International Debate Academy

New Website for Debate Academies - Go There

2011-08-05T15:43:00.004-04:00

News about IDAS 2010 and 2011

2011-05-08T19:11:00.000-04:00

Image via WikipediaThe International Debate Academy in Slovenia is jointly sponsored by the World Debate Institute and ZIP SLovenia.

First, here is the link to the new web page that contains the educational elements of the 2010 program.

http://debateeuropeforcitizens.blogspot.com/ 

 with video lectures from Kranjska Gora and a lot of content and debate training material. Please, feel free to use it and circulate it in your debate circuits. We would also appreciate a lot if you can publisice the link to this debate training web to your ownweb page. Thanks a lot. 

The second info is about IDAS 2011 - it will happen in Hotel Špik again and tournament in Ljubljana, from 19th - 28th of November. You can participate in the whole event or the tournament only.  Here is the web page http://debate.uvm.edu/idas.html 
The registration is open. Please, do not wait with registration as the places are limited. 

Some of you know that we did submit a new proposal to Europe for Citizens. We do expect the answer will be in June and I will let you know when we find out. I will also inform everybody if we are able to  give scholarships for those who otherwise can not afford to participat. Right now we do not have any sponsor yet. 

I will appreciate a lot if you can circulate this information in your debate community and globally. 

Best, Bojana 
--
Bojana Skrt 
direktorica 
Za in proti, zavod za kulturo dialoga 
Svetosavska 24, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija 
www.zainproti.com 
+386 (0)41 423377

IDAS 2011 Announces Program and Costs

2011-04-13T20:36:00.000-04:00

INTERNATIONAL DEBATE ACADEMY SLOVENIA 2011

19-27 NOVEMBER 2011 - EIGHT FULL DAYS!
Full program for students – instruction, IDAS 2011 tournament
IDAS 2011 tournament for students – tournament in Ljubljana at the Faculty of Administration-University of Ljubljana.
Full program for trainers, teachers, coaches, club leaders, judges at any level in any debate format.

SPECIFIC DATES
Arrive in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia November 19 2011, dinner at 6 PM, program at 7 PM
Instruction in Hotel Spik November 20-24 2011
Transfer to Ljubljana morning 25 November 2011
IDAS tournament in Ljubljana afternoon 25-27 November 2011, ending at 3 PM November 27

STUDENT TRAINING : Each Instruction day features a main lecture, exercise and drill sessions, and two complete critiqued practice debates. Many elective classes offered. Many training preparation sessions offered. Judge evaluation and training offered. Advanced, basic and beginner tracks available. The best way to get ready for WUDC in Manila.

IDAS 2011 TRAINER PROGRAM
The International Debate Academy Slovenia will be offering a special track for trainers, coaches and those interested in learning about how to train debaters and create debate organizations such as clubs, academic programs and leagues. The program will call upon the extensive experience of the faculty to provide specialized training, including: Basic debate training steps: observation, advice from experienced trainers and curriculum guides Judging: instruction, shadow judging, real judging experience Tournaments: hosting, administering, including tabulation software. Advanced debate training: observation, advice from experienced trainers, curriculum guides. Organizing: recruiting debaters, implementing training, scheduling meetings, publicity. Attendees will have a sample judging session every morning as well as a special training session in the afternoon. All events at the program will also be open to attendees. Special needs and requests specific to individuals can be met if given advance notice.

TOURNAMENT: Sponsored by IDAS, ZIP and hosted by Faculty of Administration University of Ljubljana. Six preliminary rounds and semifinals in the WUDC format. No team caps as of now. Convener is Bojana Skrt, Chief Adjudicator is Alfred Snider.

