International Debate Academy Partners Hold Iraq Debate Academy

Faculty at Iraq Debate Academy: IDA faculty Jason Jarvis of Georgia State University, IDA alumna Megan Harlow, IDA founders Alfred Snider & Bojana Skrt, Matt Stannard of University of Wyoming, Jonathan Borock, NYC Debate Society

The two major partners of the International Debate Academy Slovenia [Za in Proti national debate program of Slovenia; World Debate Institute, University of Vermont] have combined to host a five day debate workshop and tournament in Duhok, Kurdistan Autonomous Region, Iraq.

The tournament was held at Duhok Unioversity and was attended by 88 students from seven universities from all parts of Iraq.

For complete coverage, see posts at the World Debate Institute blog at:

Preparations

http://worlddebateinstitute.blogspot.com/2009/12/wdi-big-part-of-iraq-debate-academy.html

Day 1

http://worlddebateinstitute.blogspot.com/2009/12/day-1-at-wdi-sponsored-iraq-debate.html

Days 2 & 3

http://worlddebateinstitute.blogspot.com/2009/12/days-2-3-at-wdi-sponsored-iraq-debate.html

Days 4 & 5

http://worlddebateinstitute.blogspot.com/2009/12/wdi-sponsored-iraq-debate-academy-comes.html

Congratulations to all.

Related articles by Zemanta

• A Statement on My Activities in Kurdistan (blogs.nybooks.com)
• Iraq Electoral Law Passes, Crucial To Setting Up National Vote (huffingtonpost.com)

IDAS 2009 Tournament Results

The 7th International Debate Academy Slovenia was surely an international event.

Twenty-eight countries were represented: Singapore, Afghanistan, USA, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Italy, Finland, Serbia, France, Croatia, Germany, Thailand, Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Venezuela, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Scotland, Hong Kong, Moldova, Montenegro, England, Bolivia, Spain, Austria and Greece.

The event is sponsored by ZIP Slovenia and the World Debate Institute at the University of Vermont.

For more information see:
http://debate.uvm.edu/idas.html



120 people including 40 teams from 28 countries gathered for the tournament at the Faculty of Public Administration at the University of Ljubljana. With fabulous hosting and hospitality skills Helena Felc made it all happen smoothly with the help of other dedicated volunteers.


In the finals the motion was, THBT armies should overthrow corrupt governments.
First: Jernej Jenko & Jernej Jenko (6-5 vote by panel)
Second: Sam Natale & Sarah Anders
Finalists: Tom Dionesotes & Alli Hamlin, Ana Stritih & Zan Zveplan


The full tab can be found at:
http://debate.uvm.edu/usudc/idas2009/


Top Speakers:

Position	Name	Team	Total points	Average
1	Sarah Anders	Natale Anders	481	80.16
1	Sam Natale	Natale Anders	481	80.16
3	Tom Dionesotes	Dionesotes Hamlin	471	78.50
4	Paul Gross	Gross Loeb	470	78.33
4	Alli Hamlin	Dionesotes Hamlin	470	78.33
4	Maja Cimerman	Dobranic Cimerman	470	78.33
7	Isaac Loeb	Gross Loeb	469	78.16
8	Manos Manopoulos	Vignjevic Manopoulos	468	78.00
9	Filip Dobranic	Dobranic Cimerman	465	77.50
10	Milan Vignevic	Vignjevic Manopoulos	464	77.33

The motions were:

This house would give foreign residents the right to vote in general elections (1)

THW allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons. (2)

TTHW link executives' salaries to those of their employees. (3)

THBT journalists should not be compelled by law to reveal their sources. (4)

THBT rich countries should pay Brazil to re-forest. (5)

THBT hunger strikes are a legitimate form of protest in democracies. (6)

THBT patients cannot refuse life saving medical treatment. (S-F)

THBT armies should overthrow corrupt governments. (F)

Instruction in Ormoz Ends, on to Ljubljana!

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Wednesday and Thursday were the last two instruction days at the 7th International Debate Academy Slovenia being held in Ormoz, Slovenia. As the days passed the dedication of the students seemed to increase and the improvements in all of the debaters were obvious. The teachers and trainers began judging with faculty members to work on their judging skills for the tournament.

