WDI Sponsors International Debate Academy in Europe

The 5th International Debate Academy Slovenia has been completed. It was sponsored by ZIP-Slovenia and the World Debate Institute of the University of Vermont.

Representatives of 19 nations attended: Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, UK, Germany, Romania, Mongolia, Taiwan, India, USA, Serbia, Ukraine, Estonia, Canada, Singapore, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Russia, Slovenia, and Venezuela.

The faculty included:

* Loke Wing Fatt, SAID Singapore and WUDC breaking judge.
* Jens Fischer, Germany, Chief Adjudicator at Euros.
* Neill Harvey-Smith, WUDC finalist and Chief Adjudicator for Euros
2008, now with Debate Chambers, United Kingdom.
* Steve Llano, USA national champion coach, St. Johns University, USA.
* Branka Marusic, President of European Universities Debating
Council, Croatia.
* Rhydian Morgan, Chief Adjudicator at numerous UK tournaments, now
with GRM Communications, United Kingdom.
* Sam Nelson, USA national champion coach, Cornell University, USA.
* Uve Poom, Europeans EFL Champion and Euros 2008 organizer.
* Bojana Skrt, World Schools EFL Champion coach twice, Slovenia.
* Alfred Snider, Director of World Debate Institute, University of
Vermont, USA.

There were 5 instruction days, all with the same schedule:
8 AM Breakfast
8:45 AM Morning meeting
9 AM Lecture in three experience groups
10 AM Exercises and drills in six experience groups
11:30 AM Release of motion for practice debate, practice debate, critique
1 PM Lunch
3 PM Elective session (3 or 4 options, attend what you want)
4 PM Elective session (same, different topics)
5 PM Release of motion for practice debate, practice debate, critique
7 PM Dinner
Evenings Social activities and free time.

The faculty put on a very entertaining show debate, and you can see the video below.




A number of electives were designed to help people train others when they went back home.

We bused to Ljubljana for the tournament, six rounds and then semifinals. The President-elect of Slovenia welcomed us and gave us some handy debate advice. Before the finals the major of Ljubljana dropped in to wish us well. The break night party in a Ljubljana night club was, I am told, quite good.

You can read more at our blog, which is at http://internationaldebateacademy.blogspot.com/
Our website for this year was at http://debate.uvm.edu/idas2007.html

The event received very positive evaluations from the students. Comments included:
- They definitely should attend because it expands both your debate ablilities and your perspective on the world as a whole. A very enjoyable and educational experience.
- If you want to learn how to debate and improve your debating skills, this programme is perfect for you.
- Academy is a great place to know yourself and people around you.
- It's great. Culturally I learned so much.
- Definitly attend. Lectures are excellent and diversity of people who attend is great and adds different perspectives.
- IDAS – changes your life.
- Want to learn to think faster? Attend!
- GO, GO, GO. Geat experience, lots of new things, see you next year.
- Fun time! Meet lots of great people! Work hard! Party hard!
- Brain training.
- Best decision I have made for a long long time.
- I believe this event is worth it.
- I can't wait for next year!
- If you want to learn something good about a culture of dialog this is the right place for you!
- It will change you, you'll learn a lot, listen to the best lecturers, you have to come!

The entire cost for tuition, room and all food, was 200 Euros, with many students receiving scholarships when they needed them.

Next year's 2008 dates are: arrive 23 November, 24-28 Instruction, 29-30 tournament.

Make plans to join us.

Singapore Ministry of Education Asks WDI to do Teacher Training

Photo: Part of crowd in Singapore at 2007 WDI training session

The World Debate Institute has become a global center for teacher training in the field of "Debate Across the Curriculum." Having done several such trainings in a number of countries as well as at WDI summer sessions, now the main instructors are sought after to provide expertise in teacher training.

The Singapore Ministry of Education has asked both WDI instructors, Alfred Snider and Bojana Skrt, to come to Singapore in March of 2008 (during the University of Vermont's spring break) to do a teacher workshop that aims to reach every school in the country. Last Spring the two did a workshop in Singapore on a much smaller scale but it was quite a success, with teachers and ministry officials asking for more.

We will have more news on this event as we get closer.

Preview of Schedule for 2008

Now available at http://debate.uvm.edu/wdisched08.html

Check out the programs and start and stop times.