COST

FULL PROGRAM - 300 Euros: hotel rooms and training at luxurious Hotel Spik, all meals included, instructional materials, socials, transportation to Ljubljana, six round tournament (last year 60 teams from 24 countries) breaks to quarterfinals, food and room in Ljubljana, break night party. In Ljubljana we will be staying at Dijaški dom Bežigrad, www.ddb.si

TOURNAMENT ONLY - 75 Euros:. six round tournament (last year 60 teams from 24 countries) breaks to quarterfinals, food and room in Ljubljana, break night party. Limited crash available for tournament.

Financial Disclosure: IDAS is a non-profit program, trainers are not paid, trainer travel is not reimbursed, participation fees pay for attendee expenses of rooms and food only, trainer accommodations and food and other costs are covered by ZIP.

Social Events: We will have frequent social events, including the country exhibition, the Kitch Party (bring your ugly clothing, then trade it), swimming party (indoor pool), and more. We will not distribute alcohol to attendees out of the workshop fees. ZIP will seek soft drinks-beer-wine sponsors. We prioritize scholarships for attendees over alcohol. We want as many people as possible to join the program.

Website: http://debate.uvm.edu/idas.html
Blogsite: http://internationaldebateacademy.blogspot.com/

IDAS 2011 Announces Dates and Details

2011-03-09T19:31:00.001-05:00

THE NINTH INTERNATIONAL DEBATE ACADEMY SLOVENIA 2011
& IDAS 2011 TOURNAMENT

NOVEMBER 19-27 2011
HOTEL SPIK, KRAJNSKA GORA, SLOVENIA

SEE 2010 REPORTS AT
http://internationaldebateacademy.blogspot.com/

AND TOURNAMENT RESULTS AT
http://debate.uvm.edu/usudc/idas2010/

IDAS GETS RESULTS...
Main Break Team at WUDC 2011
Top Two ESL Speakers WUDC 2011
ESL Finalist Team WUDC 2011
2 Teams EFL Finals WUDC 2011
TwoTied for Top EFL Speaker WUDC 2011
3 Teams in EFL Semifinals WUDC 2011
EUDC ESL Champions 2010
5 EUDC Quarterfinal Teams 2010
WUDC Top EFL Speaker 2010
WUDC Top ESL Speaker 2010
2 OF WUDC EFL Top Ten Speakers 2010
4 OF WUDC ESL Top Ten Speakers 2010
5 OF WUDC ESL Quarterfinal Teams 2010
USU Semifinalist 2010
5 USU Main Break Teams 2010

LUXURIOUS HOTEL SPIK
http://internationaldebateacademy.blogspot.com/2010/10/idas-2010-relocates-to-hotel-spik-in.html

THE BEST IN WUDC/BP DEBATE INSTRUCTION AND COMPETITION

19-27 NOVEMBER 2011
Full program for students – instruction, IDAS 2011 tournament
IDAS 2011 tournament for students – tournament in Ljubljana at the Faculty of Administration-University of Ljubljana.
Full program for trainers, teachers, coaches, club leaders, judges at any level in any debate format.

SPECIFIC DATES
Arrive in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia November 19 2011, dinner at 6 PM, program at 7 PM
Instruction in Hotel Spik November 20-24 2011
Transfer to Ljubljana morning 25 November 2011
IDAS tournament in Ljubljana afternoon 25-27 November 2011, ending at 3 PM

APPLICATION FORMS DUE NOVEMBER 15 2011 AVAILABLE FOR TOTAL PROGRAM OR JUST TOURNAMENT

NO SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION YET.

WHEN WE REACH OUR STUDENT CAPACITY NO ADDITIONAL APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED!