It was good to welcome TJ Semnemgern from Thailand to the faculty. He was chief adjudicator at the Asian BP Championships held in Thailand, and arrived in plenty of time to add his considerable skills to the instruction. It was sad that Rhydian Morgan was not able to attend as he had a family emergency. Everyone supported his choice and wishes he and his family the best. It became apparent that there are actually 27 countries here. Although with Rhydian not in attendance we lost Wales but gained Bolivia one one student finally announced their nationality.

The schedule continued with the same pattern. That seemed to work well because after a couple of days you never have to look, you just go to the same sort of event and the same room as the day before.

Practice debate motions for the last two days included:

• THBT developing nations should nationalize their natural resources
• THW eliminate the executive power to pardon
• THW legalize the sale of human body parts
• THW forbid all religious symbols in all public schools.

The lectures and exercises for the advanced group covered:

• Principle and Philosophy, lecture by Stephen Boyle
• Economics, lecture by Stephen Boyle substituting for Rhydian Morgan

The lectures and exercises for the intermediate and beginner groups covered:
Second Teams, lectures by Loke Wing Fatt and Jens Fischer
Points of Information, lectures by Alfred Snider and Chris Langone

The electives that were offered included:
WEDNESDAY:

• ILLSLEY - FINDING YOUR EXTENSION
• LOEWE - WHIP SPEECHES
• NENADOVIC - WHAT IS THE PROBLEM (IN THE MOTION)?
• SKRT - CASEBUILDING PART 2
• VALKERING - ARGUMENT DEVELOPMENT
• LANGONE - STRUCTURE IN YOUR SPEECH
• SNIDER - MAKING YOUR ARGUMENTS MORE IMPORTANT
• BOYLE - SNEAKY TRICKS FOR DEBATERS
• LOKE - DEBATING ABOUT CHINA
• FISCHER - PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINAL LAW

THURSDAY:

• FISCHER - ADJUDICATION FOR DEBATERS
• BOYLE - PRINCIPLES & PHILOSOPHY
• LOKE - UNDERSTANDING ISLAM & JIHAD
• TJ - DEBATING SOCIAL ISSUES
• VALKERING - HOW PEOPLE CHANGE
• SNIDER - TRAINING DRILLS & EXERCISES
• LOEWE - INDIVIDUAL & SOCIETY
• NENADOVIC - RECRUITING DEBATERS
• TJ - MILITARY ISSUES IN DEBATE
• FISCHER - WINNING AND DEFENDING THE MORAL HIGH GROUND

On Wednesday night there was a faculty demonstration debate on the motion: This House would give the International Criminal Court its own police force. The teams were:

• First Prop - Loke Wing Fatt & TJ Semnemgern
• First Opp - Gavin Illsley & Stephen Boyle
• Second Prop - Jens Fischer & Isa Loewe
• Second Opp - Maja Nenadovic & Anne Valkering

A vote was taken by the students and teachers in the audience, and on a very tight count it was:

First - Second Prop

Second - Second Opp

Third - First Opp

Fourth - First Prop

A video of this debate and many other IDAS 09 events will be posted within a week.

There was another WSDC schools round held in the evening with Romania vs. Slovenia. Romania was the winner again in another close debate.

Wednesday night there was a party with comedy night, and four brave comics faced the crowd of debaters.

Thursday night there was a chill-out party for the students and teachers, while all of the faculty members went to a local Inn and enjoyed home grown and produced foods, meats, wines and brandies. It was a truly jolly celebration of the end of the instructional program, and the Americans present said it was much better than "Thanksgiving."

Friday morniong people slept in and came to a late breakfast. The bus arrived to take everyoine to Ljubljana for the tournament and the next phase of the extended event. It was farewell to Ormoz and especially to the lovely Hotel Ormoz, the finest two star hotel in the world, who had been such a wonderful host.

IDAS 09 Off to a Strong Start

Over 80 debaters, teachers and trainers from 25 countries (Singapore, Afghanistan, USA, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Italy, Finland, Serbia, France, Croatia, Germany, Thailand, Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Venezuela, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Scotland, Hong Kong, Moldova, Montenegro, England, Wales and perhaps more) are having quite a time in Ormoz, Slovenia at the Seventh International Debate Academy Slovenia, a week long intensive training program that concludes with a tournament in Ljubljana.

