Sunday, October 31, 2010

Last Call for Intl Debate Academy Slovenia 2010

Alpine valley of Krnica near Kranjska Gora, Sl...Image via Wikipedia
This is a letter that Bojana Skrt sent to the 112 attendees of IDAS 2010. 
 
There is still room due to our new luxurious hotel with indoor pool.

It is top instruction in the WUDC format and there will be an excellent tournament at the end. 

The price is very reasonable. Room and food included.
Organized by Za in Proti (ZIP) and World Debate Institute, University of Vermont.

Contact Bojana Skrt at bojana.skrt@siol.net 

============================

Dear all, 
We are very glad you decided to participate at IDAS 2010  and we are all looking forward to host you in Slovenia. With your help IDAS 2010 will again be a great event.  It seems this year IDAS with more than  100  participants and trainers from  20  countries: Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China,  Croatia, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland,  Italy,  Kosovo, Macedonia, Netherlands, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Thailand, Ukraine, USA, Venezuela, will be the biggest ever.  Please, check IDAS web page and blog for the program  and all updates. 
Website: http://debate.uvm.edu/idas.html 
Blogsite: http://internationaldebateacademy.blogspot.com/ 

CHANGE OF LOCATION The very important news is that due to the bigger number of participants we moved IDAS from Ormož to Kranjska gora, which is  the other part of Slovenia. Kranjska gora is 80 km north from Ljubljana, in Julian Alps, very close to Austrian and Italian border.  The venue is Hotel Špik in a small village 3 km before Kranjska gora, called Gozd Martuljek. The hotel is much better than the Hotel Ormož, it has an indoor pool and very nice working rooms.  So, do not forget to bring swimming clothes with you.  The rooms are 4-beds, 3- beds and limited number of 2-beds. 
 
Here is the web address if you want to check the hotel, Kranjska gora and Gozd Martuljek:  
www.kranjska-gora.si/home 
www.gradtur.si/zima/slovenija/gozd_martuljek/hotel_Spik.html 
www.slovenia.info 

Because we did move to Hotel Špik, we can still accept applications – so, please, share the information about IDAS with everybody who might be interested. 
 
EU PROJECT Participants from: Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Italy, Macedonia and Slovenia participate at IDAS 2010 as part of project entitled “»DEBATE ANSWERING THE CHALLENGES OF IMMIGRATION AND MUTLICULTURALISM«  supported by European Union’s  Europe for citizens program.  There will be a few additional events organized during IDAS because of this project. Consequently, there will be also lecture topics and some debate topics connected with immigration and multiculturalism issues, role of EU in the world and similar.   And of course there will be lots of EU logos all around the venues. 
SCHOLARSHIPS  FUND Special thanks go to Bickell&Brewer foundation,  which gave us 2000 EUR for scholarships, which was divided among 21 participants asking for scholarships. I am sorry for not being able to award all the participants seeking scholarships, due to the limited  resources we have. I do hope you will be able to come anyway and would be able to get missing funds for some other donor. 

More: 
1. In case you can not come, please, inform me immediately – we need to know how many people are coming. . 

2. Schedule 
We start on  Saturday, the 20th t – registration starts at 16.00, the programme starts at 20.00. We finish on Sunday, the  28th around 14.00.  
        
2. IDAS 2010 tournament venues 
In Ljubljana  we will be staying in high school dormitory Dijaški dom  Bežigrad, the adress. Kardeljeva ploščad 28, www.ddb.si, There are  mainly   three bed rooms. The dorm is 3 minutes walk from the tournament venue.   The ones who are coming for tournament only – you can check in after 14.00 on Friday. 
If you need an extra night in Ljubljana on Thursday or Sunday you need to make your own reservation. VERY IMPORTANT – YOU CAN NOT BE IN DIJAŠKI DOM BEŽIGRAD  FOR EXTRA NIGHTS. You need to make reservations in some other hotels  - there are plenty of low costs options in Ljubljana which can be booked via Internet. 

The tournament will be held at Faculty of administration, University of Ljubljana, www.fu.uni-lju.si 

3. Registration fee  
The registration fee 250 EUR covers the whole Academy  -  from dinner on the 20th  to breakfast on Sunday, the 28th.  
 