Organized by:
ZIP – Za in proti (ZIP), Pro et Contra, Institute for the Culture of Dialogue, Slovenia
WDI – World Debate Institute, University of Vermont
Debate Clubs, University of Ljubljana

2010 FACULTY

Zheng Bo, Director of Debate Peking University, China, WUDC breaking judge.
Stephen Boyle, USA/Ireland: Twice in WUDC elims, won Hart House, Yale and Irish Times as debater for University College Dublin and now debate coach at University of Vermont.
Loke Wing Fatt, Singapore: Well known Asian debate trainer, WUDC breaking judge, honorary professorship North-Eastern University China, SAID Singapore.
Gavin lllsley, Oxford, Stylus Communication.
Chris Langone, USA: Cornell University.
Dr. Steve Llano, USA: St. John's University, CA at numerous USA tournaments, breaking judge at USU.
Rhydian Morgan, UK: Chief Adjudicator and Finals judge at numerous tournaments, Welsh Debating Federation, World Debate Institute faculty 2008-09.
Maja Nenadovic, Croatia: Founder of several debating societies across Europe, currently busy with introducing debate to countries in the Western Balkans region, and with finishing her PhD in political science at the University of Amsterdam.
Thepparith Senamngern, Thailand: Assumption University, convener Bangkok WUDC & Thailand AUDC.
Dr. Alfred Snider, USA: Professor at University of Vermont, Director World Debate Institute, USA Coach of the Year, six recent debate textbooks, Convener 2009 & 2011 US Universities Debating Championship tournament, founder of IDAS.
Bojana Skrt, Slovenia: Director ZIP, three times WSDC EFL World Champion coach, 2010 ESL WSDC Champion coach, founder of IDAS.
Anne Valkering, Netherlands: WUDC ESL champion 2008; DCA Dutch Nationals 2009,Convener EUDC 2010, CA Bonaparte Debate Tournament 2007, DCA Amsterdam Open 2008 and 2009, CA Sciences Po IV 2009.
Dr. Jaime Wright, USA: St. John's University, final round chair at numerous USA tournaments, PhD in Communication.

CURRICULUM

STUDENT TRAINING : Each Instruction day features a main lecture, exercise and drill sessions, and two complete critiqued practice debates. Many elective classes offered. Many training preparation sessions offered. Judge evaluation and training offered. Advanced, basic and beginner tracks available. The best way to get ready for WUDC in Botswana.
IDAS 2011 TRAINER PROGRAM
The International Debate Academy Slovenia will be offering a special track for trainers, coaches and those interested in learning about how to train debaters and create debate organizations such as clubs, academic programs and leagues. The program will call upon the extensive experience of the faculty to provide specialized training, including: Basic debate training steps: observation, advice from experienced trainers and curriculum guides Judging: instruction, shadow judging, real judging experience Tournaments: hosting, administering, including tabulation software. Advanced debate training: observation, advice from experienced trainers, curriculum guides. Organizing: recruiting debaters, implementing training, scheduling meetings, publicity. Attendees will have a sample judging session every morning as well as a special training session in the afternoon. All events at the program will also be open to attendees. Special needs and requests specific to individuals can be met if given advance notice.
TOURNAMENT: Sponsored by IDAS, ZIP and hosted by Faculty of Administration University of Ljubljana. Six preliminary rounds and semifinals in the WUDC format. No team caps as of now. Convener is Bojana Skrt, Chief Adjudicator is Alfred Snider.

COST

IN 2010 - 250 Euros for full program, 60 Euros for tournament. IN 2011 - FULL COST POSTED SOON.
Fees: Includes all meals, double rooms, instructional materials, transportation from Ormoz to Ljubljana, and social activities. Accommodations: Rooms and full meals provided in Ormoz and Ljubljana. In Ljubljana we will be staying at Dijaški dom Bežigrad, www.ddb.si . Social activities each evening. Limited crash available for tournament.

Financial Disclosure: IDAS is a non-profit program, trainers are not paid, trainer travel is not reimbursed, participation fees pay for attendee expenses of rooms and food only, trainer accommodations and food and other costs are covered by ZIP.

Social Events: We will have frequent social events, including the country exhibition, the Kitch Party (bring your ugly clothing, then trade it), swimming party (indoor pool), and more. We will not distribute alcohol to attendees out of the workshop fees. ZIP will seek soft drinks-beer-wine sponsors. We prioritize scholarships for attendees over alcohol. We want as many people as possible to join the program.