Each day has a lecture, that is followed by exercises for everyone, divided into beginner, intermediate and advanced groups. Lectures for the advanced cover basic areas for debating, such as International Relations (Anne Valkering), Ecology (Alfred Snider), Economics (Rhydian Morgan), Law and Justice (Chris Langone) and Principle and Philosophy (Stephen Boyle). For intermediate and beginners, there is a more mundane sequence: public speaking, proposition strategy, opposition strategy, second team strategy and points of information.


Each day there are a series of electives in the afternoon that students can choose from.
Sunday:

• Style, Chris Langone
• Note taking, Alfred Snider
• Argument building, Gavin Illsley
• 13 Minutes Prep, Loke Wing Fatt
• Motion Analysis, Jens Fischer
• Debating Secessionist Movements, Maja Nenadovic
• Whip Speeches, Isa Loewe
• Basic Reasoning, Chris Langone
• How to NOT Get Last When you Don't Know Shit, Anne Valkering
• 12 Ways to Refute an Argument, Jens Fischer

Monday:

• Making Your Arguments More Important, Alfred Snider
• Persuasion Techniques, Chris Langone
• Debating Humanitarian Intervention, Isa Loewe
• Making GOOD Slippery Slope Arguments, Gavin Illsley
• Fundraising, Anne Valkering
• Rules of the WUDC Format, Loke Wing Fatt
• Preparation for Tournaments, Bojana Skrt
• Debating Turkey & the EU, Stephen Boyle
• Better Team Work, Maja Nenadovic
• Principles of International Law, Jens Fischer

Tuesday:

• Democratization, Maja Nenadovic
• Debating Law, Chris Langone
• Opposition One, Gavin Illsley
• Policy, Value & Analysis Motions, Anne Valkering
• Tabulating Competions & Using Tab Software, Jens Fischer
• International Criminal Court, Isa Loewe
• If English is NOT Your First Language, Bojana Skrt
• Debating Ecology, Alfred Snider
• Governments & Economics, Stephen Boyle

There have been some teacher and trainer sessions:

• Organizing a Debate Team, Bojana Skrt
• Training and Coaching, Loke Wing Fatt & Bojana Skrt
• Tournament Hosting and Organizing, Anne Valkering

There have been two public debates:

Student-Faculty Demonstration Debate, Saturday Night

• Faculty: Loke Wing Fatt & Gavin Illsley, Isa Loewe & Anne Valkering
• Students: Anna England Kerr & Crt Podlogar, Filip Dobranic & Maja Cimerman
• Motion: This House supports mandatory vaccinations.
• Critics: Jens Fischer & Chris Langone

World Schools Demonstration Debate, Monday Night

• Proposition: Slovenia National Team
• Opposition: Romanian National Team
• Motion: This House would deny the right to strike to workers in essential area.
• Critic: Gavin Illsley

Practice debate motions will move from easier to more difficult, prep time starts at 30 minutes and will be cut down to 15. Here are the motions for Sunday & Monday.

• This House would not negotiate with pirates.
• This House would not eat meat
• This House would pay a wage to stay at home parents
• Thisd House would legalize soft drugs.

We have had two awesome parties that lasted late into the night and had music, dancing and much frivolity.

• Sunday night - country exhibition
• Monday night - kitsch party (strange clothing, cross-dressing, unusual make up)

Our Faculty includes:

• Stephen Boyle, Ireland, Irish Times Champion, twice breaking at WUDC, now University of Vermont
• Loke Wing Fatt, Singapore, SAID, the debating monk
• Jens Fischer, Germany, President European Debating Council
• Gavin Illsley, Scotland, communication consultant
  
• Chris Langone, USA, lawyer & Cornell University
• Isa Loewe, Germany/France, European ESL Champion
• Rhydian Morgan, Wales, Stylus Communications
• Maja Nenadovic, Hungary, University of Amsterdam
• Bojana Skrt, Slovenia, ZIP
• Thepparith Senamngern, Thailand, WUDC Convener Bangkok 2008
  
• Alfred Snider, USA, University of Vermont, World Debate Institute
• Anne Valkering, Netherlands, WUDC ESL Champion 2008, Bonaparte University

At the end of the week we will be moving to Ljubljana, where a dozen or so more teams will join us for a tournament at the Faculty of Public Administration.

More news coming in a day or so.