignleft" ...

[caption id="attachment_30739" align="alignright" width="400"] Masters this year: 2 vs 2, five minute speeches - © Manuel Adams[/caption] Traditionally, and before the WUDC pre-rounds begin on December 29th, there area few events worth noticing. These include pre-council meetings, the Women's Forum, and other opportunities for exchange. Amongst them is another event worth noticing: the Masters competition. All interested WUDC judges are allowed to sign up in teams for two rounds to show their speaking skills before they judge those of others. This small competition is adjudicated by volunteer WUDC speakers and judges. As is tradition, the competition can be held in the ...

At the Winter Holiday Open in Zagreb, a World Schools Debate tournament, USA Debate A (Liz Yount, Josh May, Aditya Dhar and Ella Michaels) participated the final in proposition against Bežigrad Green Stars (Matija Pušnik, Reja Debevc, Filip Korošec in Opposition on the motion TH regrets the commercialization of feminism. [caption id="attachment_30642" align="alignright" width="400"] The winning team bežigrad Green Stars - © WHO[/caption] The proposition debated the intersectionality of feminism, secondly the limitation of political action and lastly the resulting commodification and need for opposition to the system. Opposition argued against this with the arguments that the commercialization will lead to popularisation of feminism and ...

The team Bailey orders asian Teck-a-Wei (Teck Wei Tan & Bailey Reid, Oxford/KC London) won the final of Centrale Open 2016 from Opening Opposition. They won over Tilbury House Minions (Agnes Putri & Leonard Münstermann, Cologne) in Opening Government, There is but one God and He is not called Jesus (Dan Lahav & Muhammad Asadullah Khan, Tel Aviv/Cambridge) in Closing Government and Cardiff A (Raphael Hill & Calan Eskandar) in Closing Opposition on the motion "THBT the Democratic Party should take on a much more centre-leftist position and support a mass redistribution of wealth agenda". The final was judged by Harish Natarajan in chair, together with Sharmila Parmanand, Nika ...

„We are here because we didn't have a cancellation agreement“ (Jeroen Wijnen and Roel Becker, Leiden) won the final of the Lund IV in Opening Opposition. Debating the motion "THB that nuclear weapons have made the world a safer place.", they defeated "Belgrade A" (Ilija Ivanišević and Đorđe Jovićević) in Opening Government, "UCD Law A" (Adam Stairs and Aodhan Peelo) in Closing Government and "Cambridge CK" (George Clay and Muhammad Asadullah Khan) in Closing Opposition. The full debate is available on Youtube. Best speaker was Aodhan Peelo (UCD Law A) with an average of 82.6 points. [caption id="attachment_30505" align="alignright" width="400"] From left ...

Since yesterday, December 5th, 2016, judge test and debating and judging manual (to be read before completing the test) of the upcoming Dutch WUDC 2017 are available online. Consisting of a video debate and a multiple choice section, the test has to be completed by all participating judges before December 22nd 23:59 (GMT). Failure to do so will, according to the organizers, result in a "noticeable impact [on one's] allocation to rooms in the competition." Further, it has been announced that the Warsaw Speaker Scale will be applied throughout the tournament. Also, all judges have kindly been asked to enter any ...

[caption id="attachment_30437" align="alignright" width="300"] Philipp Müller and Calyxx Peucker  - © Katharina Heinrich[/caption] „Such a nasty team“ (Calyxx Peucker, Friedrichshafen and Philipp R. Müller, Munich) won the final of the Tilbury House IV in Closing Government. They defeated Münster F (Marc-Andre Schulz and Marcel Jühling) in Opening Government, TU Delft (Wissam Chalabi and Ina Vollmer) in Opening Opposition and Nerds on Tour (Lucy Lester and Alex, Maastricht) in Closing Opposition on the motion “THR the decision of Clinton supporters in the immediate aftermath of the 2016 US election to frame the Trump victory as the result of misogyny and racism and ...