Website: http://debate.uvm.edu/idas.html
Blogsite: http://internationaldebateacademy.blogspot.com/

Organizing Committee:
Director of the Academy: Bojana Skrt, ZIP, bojana.skrt@siol.net
Head of Training: Alfred C. Snider, World Debate Institute, University of Vermont, alfred.snider@uvm.edu

2010 WEBSITE

IDAS Graduates Score Big at WUDC 2011

2011-01-15T04:54:00.001-05:00

IDAS GETS RESULTS...

Main Break Team at WUDC 2011
Top Two ESL Speakers WUDC 2011
ESL Finalist Team WUDC 2011
ESL Semifinal Team WUDC 2011
2 Teams EFL Finals WUDC 2011
Two Tied for Top EFL Speaker WUDC 2011
3 Teams in EFL Semifinals WUDC 2011

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

Vermont Wins IDAS 2010 Tournament

2010-11-28T11:44:00.002-05:00

Stephen Boyle with his team from Vermont, John Sadek and Jessica Bullock

John Sadek and Jessica Bullock have won the 60 team 24 country International Debate Academy Slovenia 2010 tournament held at the Faculty of Administration, University of Ljubljana in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Filip Dobranic and Maja Cimernan of Ljubljana, the reigning EUDC ESL champs, came second, other teams in the final Were Anna England Kerr and Crt Podlogar from Ljublljana along with the Serbian team of Goran Jankuloski and Pedrag Pevicevic from Belgrade. JUDGES:

Anne Valkering, Netherlands (chair), John Hampson, British Council, Loke Wing Fatt, Singapore, TJ Senamngern, Thailand and Maja Nenadovic, Netherlands.

Semifinals: bold go through

ROOM: AUDITORIUM

Kerr Podlogar 1O

Williams Eng 2O

Cimerman Dobranic 1P

Pitic Moscovici 2P

ROOM: 14

Dicu Gadeke 1O

Jankuloski Petricevic 2P

Sobocan Denkovski 1P

Sadek Bullock 2O

Quarterfinals: bold go through

ROOM: 2

1 Cimerman Dobranic, Slovenia/Ljubljana

16 Alexandrescu Sovaiala-Ionescu, Romania/Argo

8 Pitic Moscovici, Romania/Argo

9 Durrani Joyce, USA/St. John's

ROOM: 3

4 Kerr Podlogar, Slovenia/Ljubljana

13 Vignevic Cirovic, Serbia/Belgrade

5 Suleic Kolundzic, Serbia/Belgrade

12 Williams Eng, USA/Air Force Academy

ROOM: 4
2 Dicu Gadeke, Romania-Germany
15 Jutersek Polsak, Slovenia/Maribor
7 Jankuloski Petricevic, Serbia/Belgrade
10 Salapic Martinic, Croatia
ROOM: 5
3 Sadek Bullock, USA/Vermont
14 Sobocan Denkovski, Slovenia/Maribor-Cambridge
6 Vrecic Zitek, Slovenia/Ljubljana
11 Velikovski Georgievska, Macedonia

Speakers:
Position Name Team Total points Average

1 Maja Cimerman Cimerman Dobranic 481 80,16

2 Filip Muki Dobranic Cimerman Dobranic 479 79,83

3 Marietta Gadeke Dicu Gaeke 475 79,16

4 Eveline Dicu Dicu Gaeke 473 78,83

5 Goran Jankulovski Jankulovski Petricevic 472 78,66

5 Jessica Bullock Sadek Bullock 472 78,66

7 Anna England Kerr Kerr Podlogar 470 78,33

7 Serban Pitic Pitic Moscovici 470 78,33

9 Mlden Suleic Suleic Kolundzic 469 78,16

10 John Sadek Sadek Bullock 468 78,00

Motions:
1. THW require migrants wishing to have European citizenship to pass language and value tests.
2. This House would return national treasures to their country of origin
3. This House believes that adoption agencies that receve state funding should give priority to same sex couples and infertile couples.
4. This House would require large online social networks to be controlled democratically by their users.
5. This House would refuse to negotiate with kidnappers and hijackers.
6. This House believes that Roma should be recognized as the first transnational minority in the European Union.
Quarters.
THBT Arabic nations should stop selling oil to France until it removes restrictions on Islamic dress.

