When I started my year abroad at the US-American East coast I was really thrilled by the idea that Yale, my new alma mater to be, hosted one of the best debating societies in the world. I dreamt away, driven by my winning the German debating championship in Münster: exciting debates with great guest speakers and members of various secret societies in dreary vaults. I was quickly disappointed when I realized it was not that easy to get a mere impression of how debating is carried out on campus. Two reasons for being disappointed: Firstly, I was not granted admission into ...

Apply as judge: On the first weekend in April, the US Universities Debating Championship will be held at the University of Vermont. The convenors expect about 200 teams from 1 to 3 April. They want to encourage judges from all over the world to apply until 1 March with an E-Mail to alfred.snider@uvm.edu. Guaranteed are six prelims of judging with the possibility to break to elims. Moreover, judges are welcome to judge at the America’s Cup on 31 March. Financial subsidy maybe expected, Alfred Snider, debate professor in Vermont, promises in an E-Mail to the worldwide debate community. There he mentions ...

Ever wondered about those American debates where the debaters speak so fast that they can hardly be understood? Where a team will come into the debating room with large plastic tubs stuffed full of "evidence"? This is Policy Debate (also known as Cross-Examination Debate or CX for short), a debating style that originated in the USA and is the prevalent style in US universities and high schools. However, it is not used widely in Europe, where parliamentary debating is prevalent. It is primarily research- and evidence-based, thus encouraging debaters to put as much proof for their statements into a speech ...