This year’s World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC) take place in Botswana’s capital Gaborone. The conveners announced the second stage of registration to start on Monday, 12 July. This requires the confirmation of spots for all participants. A deposit of 150 US-Dollar per participant, be it speakers or adjudicators, has to posted to the WUDC bank account which has been updated just recently.

Chief Adjudicator Logandran Balavijendran emphasizes that all rules on registration will be carried out strictly and consequently, i.e. if deposits are not paid by 21 July 2010 you will lose your granted spots. All details about the registration procedure are now available on the WUDC homepage. Please be aware that it might take up to five business days for the money to be transferred internationally.

Since 1981, debaters from all over the world have been competing at the World Universities Debating Championships at alternating locations across the planet. It was not before 1996 that the British Parliamentary Style became the mandatory format for this annual tournament. The African continent has been host to previous Worlds and stages the Worlds now for a third time, this year from 27 December 2010 to 4 January 2011 at the University of Botswana, Gaborone. The tournament’s schedule is accessible on the WUDC 2011 homepage. Language of debate is English and there are three categories: “Main” for native speakers, “ESL” (English as a Second Language, for those who prove great proficiency in English) and “EFL” (English as a Foreign Language, for those who studied English as a mere subject).

apf / glx