South Africa is currently applying to host the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC) in 2017. Should the bid be successful, Dessislava Kirova would form the Chief Adjudication panel, together with Gemma Buckley from Australia and Syed Saddiq from Malaysia. Anne Gaa spoke with her about her plans for the Worlds.Achte Minute: How did you get to be nominated by the South African OrgCom? Is there a special relationship between the German and South African debating communities?Dessislava Kirova: It was quite surprising. At the Paris Open 2013, I met someone who was, at that time, part of the organizing team. That connection ...

The European Universities Debate Champions 2014 have been announced. In the category English as a Second Language, Stefan Siridzanski and Helena Ivanov from Belgrade B in Opening Opposition won the debate with the motion „This house would, assuming it was technically feasible, remove the ability of soldiers to feel fear.” In the Open final, Adam Hawksbee and Matthew Willmore from Sheffield A in Closing Opposition were able to beat their competitors in a debate with the motion „This house believes that the feminist movement should oppose military interventions that claim to further women's rights.” [caption id="attachment_24372" align="alignright" width="240"] Venue of the Open ...

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

Christmas cookies and debating: The Debattierclub Münster offers both with their Santa Claus tournament. The tournament will be held in German on Saturday, 1 December, in British Parliamentary Style (BPS) and comprises three pre-rounds and break into final. Registration is not yet posible but please save the date! Facts: Münsteraner Nikolausturnier 1. December BPS, German Pro-Am CAs: Manuel Adams and Marietta Gädeke Reg not yet posible

[caption id="attachment_11004" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Die Berlin Debating Union leistet Aufbauhilfe im Norden Europas. Der deutsche Hauptstadtclub debattiert, trainiert und tauscht Tipps aus mit Debattanten aus der norwegischen Hauptstadt. (Foto: Manuel Adams)"][/caption] Norway is one of those geek countries who always appear superior in statistics. No other country is that richt, that educated, that peaceful and that fair. Or so so Manuel Adams sees it. Please read the German version of this article to find out what kind of development aid Berlin provided in Oslo.

The second season of the Free Debating League begins with two new coordinators Daniil Pakhomenko and Manuel Adams who succeed Lukas Haffert, the former vice-president of the Association of Debating Societies at Universities, or VDCH. FDL isa series of opens and smaller tournaments in addition to the big tournaments of the ZEIT DEBATTEN series. The first season's winner was the WUDC 2013 host Berlin Debating Union. xzy / apf

The international debating community does not stand still. In April, Jacobs University Bremen (JUB) Debating Society is planning the Jacobs Open 2012 from 13 to 15. A mentionable fact: Alyona Asyamova from JUB Bremen won with her team partner Rob Honig (Leiden) the ESL final of Amsterdam Open 2009. And the victory at Jacobs Open 2011 fell to Becky West and Rogier Baart (Leiden Debating Union) in an all-Dutch final debate on the motion "This house would promote atheism". Manuel Adams (Berlin Debating Union) compiled a picture gallery and has put it online. xzy / apf

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. ...

Rain, rain, rain - all over Germany! But the brave debaters of the Boddencup never gave in and even did their BBQ in Greifswald. A short lesson on German geography: "Bodden are brackish bodies of water along the southwestern shores of the Baltic Sea, primarily in Germany's state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern around the island of Rügen," as Wikipedia has it. This year's Boddencup was staged by Greifwald's debating society for the third time in a row. It was also the final of the first season of Freie Debattierliga, or free debating league (FDL). Read more on a rainy weekend by the ...

Mixing cocktails, strolling through Berlin, the German women football team losing to Japan, prospective Worlds and Euros convenors beating each other in distributing their giveaways ... All that and much more is the Berlin IV. Find here the motions, the break to (semi-)finals and the tab! And read the German version of this article to learn more about how Manuel Adams saw the Berlin IV or what it is called these days. The motions: [caption id="attachment_10365" align="alignright" width="226" caption="Convenor Dessislava Kirova talking to a participant of the Berlin IV.  (Picture: Manuel Adams)"][/caption] 1. Vorrunde: This house would financially incentivise parents to have two ...

Please read the German version of this article to learn more on how Miriam Hauft experienced the Elbe Open in Magdeburg.

This article is not available in English. Please read the German version to learn about which teams, free speakers and adjudicators made it to octos at the Deutsche Debattiermeisterschaft (DDM), or German Championship in Heidelberg. ...