Hope to see you all there in 2008!

WDI Sponsors International Debate Conference in 2008

Last year's version of this conference, once again sponsored by WDI, had 120 attendees and over 80 academic papers.

From http://debate.uvm.edu/betterworld.htm

2nd International Conference on Argumentation, Rhetoric, Debate and the Pedagogy of Empowerment
11-12-13 April 2008, Ljubljana, Slovenia

The conference begins with registration at 1200 11 April 2008.
The conference ends with the closing ceremony at 1500 13 April 2008.

DOWNLOAD APPLICATION FORM

FOR THE LATEST NEWS, SEE OUR BLOG AT http://betterworldconference.blogspot.com/

The World Debate Institute at the University of Vermont USA, the National Education Institute of the Republic of Slovenia and ZIP, Za in proti, zavod za kulturo dialoga/ Pro et contra Institute for culture of dialogue Slovenia invite all scholars and practitioners of argumentation, rhetoric, debate, and educators using deliberative education methodologies to the International Conference on Argumentation, Rhetoric, Debate and the Pedagogy of Empowerment -- THINKING AND SPEAKING A BETTER WORLD, 11-13 April 2008, Ljubljana, Slovenia

The conference will welcome scholars and educators from diverse fields for vigorous dialogue and exchange. This conference will unite scholars of argumentation and rhetoric, teachers, and organizers of local, national and international debating networks to discuss critical thinking and advocacy discourse through pedagogy. We intend for the conference to welcome all who are involved in public discussions and debates about different issues.

This conference is extremely timely. A global information society which seeks reasoned solutions to problems through broad citizen involvement needs to develop and refine techniques for criticizing and validating ideas through discourse and then impart these to new generations of citizens if we are to create a better future and avoid looming crises. This conference represents a unique opportunity to share ideas, network and cross-fertilize with global critical thinkers.

The conference will generate a proceedings volume in the form of a book with completed papers. Submissions will be selected from the papers available at the conference.

The program for the conference will have three themes. Submissions are encouraged to center their work on one of the three themes and to submit proposals to the appropriate conference division. Interdisciplinary work that might fit into more than one category is welcome.

Argumentation and rhetoric. The use of logic and reason to criticize and analyze ideas through communication. Those interested in research on argumentation theory, criticisms of communication acts and scholarship on argumentation practice are encouraged to submit to this division.
Debate. The use of formal argumentation forums to educate and empower citizens. Those interested in work on the practice and theory of debate competition, public debates, research on the impact of debate for participants, and theorizing about debate paradigms are encouraged to submit to this division.
Critical thinking/pedagogy. Teaching and the methodology of teaching in the active classroom. Those interested in using debate, discussion and argumentation in classrooms, discussion of experiences and teaching lessons relating to communication and critical thinking are encouraged to submit to this division.

Paper proposals (a less than one-page abstract) should be submitted as soon as possible but not later than 15 February 2008. The committees will evaluate proposals in hand each month and inform those submitting papers of the committee's decision. Full copies of papers should be provided electronically by the beginning of the conference. ALL PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONS MUST BE IN ENGLISH.

Format for papers will be that of the Modern Language Association. For information, see http://www.docstyles.com/mlacrib.htm . You can download a copy of the guidelines at http://debate.uvm.edu/dcpdf/mlacrib.pdf .

A committee of conference organizers and scholars will examine submissions to each division.

The members of the argumentation division committee are:
David Williams, Florida Atlantic University, USA
Frans van Eemeren, Department of Speech Communication, Argumentation Theory and Rhetoric, University of Amsterdam (invited)

The members of the debate division committee are:
Bojana Skrt, ZIP Slovenia.
Sam Nelson, Cornell University, USA
Loke Wing Fatt, SAID, Singapore

The members of the pedagogy division committee are:
Alfred Snider, University of Vermont USA
Zora Rutar, National Education Institute, Slovenia
Maria Wolrath Söderberg, Department of Rhetoric, Södertörn University College, Sweden

Proposals and full papers for argumentation should be sent to David Williams at davidcratis@hotmail.com
Proposals and full papers for debate should be sent to Bojana Skrt at bojana.skrt@siol.net
Proposals and full papers for pedagogy should be sent to Alfred Snider at alfred.snider@uvm.edu

Those wishing to attend the conference without submitting a paper are very welcome but must register.

