Manuel Adams took part in the World Debate Forum (WDF), this time staged in Manila. It was in Botswana where the WDF was hosted for the first time, an initiative of Logan Balavijendran. 50 participants, 15 papers, 2 days - these are the numbers of the forum, please read the German version of Manuel's report to learn more about the facts: debating in Burma, teachers' education in Iraq and the distribution of debating on the Balkans and many more circuits. ...

Trauma overcome! Worlds' runner-up Dessislava Kirova gives Achte Minute'e appreciated readers an insight on how she and her team mate Juliane Mendelsohn have overcome their trauma of being defeated in quarters - and how the proceed straight on to the finals of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC or Worlds) in Manila, Philippines. (The story is in German, please check back later for an English translation.) ...

Female power straight on through to the final - Dessislava Kirova and Juliane Mendelsohn of Berlin Debating Union (BDU) are runner-ups to Omer and Sella Nevo from Israel who won the ESL final of the World University Debating Championships (WUDC or Worlds). Congrats from Achte Minute to all! The ladies gave Achte Minute an interview - please switch to the German page to read the full story or check back later for an English translation.

Today's sixth day of the Worlds Universities Debating Championship saw lots of joy and lots of heartbreak - it was the first day of final rounds! After yesterday's break announcement started with the open octofinals, followed by English as a Second Language (ESL) quarterfinals, open quarterfinals and concurrent EFL and ESL semifinals. ...

New year's daywas quiet at World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC or Worls) in Manila:Most debater had the chance to take a tour around the Philippinian capital, relaxed and hang out at the hotel. That was not true today for the national delegates. They had to sit in the WUDC Council where they decide about a new Council president, the confirmation of the current bid for next Worlds and the bid for the Worlds after that. And there we have a new president: Steve Johnson, until recently "registrar", followed Jens Fischer in the office. With him on the Council board are Eoin ...

As usual at Worlds, the last day of the year is also the last day of preliminary rounds. Another three rounds capped off those rounds and finally determined who will advance to the final rounds ("break") and who won't. To discourage bad and destructive behaviour in these rounds, no adjudication is given after the rounds end. That means that the latest available information regarding standings is from last night after round 6 - Can Okar and Florian Umscheid have compiled unofficial tabs based on publicly available data: Can's GoogleDoc and Florian's Facebook posts thus provided a glimpse of who might ...

In the following we provide you the breaks and tab positions at WUDC 2012 after the nine preliminary rounds. This data was compiled with the help of Colm Flynn and confirmed by WUDC tabmaster Bob Nimmo. Some institutions' names may not be accurately typed up, please excuse any errors. EFL break (team points not yet available): Universitas Indonesia C Ewha Debating Society A Belgrade C Defense Technology A Zagreb A UCD Venezuela A Tianjin FSU A STAN A ESL break (team points not yet available): Tel Aviv A Utrecht A Leiden A Ljubljana A Belgrade A Johannes Gutenberg A BDU A University of the Philippines Manila A International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) A Chinese University Hong Kong A Galatasaray A Malaya A KDU A Lahore ...

It was another busy day at De La Salle Worlds in Manila, and debaters got a glimpse of what they all hope to hold in their hands on January 3 - trophies! ...

For debaters at De La Salle Worlds in Manila today was launch day, with three preliminary rounds taking place at De La Salle University (DLSU). During preliminary rounds, no distinction is made between different language levels (Open/ESL/EFL), so especially round 1 saw a wild mix of debaters from all over the world, clashing over the motion "This house would make fathers take paternity leave", a nice and not-too-hard start into the day. ...

Today, De La Salle Worlds in Manila kicked off for good! Day 1, however, was an easy one for debaters. Many of them were asked to take part in ESL and EFL interviews to confirm their status in the respective category: English as a Second Language and English as a Foreign Language. Adjudicators were challenged more thoroughly. They had to go through a test to determine their skill as a judge. It consisted of a live debate performed in front of the adjudicators, which they had to critique. The motion for that test debate read: "This house would ban all reporting ...

Debaters from all over the world are flocking in to Manila, Philippines. From 27 December 2011 to 4 January 2012, they assemble at De La Salle University (DLSU) to compete for the title of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC or Worlds). From under the roof of VDCH there will be the following debating society competing with around 400 teams from about 70 countries - all in a peaceful competition, the WUDC 2012 or DLSU Worlds: Berlin Debating Union: John Eltringham, Narendran Ramasendaran, Dessislava Kirova, Juliane Mendelsohn, Kai Dittmann, Matthias Winkelmann S.A.E.C.L.O. Greifswald: Rafael Heinisch, Ida Heidecker Debattierclub Mannheim: Jana Gilke, Katrin Sadroschinski Debattierclub Johannes ...