Maastricht Novice 2016 was won by "The Dynamic Duo" (Helena Hecke, Tilbury House and Diogo Silva, Lund) in Closing Government on the motion "THW press the button" (Infoslide: There is a button. If pressed, nuclear weapons no longer function. This would be immediately detected by owners of said weapons. If you do not press the button immediately, it will disappear.) They competed against Debate Duo (Asena Baykal and Helena Depaepe, Maastricht) in Opening Government, RDaweSome (Rayo Vermeij and Moon van der Pas, Maastricht) in Opening Opposition and Team Gualg (Dino Wildi and Milec Gadzala) in Closing Opposition in the final, which was adjudicated by Srdjan Milec (chair), Lucy Lester, Jelte Schievelz and ...

The team TCD Hist A (Lorna Staines, Catherine Prasifka, Dublin) won the open finals as Closing Opposition at the UCU Open 2016. They prevailed against Utrecht United (Danique van Koppenhagen, Florine Rombach) in Opening Government, X in Opening Opposition and Jules and Tom (Jules Boog, Tom Pouw)  in Closing Government on the motion "Assuming the technology exists, THW remove the fear of death from all (human) individuals." The final was adjudicated by Simone Landman (chair), Katharina Jansen, Mike Weltevrede, Clíodhna Ní Chéileachair,  Nishith Hegde and two others whose names we weren't provided. The novice finals were won by The Backup (Becky Mikova, Pelle Keulen, ...

[caption id="attachment_30238" align="alignright" width="400"] The winning team of this year's Munich Open: Calyxx Peucker & Philipp Müller - © Jan-Gunther Gosselke[/caption] From October 28th till October 30th, the first Munich Open took place after substantial preparations by conveners Katharina Heinrich and Christian Rausch. CAed by Monica Forman, Ben Shaw and Melda Eren, it extended the former trio of important international tournaments in the German circuit (Berlin IV, Tilbury IV, Vienna IV) by a fourth. Following five preliminary rounds, 'Berlin B' (Stefan Torges & Julian Stastny) , 'Clash and Burn' (Friedrichshafen/Munich, Calyxx Peucker & Philipp Müller), 'Heidelberg Rennehardt' (Benedikt Rennekamp & Martin Reinhardt), 'My minority ...

From December 27th to January 4th the WUDC, the world's largest debating tournament, takes place in The Hague in the Netherlands. As with most international tournaments, debates will be held in British Parliamentary Style and in English. The CA team consists of Syed Saddiq, Karin Merckens, Hyewon Rho, Michael Dunn Goekjian, Omer Nevo, Jodie O'Neill, Veenu Goswami, Yashodhan Nair and Ingrid Rodríguez. Bionda Merckens is the equity officer; Andrea Bos is in charge of language-related topics. Any questions can be directed to info@dutchwudc.nl. Overview: Date: December 27th - January 4th Conveners: Bionda Merckens, Andrea Bos Accommodation: Holiday houses Registration: Closed Registration ...

From November 4th till evening November 5th, the UCU Open 2016 will take place in Utrecht, Netherlands. Being an international tournament, its debates will be held in British Parliament Style and in English. Following five preliminary rounds, there will be semi finals and a final as well as a novice final. The CA team consists of Rebecca Irvine, Nishith Hegde, Clíodhna Ní Chéileachair, Ilija Ivanišević and Ybo Buruma, the convenor is Jelte Schievels. Questions can be directed to ucuopen@gmail.com. All known information: Date: November 4th - November 5th (late evening) Convenor: Jelte Schievels Accomodation: Crash Registration: Online formular Registration fee: 30 € ...

On Saturday, November 19th, the first Maastricht Novice 2016 will take place. Located in Maastricht, it is a British-Parliament-Style novice tournament (speeches 5 minutes each) with four preliminary rounds followed by a final. The Chief Adjudicators are Srdjan Miletic, Jelte Schievels and Lucy Lester, any questions may be directed to rhetoricadebating@gmail.com. All known information: Date: November 19th, 2016 Accomodation: None, but crash can be organized if needed by contacting the organizer using the above e-mail address Registration: Onlineformular Registration fee: 10€ per speaker, 5€ per judge Adjudicator rule: tba Format: BPS Rounds: 4 preliminary rounds, finale Chief adjudicators: Srdjan Miletic, Jelte ...