Semis. THBT the ECB should have veto power over member states budgets
Finals. THBT the free market does not make the workers free.

The oprogram is sponsored by ZIP Slovenia, World Debate Institute USA, European Union, Europe for Citizens Program and the law firm of Bickell and Brewer.

Breaking Teams at IDAS 2010

2010-11-27T17:49:00.002-05:00

60 teams pose before round one

Top 20 teams, top 16 advance to quarterfinals in the morning:

1. Cimerman Dobranic 15-960 Slovenia/Ljubljama
2. Dicu Gadeke 14-948 Romania/Germany
3. Sadek Bullock 14-940 USA/Vermont
4. Kerr Podlogar 14-935 Slovenia/Ljubljana
5. Suleic Kolundzic 13-932 Serbia/Belgrade
6. Vrecic Zitek 13-896 Slovenia/Ljubljana
7. Jankiloski Petricevic 12-939 Serbia/Belgrade
8. Pitic Moscovici 12-930 Romania/Argo
9. Durrani Joyce 12-917 USA/St. John's
10. Salapic Martinic 12-899 Croatia
11. Velkovski Georgievska 12-898 Macedonia
12. Williams Eng, 11-913 USA/US Air Force Academy
13. Vignjevic Cirovic 11-912 Serbia/Belgrade
14. Sobocon Denkovski 11-911 Slovenia/Maribor & Cambridge
15. Juterek Polsak 11-909 Slovenia/Maribor
16. Alexandrescu Sovaiala-Ionescu 11-902 Romania/Argo

17. Brach Krakowski 11-894 Poland
18. Lipovsek Arvaj 11-890 Slovenia
19. Weese Jager 10-911 Austria/Vienna
20. Duque Diaz 10-907 Venezuela/AUDAS
20. Bencik Fink 10-907 Slovenia

IDAS is sponsored by ZIP Slovenia and the World Debate Institute at the University of Vermont, with support from European Union and the law firm of Bickel and Brewer.

On To Ljubljana for the Tournament

2010-11-26T04:11:00.002-05:00

This is the view from the room at Hotel Spik where I was staying.

The International Debate Academy Slovenia instructional portion ended on Thursday night.

After a day of three lectures, nine exercise groups, twelve practice debates, ten electives and then twelve more rooms of practice debates, the day ended with the famous "Kitsch Party." Everyone came in their funkiest styles and Gavin Ilsley got his legs waxed (so his short skirt would look better) in an effort to raise money for breast cancer and prostate cancer research. I am sure there will be lots of photos later.

Friday morning buses will take everyone to Ljubljana for the tournament held at the Faculty of Public Administration at the University of Ljubljana. Some teams added, a couple had to go home, but we are looking at a field of 60 teams at roll call. Rounds one and two will be today, three through six on Saturday, and then elimination rounds on Sunday.

Stay tuned for all details.

Electives from First Two Days IDAS 2010

2010-11-23T04:06:00.002-05:00

People have asked me what all those electives (12 a day) from IDAS are. So, I thought I would post them from the first two days to give people ideas for training and also an idea of how we are training university students and teachers here.

ELECTIVES: IDAS 2010

SUNDAY

ELECTIVE 1 1500

Room: Jezerci

Principled argumentation - Boyle
Learn how to argue from a principled standpoint and make theoretical arguments more convincing.