Take me to Manila! A first bunch of debating societies from under the umbrella of VDCH know for sure already: We are going to DLSU Worlds in Manila. In the recently published list, the convenors of the World Debating Universities Championships (WUDC or Worlds) at De La Salle University of Manila, Philippines have announced those deb socs followed their slogan “Take me to Manila”. It is a rough list of registration for DLSU Worlds only, containing many duplicates. But still, seven debating societies from the VDCH circuit made it to that list: Debattierclub Stuttgart, Berlin Debating Union, Debattierclub Johannes Gutenberg Mainz, ...

Not an April fools’ joke, seriously: On April 1, registration for the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC or Worlds) starts. Be sure to have all your info ready for registration at 10 a.m. sharp Philippine Standard Time, that is +8 GMT, Greenwich Mean Time, since the DLSU Worlds – named after the De La Salle University – will be held in Manila, Philippines in December and January. For debaters in London that means they will have to fill in the registration form at 2 in the morning. But also debaters from other places will have to get up early to ...

The team of DLSU Worlds 2012 is now consolidated: With Joe Roussos from the South African University of Witwatersrand, the adjudication team of Sam Block and Lucinda David grew even stronger than before: Besides Joe, their deputies at the World Universities Debating Championships at De La Salle University of Manila, Philippines are Cormac Early (USA), Tim Mooney (Australia), Masako Suzuki (Japan) und Art Ward (Great Britain/Ireland). In 2010, Joe was chief adjudicator at the Pan-African Universities Debating Championships (PAUDC) in Namibia, he is South African champion and secretary to the WUDC Council. At “Wits”, he masters in physics while an undergraduate ...

Countdown: 341 days to go until De La Salle University (DLSU) Worlds 2012 kick-off in manila, Philippines.It was not until recently that VDCH debaters have returned from Gaborone, Botswana where they were taking part in this year’s World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC or Worlds). Still, if you are already desperately longing for next Worlds you may browse the websites of DLSU Worlds. There, the second issue of the Worlds Debate Magazine is available where the bids for WUDC 2013 are presented. Of course, our well informed and loyal readers know already that Berlin is going to host Worlds 2013. You want ...

The Botswana Worlds are right ahead of us, when next year's Manila Worlds already show up at the horizon – the chef adjudicators of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC or Worlds) 2012, Sam Block and Lucinda David, have assigned their DCAs: Cormac Early, Tim Mooney, Masako Suzuki and Art Ward. Cormac Early is a member of the Harvard Speech and Parliamentary Debate Society and spoke in finals at numerous debate tournaments in the USA and Great Britain such as the Oxford IV. Among other competitions, Cormac was runner-up to Worlds in Koç, Turkey, this year and in Cork, Ireland, in ...

You want to become a deputy chief adjudicator at World Universities Debating Championhips (WUDC a.k.a. Worlds) 2012 in Manila, Philippines? Good for you, the deadline for application has been extended until 13 December 2010. On the Manila Worlds website, you find an application form. Please send that and your CV to the chief adjudicators Sam Block and Lucinda David via sam.block[at]dlsuworlds.com and lucinda.david[at]dlsuworlds.com respectively. You may supply them with your docs until 20. December, but make sure you express your intend to apply beforehand. Since 1981, debaters from all over the world have been competing at the World Universities Debating ...

Way ahead, but already we have news from Worlds 2012 in Manila: Applications wanted for deputy chief adjudicators (DCA)! The chief adjudicators of next year’s World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC a.k.a. Worlds) in Manila, Philippines, have just announced that the application process for the office of deputy chief adjudicators is open. Sam Block (best speaker at WUDC 2008 and at EUDC 2007) and Lucinda David (WUDC semi-finalist ESL) emphasize that the DCAs are “key parts of the adjudication team, and contribute to the effort of running the debating side of the tournament.” Responsibilities include the selection of motions, ranking of ...

Take me to Manila! That is the slogan of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC or Worlds) that are going to be hosted by De La Salle University of Manila, Philippines from December 27 to January 4. Chief adjudicators are Sam Block and Lucinda David, their deputies are Joe Roussos, Cormac Early, Tim Mooney, Masako Suzuki and Art Ward. More details on the CAs maybe found on Achte Minute. Facts: World Universities Deabting Championships Manila, Philippines Dezember 27, 2011 to Januar 4, 2012 Registration fees 385 Euros BPS, English Nine prelims Adjudication team: Sam Block, Lucinda David, Joe Roussos, Cormac Early, Tim Mooney, Masako Suzuki, Art Ward Website: www.dlsuworlds.com Since 1981, ...