Tournament only 
The registration fee for the ones who are coming only for the tournament  is 60 EUR, it covers the accommodation and food from dinner  on the 26th till breakfast on the 28th. You should plan your departure from Ljubljana in the afternoon. 
The participation fee doesn't cover any extra nights. All the extra nights should be paid by you directly to the hotel. If you need an extra night in Hotel Špik in Gozd Martuljek, please, inform me about it and I will make the reservation. 
Registration fee  should be paid  in cash at registration. In case somebody prefers to pay via bank transfer, please, let me know and I will send you our bank account info. 
Everybody from  Hotel Špik, Gozd  Martuljek  will leave together  by rented  bus from Hotel Špik  to  Ljubljana, no extra fee for this travel. 

6.Travelling to Gozd Martuljek
There are buses for Kranjska gora from Ljubljana.  You should go to Gozd Martuljek, Hotel Špik ask the driver to stop at the Hotel Špik. The other option is taking a train from Ljubljana to Jesenice and than in Jesenice taking a bus to Gozd Martuljek. If you are coming from Austria, you go from Villach to Jesenice, train or bus.  
Here is the Ljubljana – Kranjska gora bus schedule: 06:30 a m , 07:30 a m, 09:30 a m, 10:30 a m. 12:30 p m  13:30 p m 14:30 p m 16:30 p m, it costs 8,75 EUR, it takes 2 hours. 
Here is the Ljubljana – Jesenice train schedule: Ljubljana 06:50, Ljubljana 07:27,  Ljubljana 09:27, Ljubljana 09:45 Ljubljana 11.26,  Ljubljana 12:50 Ljubljana 14:41, Ljubljana 15:25,  Ljubljana 15:33, Ljubljana 16:55, Ljubljana 17:50,  Ljubljana 18:55,  Ljubljana 20:48m, Ljubljana 23:50, it costs 6,75 EUR, it takes 1,20 minutes. Jesenice are 25 km away from Gozd Martuljek. 
The last bus from Jesenice to Kranjska gora goes at 17.57, than taxi is an option. 
If you want to book a special transport, especially from the airport, but can be done from Ljubljana train/bus station as well, you can send an email to borut.markun@siol.net – they do have vans and cars and doing pick us services. The same is true if you want to come from the airport to Ljubljana or vice versa. 

7. Visas 
In case you need visa for entering Slovenia and I didn't send you the visa invitation letter yes, please, contact me immediately – we do not have lots of time left. 

8. COUNTRY EXHIBITION 
It is the habit that we organize a country  fair.  This means you need to bring some items – food, drink, things, posters, music …. which present your country the most.  More  information about this and other social events will be given by our social directors Helena Felc and Gregor Janžek. 
 
9. SMOKING 
Slovenia has very strict smoking law – you are not allowed to smoke at any public places, no restaurants, no hotel room – meaning you can only smoke outside. 
 
10. WEATHER 
We are going to be in Alps, meaning can be cold, not necessarily, but can be bellow zero Celzius, can be snowy. But, it might be also still warm. Have this  in mind when packing.  
 
11. WIRELESS 
I was told it is available at least in some parts of hotel. 

12. EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBER
Bojana  + 386 41423377
 
That’s it for now. If you have any additional questions, please, feel free to ask. Really looking forward meeting you all in Slovenia, Bojana 


--
Bojana Skrt 
direktorica 
Za in proti, zavod za kulturo dialoga 
Svetosavska 24, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija 
www.zainproti.com 
+386 (0)41 423377
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Sunday, October 24, 2010