The Conference will be held at various venues in Ljubljana. The participation fee is 65 Euros and covers the conference sessions, reception, coffee breaks and materials as well as a banquet. The participants will be accommodated in different locations in Ljubljana, depending on the budget option they choose. There are different accommodations possible, from low cost high school dormitory to moderate hotels in Ljubljana to the best hotels in Ljubljana. Low cost accommodations must register through Bojana Skrt, while all others must be booked by the attendees. We will be supplying a list of suggested hotels soon. The conference is a non-profit project and all organizers are unpaid. The participation fee is designed to cover costs only.

Please note that registration for admission to the conference and low cost housing must be coordinated through Bojana Skrt bojana.skrt@siol.net. Registration deadline is 15 March 2008.

The payment for the participation fee should be transferred to ZIP bank account by March 15 2008 or in cash on arrival. All inquires about application, payment and other information should be sent to Bojana Skrt at bojana.skrt@siol.net.

Travel to Ljubljana is possible through many forms. Regular air service from most European cities is available, including on a number of discount airlines such as Easyjet. Train and bus service is convenient with arrivals at the city center. We will not be arranging pick ups from arrival points because it is quite easy. We will be publishing low cost options for airport pick up.

Ljubljana travel guides can be found at:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/europe/slovenia?
http://www.randburg.com/si/ljubljana.html
http://www.ljubljanalife.com/

Organizing committee:
Bojana Skrt, Za in proti, zavod za kulturo dialoga, Slovenia
Alfred C. Snider, World Debate Institute, University of Vermont, USA

WDI Program in Europe in November 2007

WDI also sponsors world class debate training in other countries. Here is some information about the Fifth International Debate Academy to be held in Slovenia.

From http://debate.uvm.edu/idas2007.html

FIFTH INTERNATIONAL DEBATE ACADEMY SLOVENIA
IDAS 2007

THREE EVENTS:
WORKSHOP FOR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
WORKSHOP FOR TRAINERS, COACHES AND TEACHERS
AN INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT

For university students and trainers/teachers
17th – 25th November 2007, Ormož/Ljubljana, Slovenia

Organized by:
ZIP – Za in proti (ZIP), Pro et Contra, Institute for the Culture of Dialogue, Slovenia
WDI – World Debate Institute, University of Vermont, USA

Webpage, registration form, scholarship form: http://debate.uvm.edu/idas2007.html

What is it about?
It is the most international British Parliamentary Debate Training in the world with a distinguished training group. Attendees have come from over 26 different debating nations. The program involves a rigorous combination of lectures, skill exercise sessions and two practice debates per day. A major tournament will take place at the end. This year the tournament at the end of the Academy is open to all interested university debaters, so everybody who does not have time to come for the whole week can join us only for the tournament.

International Debate Academy Instructional Sessions - Ormož, Slovenia November 17-23 2008.
International Debate Academy Tournament - Ljubljana, Slovenia November 23-25 2008.

FACULTY FOR 2007

Jens Fischer, Berlin Debating Union, Germany, Europeans CA
Neill Harvey-Smith, UK, Former WUDC Finalist
Branka Josimov, ACCD, Serbia
Steve Llano, St. Johns University, USA
Loke Wing Fatt, SAID, Singapore, WUDC breaking judge
Branka Marušic, EUDC President, Croatia
Rhydian Morgan, UK, CA Euros Warm-Up
Sam Nelson, Cornell University, USA
Uve Poom, Estonia, 2007 Euro EFL Champion
Bojana Skrt, Za in proti, zavod za kulturo dialoga, Slovenia
Alfred C. Snider, University of Vermont, USA, Director, World Debate Institute

More announced later… LOOK FOR ADDITIONAL UK FACULTY COMING SOON!

Dates for the Academy Instructional Sessions
Arrival: Saturday, the 17th, opening of the Academy at 1700 hours.
Departure for Ljubljana on organized bus: Friday morning, the 23 November 2008.

Dates only for the tournament
Arrival: Friday, the 23nd tournament begins at 1400 hours.
Departure: Sunday, the 25th late afternoon

Who can apply?

Students: For the whole Academy, everybody interested in debating is welcome, and can be beginners or they can be very experienced. The training will be divided into different tracks, based on the participant’s needs and experience, but reflecting realistic pedagogical needs. Attendees will take a chartered bus to Ljubljana for the tournament.

