[caption id="attachment_36956" align="alignright" width="455"] The Dutch victory celebration featuring European champions Katharina Margareta Jansen (4th from left), Emma Lucas (5th f.l.) Louis Honee (6th f.l.) and David Metz (7th f.l.) - © Louis Honee[/caption] The Astana EUDC 2020 has come to an end and it has been a successful tournament for the Leiden Debating Union. The Dutch debating society was able to win both the ESL and Open final and topped the ESL speaker awards as well. In the grand final, Leiden A (David Metz, Emma Lucas) took the victory out of Closing Opposition against the Opening Government Leiden C (Louis Honee, ...

[caption id="attachment_35325" align="alignright" width="351"] Paula Villaseñor Cano and Carlota Delso González - © Barcelona Debating Society[/caption] The team Fabregat's Angels (Paula Villaseñor Cano, Carlota Delso González; Madrid) has won both the EFL and Grand final of the Barcelona Debating Open 2019! In the Grand final, they were victorious out of Opening Government, defeating the Opening Opposition Crazy Broke Asians (Kenneth Foo Wui Kit, Seyoung Jeon; KCL), Closing Government Abbas & Faizan (Abbas Azmat, Faizan Raja; Lahore) and Closing Opposition Ek Chutki sindoor (Arth Mishra, Ishaan Kapoor; LSE/Oxford). The debate on the motion "THP a world where the majority believed in determinism over ...

[caption id="attachment_35192" align="alignright" width="400"] Tin Puljić, top speaker of the Leiden Open - © Marina Kojić[/caption] The team Oxford Traitors A (Gigi Gil, Tommy Peto; Oxford) has won the final of the Leiden Open 2019. Out of Opening Opposition, they defeated the Opening Government ESL justice warriors (Jure Hederih, Sarah Brdnik; Oxford/Edinburgh), the Closing Government Yugoslavia A (Tin Puljić, Miloš Marjanović; Zagreb/Belgrade) and the Closing Opposition British Manufacturing Jobs - Coming to a Country Near You (Duncan Crowe, Sheraz Qureshi; Alumni). The motion read "This house believes that 'Dulce et Decorum Est pro Patria Mori' (i.e. the belief that it is sweet ...

The Novi Sad EUDC, lasting 30.07.-05.08.18, came to an impressive conclusion: Teams from Tel Aviv won both the ESL (English as a Second Language) and the Open final! The ESL dominance continued with - originally Mexican - debater Lucía Arce, starting for Sheffield, being both top speaker in ESL and in total. Read more about the constellations, teams, speakers, judges and motions below. ...

As the 2018 European Universities Debate Championship progresses, the break is now online. ...

[caption id="attachment_33925" align="alignright" width="400"] Left to right: Dan Lahav (CA), Idan Bressler (Winner), Amichay Even Chen (Winner), Ido Kotler (Best Speaker), Duncan Crowe (CA) - © Annie Schwartz[/caption] After a weekend in Greece the Athens Open 2018 got won by ‘Tel Aviv A’ (Amichay Even Chen and Idan Bressler). They spoke in the final from Opening Government defeating ‘Novi Sad kenobi’ (Jovan Petronijević and Milos Marjanovic) in Opening Opposition, ‘Tel Aviv - You’ve been struck by a smooth POI’ (Annie Schwartz and Gil Peled) in Closing Government, and ‘Random nomen graecum’ (Roy Schulman and Elaye Karstadt) in Closing Opposition on the motion ‘This house believes that the general approach of states ...

Once again the anglophone World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) took place during the turn of the year. This year's location was Mexico City. The tournament started the 27.12.17 and ended the 04.01.18. After nine preliminary rounds the teams breaking to the outrounds were announced on New Year's Eve. At the WUDC, teams participate classified as one of three language categories: EPL (English as a Proficient Language), ESL (English as a Second Language) and EFL (English as a Foreign Language). EPL-classified teams can only participate in the Open Break, ESL-teams depending on their ranking either in the Open Break oder the ...

It is not uncommon for major tournaments to host training programmes, as Duncan Crowe, one of the main organizers of the Scottish EUDC training series, puts it. However, the effort invested in the Scottish EUDC training series has been exceptional in length and extent. Instead of being a selected set of workshops delivered directly prior to the competition, this training series has involved the production and distribution of new, live training content directly to societies across Europe. The launch of the Scottish EUDC Training Platform marks the introduction of a new pillar to the international debate education. ...