WDI Sponsored Conference in Europe Concludes

The Third International Conference on Argumentation, Rhetoric, Debate and the Pedagogy of Empowerment, Thinking and Speaking a Better World, concluded in Maribor, Slovenia on Sunday 24 October 2010. The conference featured scholars, experts and enthusiasts from nineteen countries.
During the sessions there were over 50 papers presented  on a variety of topics. There were two keynote speeches, one by Debbie Newman (former president of the Cambridge Union, England and Wales debate champion, former head of the English Speaking Union's Centre for Speech and Debate, and world champion schools coach for England) from the UK on "The Noisy Classroom" and one from Sam Greenland (Sydney University, WUDC semifinalist, current World Debating Council President) on "Measuring Debate's Impact on Classroom Performance."
Eighty attendees spent three days sharing ideas, scholarship and fellowship while networking on future projects. A major panel discussion on "Cultural Variation - Debate and Argument" had participants from Yemen, Morocco, Hungary, Venezuela, Japan, UK and USA. There was a lavish banquet on Saturday night and productive discussions during the twenty panel sessions that were held.
Papers from this conference as well as the 2006 and 2008 events will be published in a volume entitled Thinking and Speaking a Better World edited by Alfred Snider of the University of Vermont and David Cratis Williams of Florida Atlantic University due out at the end of 2011. 
Videos of many of the presentations, both keynotes, and the panel discussion on culture will be available in coming weeks at the conference websites. 
There will be an announcement soon about the fourth and next conference.
Further details can be found at the conference websites:
The conference was organized by the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor in Slovenia http://www.uni-mb.si/ZIP, Za in proti, zavod za kulturo dialoga/Pro et contra, institute for culture of dialogue http://www.zainproti.com/ ,  and the World Debate Institute of the University of Vermont http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/wdi/Welcome.html .

The organizers are grateful for the support of our sponsor QatarDebate http://www.qatardebate.org/ .

Thanks to organizers Boris Vezjak, Alfred Snider and Bojana Skrt. Special thanks to Peter Mesarec, Monica Sobocan and Aljoša Polšak.
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Friday, October 15, 2010

WDI Sponsored Conference in Europe Announces Program

From http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/better/Welcome.html, all details available here

Third international conference on argumentation, rhetoric, debate and the pedagogy of empowerment - thinking and speaking a better world
§  Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor, Slovenia (Oddelek za filozofijo, Filozofska fakulteta, Univerza v Mariboru, Slovenija),
§  World Debate Institute (University of Vermont USA)
§  ZIP (Za in proti, zavod za kulturo dialoga/Pro et contra Institute for culture of dialogue Slovenia)
Friday, 22nd October 2010
13.00 – 14.30 Registration, Lobby
14.30 Welcome Remarks from hosts and organizers, Main Auditorium 
Dr. Lučka Lorber, Vice - dean of Faculty of arts, University of Maribor - host

Boris Vezjak, University of Maribor - host

Alfred Snider, University of Vermont, USA - organizer
15.00  - 17.00
Argumentation, room 1,  chair Boris Vezjak, University of Maribor, Slovenia
Public Argument and Debate
§  “Climategate”: Good Science, Bad Arguments, and Problems for Public Discourse, Steven Woods, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, USA and Misa Haring, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, USA
§  Argumentation in the Online Media Debate on the Blogs, Ivanka Mavrodieva, Sofia University, Bulgaria
§  Rhetoric of B. Obama, Natalija Kocijan
§  Latino National Identity and the 2006 English as the National Language Debate, Donathan L. Brown, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY, USA
Debate, room 2, chair, Korry Harvey,  Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, USA 
Debate and Social Progress
§  Debate as agency: Preparing students for civic engagement, Allan Louden, Wake Forest University, USA
§  Debate as a tool for social progress,  Arlan  A. Narvaez R., Universidad Central de Venezuela, Venezuela
§  The role of trust in political culture when teaching debate: The Kosovo case study, by Leela Koening, Netherlands and Maja Nenadović, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
§  Challenges of on-line deliberation: the case of Citizen's forum, Simon Delakorda,  & Matej Delakorda , Institute for Electronic Participation (InePA), Slovenia
Pedagogy, room 3, Sam Greenland, University of Sydney, Australia
Argument and Debate in Different Social and Cultural Contexts
§  Critical Thinking in Indian High schools –  the TIC experiment,  Ameya Kilara and Aditya Verma
§  Debating and argumentation skills in the speaking strand of Qatari National English and Arabic Curriculum Standards: A critical review, Abdul Gabbar Al – Sharif, Qatar Debate
§  The critical social and political thinking and the methods of educating students in secondary level education, Georgios D Bikos, University of Athens, Greece
§  Attending the process in philosophical discussion, Rudi Kotnik, University of Maribor, Slovenia
17.00 – 17.30 Coffee break
17.30 – 19.30
Panel discussion: Cultural Variation and Debate, Main Auditorium, chair Alfred Snider, University of Vermont
Invited: Abdul Gabbar Al – Sharif, Abdel Latiff Selami, Debbie Newman,   Arlan  A. Narvaez R., Masako Suzuki Takahashi, David WIlliams