Students: For the tournament only. Come and join us for spirited competition and fellowship. For the tournament only you apply as a team. One judge per 1 or 2 teams, 2 judges per 3 or 4 teams. Arrive in Ljubljana on Friday 23 November 2008 by 1200 hours.

Trainers and Teachers: We will also have a track for trainers, coaches, team organizers and club trainers that will be far more flexible. See how debate training is done by those experienced, attend seminars on materials and technique, learn adjudication and a lot more. Trainers will accompany everyone to Ljubljana and will judge at the tournament.

Participation fee
The whole Academy (it covers 8 days full room and board – accommodation/food, training and materials) 200 EURO.
Tournament only (it covers 2 days full room and board – accommodation/food, tournament expenses) 45 EURO.
The payment should be made in cash on arrival.
This is a non-profit project, and no organizers or trainers are paid for their effort. Fees are designed to cover some costs only.

Scholarships
There are limited scholarships available. The scholarship application procedure is as follows: submit a scholarship form, receive a scholarship, and formally accept the scholarship. Scholarships will not be available for travel. SCHOLARSHIP SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS 1 OCTOBER 2008. Download the scholarship application at http://debate.uvm.edu/idas07scholform.doc .

Application deadline: October, 15th 2007
Spaces are limited. If there is too much demand selection will be made based on regional diversity and experience.

Organizing committee:
Director of the Academy: Bojana Skrt, ZIP, bojana.skrt@siol.net
Head of the Training: Alfred C. Snider, World Debate Institute, University of Vermont, alfred.snider@uvm.edu

To Register and For Information:
Director of communication and registration: Sintija Dobrotinšek, ZIP, sintijadobrotinsek@yahoo.co.uk

APPLY NOW - DO NOT GET LEFT BEHIND!
http://debate.uvm.edu/idas2007application.doc

SCHOLARSHIP FORM
http://debate.uvm.edu/idas07scholform.doc

Topic area will emphasize the theme of equal opportunities.

College Policy Demo Debate #2 Available Now

From the World Debate Institute at the University of Vermont, comes this lengthy debate.

This policy debate is on the topic:
Resolved: that the United States Federal Government should increase its constructive engagement with the government of one or more of: Afghanistan, Iran, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, and Syria, and it should include offering them a security guarantee(s) and/or a substantial increase in foreign assistance.

The debate featured four outstanding debaters, Doowan Chung of Wake Forest, Brian Rubiae of Texas-Dallas, Eric Cole of West Georgia and Liz Lauzon of Richmond. This was the second demonstration debate of the two-week program.

Dr. Kevin Kuswa of Richmond leads a discussion after the debate.

In case you do not know, American policy debate takes place at high speed and utilizes a lot of quoted evidence read into the debate. The audio quality of these files is good enough to hear the voices very well.

There are two parts, get both, right click to download these large files, best viewed through iTunes:
http://www.uvm.edu/~debate/watch/wdi07cpoldemo2a.m4v
http://www.uvm.edu/~debate/watch/wdi06cpoldemo2b.m4v

To see our newest video files with the most recent on on top, go to:
http://www.uvm.edu/~debate/watch/?M=D

College Parliamentary Debate Workshop Concludes

The College Parliamentary Debate Workshop concluded on Friday in a happy expression of celebration as the students and faculty members congratulated each other on how the week had gone. In that week there had been eleven small group instructional timeslots in which several different subjects were being taught that students could choose between. There had also been twelve debates that students had participated in.

Just before the closing assembly director Steve Woods had given students an "open" topic for their last debate (this house believes that the glass is half full) and it produced some very entertaining interchanges with the subject mater of the different debates varying widely. One team had argued that the workshop session had been a success, to which the opposition filed some serious disagreements, all while a team from the WDI marketing staff was observing the debate.

Hat winners above: Matt Garver of Tennessee Tech, Marianne Caballero of Universidad Catholica Andres Bello Venezuela, Anna Rawson of Vermont, Jese Swett of Vermont, and Zach Wilkes of Louisiana

Once again, the hats were the crucial event of the closing assembly. They are given to those students who contribute the most to the academic and intellectual atmosphere of the program, and there was easy agreement on the five winners.