A lucky streak for the Berlin Debating Union (BDU): After winning the Potsdam PULS Punk, they managed to emerge as victors at the Training Tournament in Dortmund on 4 June. The opposition consisting of the WUDC 2013 convenor Patrcik Ehmann, Florian Umscheid and Manuel Adams defeated the government team from Potsdam with Jan-Dirk Capelle, Mathias Hamann and Jana Bachmann in the final. The topic was "Sex sells – is it legitimate to use sexual services to motivate employees and customers?" referring to a current sex scandal at a German insurance. The prelims topics thanks to the CAs Julian Schneider (Debattierclub ...

“Embracing Dissent“ is the motto of the WUDC Berlin 2013 – “We believe this reflects the enlightening and liberating clash of ideas that shaped European and German history - and, of course, what makes debate relevant and exciting”, the Facebook site of WUDC Berlin 2013 announced. No doubt, there is a natural dissent between the fractions of a parliamentary debate. Yet, there might also be dissent during the preparatory phase of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC or Worlds), for instance in a heated debate about the motto. However, consent was the motto when now WUDC convenor Patrick Ehmann travelled the ...

This article is not available in English in full. Please read the German version of this article or look at the picture gallery by Manuel Adams!

East, West and North have debated all day long in Halle, Frankfurt and Osnabrück to select the best debaters at German regional championships. Format of this year's regionals is OPD, or Offene Parlamentarische Debatte (open parliamentary debate). Achte Minute has all the results for you. ...

Together with his club mates John Eltringham and Cloud Ramasendaran, Patrick Ehmann, president of the Berlin Debating Union (BDU) has travelled to England for the Oxford IV this weekend. On his agenda: Of course taking part in the most prestigious and biggest debating competition in Europe – besides Euros. But much more important: Patrick and his companions are going to shake lots of hands since they just started their PR tour across Europe to advertise their bid for the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC a.k.a. Worlds) 2013. To gain a broad majority for their project, they chose to start in ...

The Berlin Debating Union won the Preußen Punk Potsdam tournament. The competition was held in German, the format was British Parliamentary Style (BPS). ...

We are sorry, this article is not yet available in English.

The SOAS Debating Society continues to establish its IV as one of the largest debate competitions in Europe. On October 16th and 17th, 116 teams competed over six preliminary rounds at the School of African an Oriental Studies near King’s Cross in London. For VDCH-debaters, this was a particularly successful weekend. The final was won by Harish Natarjan and Matilda Wnek (Cambridge H). They triumphed over Cambridge E (Maria English and Jack Watson), Loyola (Emily Ravencroft and Bobby Cashen) and KCL A (Daniel Berman and Jordan Anderson). The ESL final was won by the German vice-champion and current exchange student Filip Bubenheimer ...

We are sorry, this article is not or not yet available in English. ...

Jens Fischer won the Masters' Cup 2010 of Deutsche Debattiergesellschaft (DDG), the German Debating Society for Alumni. Saturday night he prevailed opposing the motion "This House would operate the Loveparade 2011". His opponents in the final where Sebastian Berg, Lukas Haffert and Patrick Ehmann. CAs Jan Lüken and Gudrun Lux judged the final with Caroline Moll, Wiebke Nadler and Anja Pfeffermann. ...

Julian Schneider and Lukas Haffert from Debattierclub Münster won the tournament Boddencup 2010. ...

Nach einem Sieg gegen den FC Augsburg am Montagabend steht der FC St. Pauli nun praktisch als Aufsteiger in die Fußball-Bundesliga fest. Damit wird es im nächsten Jahr erstmals seit 2004 wieder zwei erstklassige Teams aus derselben Stadt geben. Im Debattieren ist das nichts Neues: Bereits seit Langem gibt es in Heidelberg zwei Vereine. Mit Beginn dieses Semesters darf sich auch Bremen zweier Debattierclubs rühmen: Zur etablierten JUB Debating Society an der Jacobs University gesellt sich die Hanse Debating Union an der Universität Bremen. Zur Auftaktveranstaltung des neugegründeten Vereins durften die Clubgründer Lars Brückner und Manuel Adams am Dienstagabend etwa 50 Zuschauer ...

Einer der Gewinner des Berliner Punk-Turniers von Anfang Januar 2010, Manuel Adams, hat auf seiner Internetseite Bilder des Punk-Turniers online gestellt.