From Friday, December 9th, til Sunday, December 11th, the Centrale Open 2016 takes place in Paris. Since this is an international tournament, debates will be held in British Parliament Style and in English. Following five preliminary rounds, there'll be semi finals and a final, as well as an ESL final. Sella Nevo, Harish Natarajan und Sharmila Parmanand are the Chief Adjudicators; any questions can be directed to ecpdebating@gmail.com. All known informations: Date: December 9th - December 11th, 2016 Accomodation: Crash on campus Regisration: Online formular Registration fee: 55 € per speaker Adjudicator rule: n-1 Format: BPS Rounds: 5 preliminary rounds, semi finals ...

From Friday, December 2nd, to Sunday, December 4th, the Lund IV 2016 will be hosted in Lund. The tournament is international, therefore it will be held under British Parliamentary Style (BPS) rules with English as the spoken language. It consists of 5 preliminary rounds, followed by quarter finals, semi finals and a final. Also, it includes a novice break. The CA-Team consists of Olivia Sundberg Diez and Michael Dunn Goekjian. Questions may be directed to lundiv2016@gmail.com. The information on the tournament in a nutshell: Date: 2-4 December, 2016 Host: Lund Debate Society Accomodation: Hotel Registration: Online Formular Registration fee: 750 SEK Adjudicator rule: n-1 ...

From Friday, November 25th, to Sunday, November 27th, the Tilbury House IV 2016 will be hosted in Cologne. The tournament is international, therefore it will be held under British Parliamentary Style (BPS) rules with English as the spoken language. It consists of 5 preliminary rounds, followed by semi finals and a final. The CA-Team consists of Johan Båge, Duncan Crowe and Melda Eren. Also, mixed teams are allowed. Questions may be directed to Agnes Ineza who can be reached via agnes.ineza@gmail.com. The information on the tournament in a nutshell: Date: 25-27 November, 2016 Host: Tilbury House Accomodation: Hostel Registration: Online Formular Registration fee: ...

From Friday, December 9th, to Sunday, December 11th, the 18th SSE Riga IV will be hosted at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga. The tournament is international, therefore it will be held under British Parliamentary Style (BPS) rules with English as the spoken language. It consists of 5 preliminary rounds, followed by an open break with partial quarter finals as well as a novice break and completed by semi finals and a final. Mixed-teams are accepted. The CA-Team consists of Monica Forman, Johan Båge, Michael Dunn Goekjian and a yet to be announced member, Stefan Siridzanski will be the equity ...

On October 28-30, 2016, the Munich Open will take place for the first time. The tournament is international, therefore it will be held under British Parliamentary Style (BPS) rules with English as the spoken language.  It consists of 5 preliminary rounds, semifinals and the final. Chief Adjudicators are Melda Eren, Olivia Sundberg Diez and Ben Shaw. The role of the equity officer will be fulfilled by Milla Huuskonen. Responsible for the well-being of the participants will be the Chief Convenors Christian Rausch and Katharina Heinrich. You can contact them via vorstand@debattierclub-muenchen.de or on Twitter (@DC_munich). The information on the tournament in a nutshell: ...

[caption id="attachment_29710" align="alignright" width="344"] View over Warsaw - © Lennart Lokstein[/caption] The European Universities Debating Championship is over. Winner of the ESL-final is Tel Aviv A (Dan Lahav, Ayal Hayut-man) from Closing Government, thus becoming ESL-Champions, whereas the teams Tel Aviv C (Tom Manor, Noam Dahan) from Opening Government, Leiden D (Lisa Schallenberg, Simon Martina-Perez) from Opening Opposition and Leiden A (Floris Holstege, Emma Lucas) from Closing Opposition become vice ESL-Champions. The final's motion was "This house believes that western states should support breakaway regions in former Sovjet states (e.g. East Ukraine l South Ossetia) joining the Russian federation conditional on holding free and ...

[caption id="attachment_29710" align="alignright" width="344"] View over Warsaw - © Lennart Lokstein[/caption] At the EUDC 2016, hosted in Warsaw, the following teams make the break. Note that, different to WUDC, ESL (English as a Second Language) teams can be in both the EPL (English as Primary Language) and ESL break if they are high enough in the total ranking. ESL teams in the EPL ("main") break are marked. In the EPL category (English as Primary Language): Durham A PEP A LSE A Cambridge B TCD Phil B Durham B Oxford C Hebrew A Tel Aviv A (ESL) Cambridge A Oxford A Tel Aviv ...