The parliamentary program at WDI keeps growing and if this session is any indication, it will continue to do so in the future. A huge thanks must go to the faculty who designed and implemented the program.

College Policy Debate Workshop Ends

After a mini-tournament the College Policy Debate Workshop came to an end on Friday. Two weeks of hard work by students with many of them stretching themselves to the limit had come to an end.

In the final round on a 6-1 decision Max Adler of the New School in NYC and Ben Dabiri of the University of Oklahoma emerged victorious. The second place team was Callie Dowdy and James Farr of Richmond. There was a lengthy discussion by the judges (students at the workshop) after the debate.

<== WDI 2007 Scholars: Kyle Zarazan, Liz Lauzon, Brian Rubaie, Eric Cole and Doowan Chung

Many thanks were given to the WDI Scholars who had worked so hard and done so much to help every student and every instructor during the two weeks. They were chosen in the spring from among many outstanding debaters who applied for the positions, and the choice had been difficult. But, it had been a good one, as the results showed. Everyone seemed very grateful for all that the scholars had done.


<== Hat winners: Rachel Ford of Appalachian State, Ashley Fortner of Richmond, Callie Dowdy of Richmond and Ben Dabiri of Oklahoma

The main awards are the "hats" that symbolize the decisions by the faculty as to which students had contributed most to the academic and intellectual environment of the program. The choices were difficult, but the winners were announced and everyone seemed excited about the choices.

After a sub-par summer last year, the College Policy Workshop has bounced back under the leadership of the four dedicated senior faculty members who planned and implemented the program. With an impressive showing this summer, the future looks bright.

Great Deeds by IDAS Alumni

The World Debate Institute also sponsors the International Debate Academy held each November in Slovenia. For information about the upcoming fifth year, go to
http://debate.uvm.edu/idas2007.html

<== Urska Derganc debating

Four graduates have achieved lofty goals at the recent European Universities Debating Championship.

Uve Poom, a finalist at IDAS 2006, has won the European EFL championship. Uve, from Estonia, is a dedicated debater who has debated at a wide variety of tournaments but has also been an important debate organizer, having been part of the Tallinn Open and now the winning bid for Euros 2008 to be held in Tallinn. Congratulations, Uve!

Branka Marusic of Croatia has been elected President of the EUDC. She was also in the IDAS 2006 final and in the upcoming year will serve as a faculty member. She has been an energetic debate organizer in Croatia as well as in southern and eastern Europe. Congratulations, Branka!

Ljubljana Law A, consisting of Urska Derganc and Jure Planinsek, reached the EFL semifinals at Europeans. Urska was Uve's partner last year at IDAS 2006 when they reached the finals. Jure is also an IDAS graduate. Congratulations to both of you!

Excitement is now starting to build for the 2007 IDAS. Here is a list of faculty, with more coming:
Alfred C. Snider, University of Vermont, USA, Director, World Debate Institute
Loke Wing Fatt, SAID, Singapore, WUDC breaking judge
Jens Fischer, Berlin Debating Union, Germany, Europeans CA
Neill Harvey-Smith, UK, Former WUDC Finalist
Branka Josimov, ACCD, Serbia
Branka Marušic, EUDC President, HDD, Croatia
Rhydian Morgan, UK, CA Euros Warm-Up
Sam Nelson, Cornell University, USA
Steve Llano, St. Johns University, USA
Bojana Skrt, Za in proti, zavod za kulturo dialoga, Slovenia

College Policy Debate Workshop Produces Huge Evidence Set

"Wow," was the expression Dr. Kevin Kuswa of the University of Richmond used when seeing the intense stack of research that had been produced by the college policy debaters. "It is huge, it is high quality, everything is typed and easy to read, and the arguments are extremely creative. What more could you want?"

If you know policy debate in America (one broad topic all year long), then you know that research and evidence are extremely important.

The evidence set is perhaps better than any set ever produced by the college program at WDI. If you want to have a look at the indexes for all of the files, do so at:
http://debate.uvm.edu/dcpdf/wdi07indexes.pdf

Unlike other workshops, you cannot simply buy the WDI evidence set. You get one (on a CD, all high quality pdf files) if you are enrolled in the program. The CD also contains videos of the topic lectures and a policy debate textbook.

Congratulations to the hard working students, scholars and faculty who made this possible.