Breaking 9th seed, Darion Hotan and Sam van Elk from Kings College London proceed to win the 2017 Oxford Intervarsity. The tournament's Chief Adjudicators were Evan Lynyak, Sella Nevo, Sophie Large, Teck Wei Tan, and Joshua Bailey. The tab team, SUULUU Candles, was led by Roxana Legezynska and included Katherine Dunbar, Steven Roy, Alex Murray, Joseph Sisson, and Jiwoo Won. [caption id="attachment_33048" align="alignright" width="400"] In Closing Opposition, BPP A ran an economics extension in the Final. photo credit: Justin Kirk[/caption] Debating as KCL A, Darion and Sam proposed that “Assuming it could be done peacefully, this House would replace all existing governments ...

The Cambridge IV 2017 preliminary rounds concluded similar to the Oxford IV, with Tel Aviv AD again breaking first, this time on 13 points. Dan Lahav again topped the open speaker tab - this time accompanied by Darion Hotan of KCL A, both averaging an 83.6 that begged belief. Dan Lahav was once again the top ESL speaker. Xavier Redmond, of Oxford RK, was the top novice speaker with an average of 79. In the final round, Tel Aviv AD (Ayal Hayut-Man, Dan Lahav) won from Opening Government defending the motion that "This house believes that it is always immoral to ...

A few days ago, we interviewed the magnificient Owen Mooney, current EUDC champion. We asked him some questions about his debating development and which advice he would give to novices and debaters who seek to become better. Enjoy some funny stories, expert suggestions and clever comments! ...

The European Universities Debate Championship 2017, taking place in Tallinn, have come to an end. On the day of the finals both the last four teams of the Open track and the English as a Second Language (ESL) track came together at the Nordea Concert hall for the two finals. ...

On the third day of the European University Debate Championship 2017 the pre-rounds come to an end, meaning: The break happens. We've gathered all the information available for you and will edit more once we get our hands on it. ...

Day one is over and the participants of Tallinn EUDC are still hopeful and excited. At least it seems like it. The Achte Minute went around asking participant to deliver their best case for either Government or Opposition on the motions “TH supports coming to Tallinn EUDC” The overwhelming majority proposed that it was a great idea to join and also the voice who regrets coming, can’t really been taken seriously. Some of the arguments focused on the beauty of the city: I generally like traveling. The city and the old town is fun to go around and the waterfront is beautiful. There is ...

[caption id="attachment_32286" align="alignleft" width="309"] Winning team Toronto 1 - © UTS Speech and Debate Society[/caption] The tournament at the World Schools Debate Academy 2017 was won on a 6 - 3 split desicion by Toronto 1 (Gautam Manohar, Adithya Chakravarthy, Angela Li, Andrei Comlosan Pop and Mia Richmond; Canada) in Opposition on the motion "THBT developed nations should not recruit high skilled workers such as doctors and engineers from developing countries". They debated in the final against the team North European Trade Agreement (Sonia Meehan, Leo Ohl, Julius Schillinger, Luesa Vallin and Mariam Kojo; Finnland/Germany). The final was adjudicated by Duncan Crowe (c), Kristina Loayza, Jenny Tumas, Rok Hafner, Penny Sadeghi , Malvika Kala, Roel Becker, Elizabeta ...

[caption id="attachment_32158" align="alignright" width="400"] Winners Katherine Dunbar (left) and Etsuko Lim (right) during prep time - © TCD Hist/Phil[/caption] The Trinity Open 2017 was won by Cambridge B (Etsuko Lim & Katherine Dunbar) in Closing Government. They debated against Oxford Tecks and Sophie (Teck Wei Tan & Sophie Large) in Opening Government,  Upgrading from Aodhan (Adam Stairs & Clíodhna Ní Chéileachair, UCD Law) in Opening Opposition and Edinburgh A (Tim Squirrel & Nish Hegde) in Closing Opposition on the motion "You are an author who has just been granted a power such that any book you write would be taken as gospel by all who read it. ...

[caption id="attachment_32040" align="alignright" width="158"] Winners of the Helsinki Open - Alex Harris (left) and Brian Wong (right) - © Brian Wong[/caption] Congratulations to ‘Alex is never Wong’ (Alex Harris, former ULU, and Brian Wong, Oxford) for winning the Helsinki Open 2017. They won the final from Closing Government defeating ‘The Cupcakes or Your Life’ (Miri Muntean and Ingo Bandhauer, Vienna) in Opening Government, ‘Schrodinger’s Dichotomy’ (Jenni Juvonven, former Tampere, and Martijn Roo, Berlin) in Opening Opposition, and ‘Mainor A’ (Oskar Gross and Kasper) in Closing Opposition on the motion ‘This House would grant an amnesty to citizens who fought for ISIS ...