[caption id="attachment_29548" align="alignright" width="400"] Team England wins the WSDC 2016 - © Dominique Brewing[/caption] The English high school students Rosa Thomas, Archie Hall and Kenza Wilks won the grand final of the WSDC 2016 in Stuttgart as proposition on the motion „This house believes that states should be allowed to pay other states to relocate and settle refugees.“ The English team debated against the opposing Canadian team represented by Dasha Metropolitansky, Rory Flynn and Alex Wu. In the WSD format, teams consist of five students, three of which speak per debate. Therefore, Edward Bracey and Ife Grillo of Team England also ...

On the 19th-29th Juli the World Schools Debating Championships take place in and around Stuttgart, Germany (an article about the WSDC 2016 can be found here). The Achte Minute was visiting the event and we’ve interviewed some of the participating debaters from all around the world. Because of the large number of interviews the first part of this Mittwochs-Feature was already published yesterday. In this part you can find the interviews with: Naz Gocek, Branksome Hall - Canada Barbara Krumpholz, Europäisches Gymnasium Bertha-von-Suttner - Germany Thomas Murphy, Dubai College - United Arabic Emirates Abhaya Gauchan, Ratobangala School - Nepal   Naz Gocek, Branksome Hall - Canada [caption id="attachment_29517" ...

On the 19th-29th Juli the World Schools Debating Championships take place in and around Stuttgart, Germany (an article about the WSDC 2016 can be found here). The Achte Minute was visiting the event and has interviewed some of the participating debaters from all around the world. Because of the large number of interviews, the first part of this Mittwochs-Feature is already published today. The second part will be published regularly at 10am on Wednesday. In this part you can find the interviews with: Kenza Wilks, Dulwich College - England Alejo Gonzalez Virgili, Belgrano Day School - Argentina Jay Tanatswa Muzhingi, Kutama College - Zimbabwe Kenza ...

In addition to debating at universities, competition has spread at schools all over the globe in recent decades. For example, participating countries annually send a delegation of pupils aged 14 to 19 to the World Schools Debating Championships (WSDC), which are comparable to the World Universities Debating Championships. Laura Alviz of the Debating Society Germany e.V. explains what exactly that means. WSDC takes place in Stuttgart next week. After the German team had to cover long distances in 2014 and 2015 to reach the Southeast Asian cities Bangkok and Singapore, traveling becomes easier this year. WSDC takes place in seven days ...

The World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) is the largest international debating tournament. The first WUDC took place in Glasgow in 1981 in which only 43 teams from seven nations participated. This year, more than 440 teams from all continents compete for the title of World Debating Champion. The WUDC 2016 will take place in Thessaloniki, Greece. Two clubs cooperate to host the tournament: The Rhetoric Club of Thessaloniki, one of the oldest debating societies in Greece, and the Debating Society of Greece, a group of experienced Greek debate trainers and organisers that provides debate training to young people in universities. ...

On September 6-10, 2015, the Red Sea Open will take place once more in Eilat, Israel.Besides the Red Sea, a pool and free alcohol at the hotel, the organization comittee promises workshops and an experienced Chief Adjudication Core, consisting of Monica Forman, Helena Ivanova and Amanda Moorghen.Teams and adjudicators can still register.The information on the tournament in a nutshell:Host: tba.Convener: tba.Date: 6-10 September, 2015Rounds: Six preliminary rounds, Semifinals and FinalChief Adjudicators: Monica Forman, Helena Ivanova and Amanda MoorghenRegistration fee: Israeli participants - 550 NIS, Participants from abroad - 470 NIS (about 110 Euros)You can find more information in the Facebook-event ...

St. Andrews A (Ruairidh Macintosh, Alex Don) and Tel Aviv B (Stav Singer, Iddan Golomb) are the European Champions 2015.St. Andrews won the debate on "This House would treat the deaths of soldiers as regrettable losses of lifes rather than examples of heroism." out of Closing Opposition against GUU A (Duncan Crowe, Chris Edgar) in Opening Government, UCD LawSoc A (Aodhan Peelo, Paul O'Dwyer) in Opening Opposition and Tel Aviv A (Ayal Hayut-man, Dan Lahav) in Closing Government.The final in the category "English as a Second Language" was won by Tel Aviv B out of Opening Opposition. They debated against ...