Saturday, 23rd October 2010
9.30 – 11.00 Presentations
Argumentation, room 1, chair Steven Woods, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, USA
Processes of Rhetoric and Argumentation
§  Pain as rhetoric: Photographic depictions of suffering as an argumentative strategy, Taylor Hahn, Clarion University of Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
§  Aesthetic Public Deliberation, Michael Bruner, Georgia State Univ., USA
§  Motivational Consubstantiation as Starting Points for Arguments of Rhetorical Identification:  A Burkean Approach, David Cratis Williams, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA
Debate,  room 2, chair Debbie Newman, UK
Explorations in Competitive Debating
§  Judging paradigms,  Andrej Schulcz, Slovak Debate Association
§  Power pairing for Worlds Schools Debate Chamiponship, Alfred C Snider, University of Vermont
§  Assessing the role and use of international relations theory in competitive debate, Samo Novak,   University of Leiden, Netherlands
Pedagogy, room 3, chair Sam Greenland, University of Sidney, Austalia
Active Methods in Different Learning Environments                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
§  Introducing a model for  blending together traditional and modern teaching methodologies, George Yeoman, Slovenia/UK
§  Argumentative learning style of  Arab learners  of English as a second language, Abdel Latiff Selami, Qatar Debate, Qatar
§  Hosting  competitive debates at the Faculty of arts in Ljubljana,  Mirjana Želježič, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
11.00 – 11.30 Coffee break
11.30 – 13.00  Keynote, Main Auditorium 
Debbie Newman,  The Noisy Classroom: Thinking aloud
13.00 – 14.00  Lunch
14.00 – 15.30 Presentations
Argumentation, room 1, chair:  Michael Lane Bruner, Georgia State Univ., USA
Fallacies
§  Logical Fallacies = Rhetorical Fallacies?, Monika Kavalir, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
§  Aristotle and »ad hominem« arguments, Boris Vezjak, University of Maribor, Slovenia
§  »Begging the question« in a philosophical argument - epistemic or pragmatic?, Danilo Šuster, University of Maribor, Slovenia
Debate,  room 2,  Allan Louden, Wake Forest University, USA
States of Debating in the USA 
§  When classes collide – suburban and inner city debater, Chris Wheatly, Aspen Colorado Schools, USA
§  Failure in the public eye: The need for renewed engagement of the public sphere in academic debate communities within the United States, Taylor Hahn, Clarion University of Pennsylvannia, USA
§  Outcome based life choices: An outcome assessment comfirmation study measuring positive social outcomes beyond undergraduate experiences for participants and society in competitive intercollegiate debate, Jack E. Rogers, Department of communication, University of  Central Missouri and Arthur Rennels, Interim Director of Forensics, University of Central  Missouri, USA
Pedagogy, room 3, chair David Williams
New Approaches to Active Education
§  Critical understanding as an issue of problem solving in mathematics and physics education, Patronis Tasos, University of Patras and Rousiakis George, Greece
§  Numerical thinking, Simon Belak, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
§  Theory of knowledge versus debate – parallel universes or two sides of the same coin, Matus Kurian, Gymnazium Jura Hronca/Slovak Debate Association, Slovakia
15.30 – 16.00 Coffee break
16.00 – 17.30. Sam Greenland, Keynote, Main Auditorium
18.00 – 19.30 Presentations
Debate, room 1, chair  Samo Novak,  University of Leiden, Netherlands
Active Learning About Communities and Minorities
§  Debate as a praxis for  global citizenship, Anja Šerc, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia  and Alfred C Snider, University of Vermont, USA