[caption id="attachment_31637" align="alignright" width="400"] The finalists and CAs - ©Private[/caption] The Alfred Tuna Snider International World Schools Tournament was won by Toronto Mix (Sarah Rana, Zain Daudi, Dori Zhoud, Sophie Wu) in Proposition on a 3:2 split decision. They debated the final on the motion "This House believes that the West should not portray ‘’The Great Explorers’’ (e.g. Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama) as heroes" against UTS A (Martine Duffy, Alykhan Jetha, Adithya Chakracarthy, Gautam Manohar; Canada) in Opposition. The final was judged by Adnan Muttalib, Cornell in chair together with Duncan Crowe, UK/Vermont, Nae Sovaiala, Romania, Zheng Bo, China and Wanda Gibson, ...

With debaters from all around the world recovering on their travels back home, it's time to look back at the ups and downs of the tournament. Helena Hecke commented on the Dutch WUDC experience. The debating world has once more crowned the best debaters in the world. This year it's USU A from Sydney in the Open category, Tel Aviv A in the ESL category and Belgrade C in the EFL category. But celebrating the new world champions is not all that has happened at this year’s Worlds. The debating: Of course debating is the most important aspect at WUDC. This year, the Adjudication ...

After nine preliminary rounds, two days of elimination rounds and three finals, the winners of this years WUDC have been determined. [caption id="attachment_30874" align="alignright" width="302"] EFL Champions 2017: Belgrade C ©DutchWUDC[/caption] In the EFL Final, Belgrade C (Miloš Marjanović, Teodora Rešetar) took the win via unanimous decision against BINUS A (Stella Emada Bestio, Willem Chua) in Opening Government, SKT A (Konrad Gütschow, Philipp Schirmer) in Opening Opposition and SUFE B (Jinting Liu, Miranda Shen Yan) in Closing Government on the motion "THBT the European left should promote a hard left agenda, including the nationalisation of major industry, very high tax rates on the ...

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 ...

[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 ...

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: ...

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 ...

The Glasgow University Union (GUU) invites debaters from all over the world to participate at the GUU Ancients and the GUU Women's on Friday, May 15 to Sunday, May 17, 2015. The organising comitee promises a three course black-tie dinner and yakka.The Chief Adjudicaters for GUU Ancients are Emilia Carlqvist, Simon Tunnicliffe, Hugh Guidera and Heather Whiteside. For GUU Women's, Parnian Sadeghi, Hannah Martin and Maria Ni Fhlatharta sit on the panel.Important information for GUU Ancients:Host: GUUDate: 15 and 16 May 2015Convener: Duncan CroweRounds: Five preliminary rounds, break to the semisChief Adjudicators: Emilia Carlqvist, Simon Tunnicliffe, Hugh Guidera and Heather WhitesideRegistration fee: £40 in advance for UK based institutions and Open teams (£50 on ...

The break to the Finals at the European Universities Debating Championship 2014 has been announced. In the ESL category, Berlin A, Lund A, Belgrade B and BBU A made it through the semi-finals with the motion "This house believes that leaders of minority religions in Europe should strongly encourage their congregations to refrain from public displays of their faith". In the Open break, Oxford A, Sheffield A, Nottingham A, and Edinburgh A won the semi-finals with the motion "THBT the US should invade and forceably partition Iraq". Semi-finals of the Zagreb EUDC In the Open semi-final 1, the following teams competed: OG: Edinburgh A OO: ...

The break of the European Universities Debating Championship 2014 in Zagreb has been announced. The following teams will compete in the out-rounds on the 22nd of August (data might be inaccurate): Open Break 23: Cambridge C 22: Oxford B 21: Cambridge B 21: Oxford A 21: GUU A 20: Cambridge A 20: Oxford C 19: Edinburgh A 19: LSE A 19: Sheffield A 19: Durham B 19: KCL A 19: Hebrew A 19: Nottingham A 19: Durham C 18: BPP A ESL Break 19: Hebrew A 18; Belgrade B 18: Lund A 18: Tartu A 18: Berlin A 17: Tel Aviv B 17: Leiden A 17: Bucharest A 17: BBU A 17: Tilbury House A 17: Mannheim A 17: ELTE A 17 BGU A 16: Belgrade A 16: Tel Aviv A 16: tie of ...

Christine Simpson und Michael Shapira, Chief Adjudicators (CA) of the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) 2015 in Vienna, have published a list of candidates for the post of Deputy Chief Adjudicator (DCA) for the Vienna EUDC. After a phase where feedback can be given, three of them will be selected as DCAs of the Vienna EUDC. The CAs therefore call upon all debaters who know one or more of the following applicants, to submit detailed feedback about their qualifications. Christine und Michael write about the feedback: "What we would like to hear from you is anything that you think is related ...