§  An approach to analysis on discourse toward minority, Masako Suzuki Takahashi, Research Center for Foreign Language Education, Keio University, Japan
Debate,  room 2, chair  George Yeoman, UK/Slovenia
Encounter Society Through Debate
§  Youth understanding politics  – how youth initiatives can create an impact in society with debate, Monika Sobočan, University of Maribor
§  Why do people start debating? Helena Felc, Slovenia
§  Debate as a tool response for Venezuelan situation, Alejandro Duque, Universidad Central de Venezuela
Pedagogy, room 3, chair Anja Šerc, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia/Za in proti, zavod za kulturo dialoga, Slovenia
Designing and Implementing Debating in Schools 
§  Secondary schools debates with visiting experts or how to implement debate in the interdisciplinary approach of curriculum and empower youth for active citizenship, Romana Čemažar, Gimnazija ESIC Kranj, Slovenia
§  Culture of debate in High school Domžale, Sofija Baskarad, Srednja šola Domžale, Slovenija
§  Tayloring debate formats for your specific educational goals, Manuele de Conti, University of Padua, Italy
20.00 BANQUET
Sunday, 24th October
10.00 – 11.30 Presentations
Argumentation, room 1, chair David Cratis Williams, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA
Critical Thinking and Debate
§  Reason in the Balance:  Teaching Critical Thinking as Inquiry, Sharon Bailin, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada and Mark Battersby, Capilano University, Vancouver, Canada
§  Rhetoric, oratory and philosophy in the debate, Cattani Adelino, Padua, Italy
Debate, room 2, chair Bojana Skrt, Za in proti, zavod za kulturo dialoga Slovenia
Debating Scenarios on Three Continents: Europe, East Africa and Japan
§  The transfer from debater to coach – how experienced debaters can contribute to the quality of high school debate education, Monika Sobočan, University of Maribor, Slovenia  
§  Debate for Youth Empowerment in East Africa, Takako Mino, Claremont McKenna  College, USA
§  Debate in Japan, Andrew Nishizaki, Japan
Pedagogy, room 3, chair Masako Suzuki Takahashi, Research Center for Foreign Language Education, Keio University, Japan
Using Debate in the Classroom
§  Teaching rhetoric at  continuining education courses, Boštjan Debelak, Ljudska univerza Koper, Slovenia
§  Instructional Communication as a rhetorical process: political speech as a model of persuasion to be taught and studied, Irina Antonova, Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow, Russia
§  Active methods and debate in a classroom, Karlina Koželj, High school for tourism Celje, Slovenia
§  Debate in the classroom, successful experience in Venezuela, Arlan  A. Narvaez R., Universidad Central de Venezuela, Venezuela
11.30 – 12.00 Coffee break
12.00 – 13.30 Presentations
Argumentation, room 1, chair David Cratis Williams, Florida Atlantic University, USA
§  Philosophizing Without Argument, Nenad Miščević, Central University Budapest, Hungary
§  Level of Generality as a Rhetoric Device, Katarzyna Kobos, University of Lodz
Debate, room 2, chair Steven Woods, Western Washington University,Bellingham, WA, USA
Different Paths to Debate in the USA 
§  National policy debate circuit in U.S.A, Chris Wheatly, Aspen, Colorado Schools, USA
§  Debate as transformative experience, Amanda Feller and Kelly Ryan, Pacific Luthern University,
§  Negotiating expertise: Translating debate techne into community practice, Jeff Kurr and John Ried, University of Pittsburgh
Pedagogy, room 3, Allan Louden, Wake Forest University, USA
Training Citizens and Training Debaters 
§  An argumentation and debate text book for not debaters: Understanding Argument: the journey from consumer to critic, critic to advocate, Korry Harvey and Paul Bingham, Western Washington University, USA
§  Training model: Debate academy, Alfred C Snider, University of Vermont, USA and Bojana Skrt,  Slovenia
13.30 Closing, Main Auditorium