Room: Spik

How to improve your Manner/Be an effective speaker - Loke

Tips on how you could improve your style as a speaker will be discussed. You will take home some useful ways to help yourself and others to become more effective, stylistically, as a public speaker.

Room: Gobela

Persuasive Appeals - Wright

Social science as a weapon of mass consumption. This lecture will address some of the more socially scientific visions of contemporary persuasion. Including some of these devices in a debate works to demonstrate the shared space between debaters, judges, and audiences.

Room: Elevator 3

Debating Technologies, Internet and Media – Zheng Bo

Discussion of How technologies shaped our life and our social network.

Room: Rute

Yugoslavia: Once Upon a Time, There Was a Country… - Nenadovic & Avbar

History, politics, culture and religion of a country that once was and is no longer. The elective pays special attention to the breakup of the country in the 1990s, the issues that arose in the process, and the (post-conflict) democratization processes as well as EU accession prospects for the countries formerly known as ‘Yugoslavia’.

Room: Elevator 2

Strategic style – Ilsley

Learning the value of a stylistic range and how best to deploy it

SUNDAY

ELECTIVE 2 1600

Room: Jezerci

EU Integration and expansion - Boyle
An exploration of the EUs expansion to date, and a discussion of the countries currently under consideration for accession.

Room: Spik

Multiculturalism in Singapore/Asia - Loke

This is a Content Lecture on how Singapore and Asian countries pursue multiculturalism in its politics, laws, and social norms. It will be useful for EU students to learn how people from Asian countries devise policies to accommodate the multiplicity of race, religion and language in their diverse populations.

Room: Rute

Yugoslavia – Part 2 – Nenadovic & Aybar

Contunies from part 1.

Room: Gobela

Narrative Reasoning – Wright

This elective discusses the persuasive form and function of narrative. Defining narrative reasoning and combining it with more traditional appeals to reason makes debaters more persuasive to various audiences.

Room: Elevator 3

Setting Cases for Gov and Opp – Zheng Bo

Discussions on how Opp avoid panicking and develop a coherent case to negate the Gov case in 7-min, and how Gov can well utilize their 15-min prep time to develop a case that is logically sound.

Room: Elevator 2

The lightning bug and the lightning – Ilsley

Word choice and framing in winning debates

MONDAY ELECTIVES

ELECTIVE 1 1500

Room: Gobela

Ecological Philosophies - Snider
There are philosophical perspectives on the relationship between human beings and the ecology that can help you create coherent, consistent and compelling arguments in debates about ecological issues. They range from very human-centered to very bio-centered. These can also help you, as an individual, determine what your relationship with the ecology is and how it should operate in your life as well as in debate.

Room: Rute

EU democratisation promotion policies – chances of success - Valkering

Room: Spik

Economics for debating - Boyle
Learn how to debate some of the most pressing economic issues of the day

Room: Jecerzi

How to find the "core issues" in a debate motion - Loke

This is an interactive session where the students will be guided to systematically discover the key ideas which should be given air time in a debate topic. Students will go away with some key concepts/questions they should ask when discovering "core issues" in a debate motion.

Room: Lobby 3

Speaker Roles and Team Strategies – Zheng Bo

Discussions about speaker roles and team strategies, with focus on the dynamic nature of BP debates.

Room: Lobby 2

Aristotelian rhetoric – Wright

The form and function of different rhetorical forms. Recognizing the particulars of a case and a motion, using the parameters set forth by rhetorical scholarship, debaters could prep more fluid and convincing arguments.

Room: AW 1

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? – Nenadovic

Analyzing the debate motion in order to get a clear problem definition. Many governments fail to specify what the problem is that they are addressing, and in doing so, they miss to outline the relevance of the motion. This is a highly practical elective, where we will together take apart different debate motions, review problems inherent in those motions, and devise relevant government and opposition strategies.

ELECTIVE 2 1600

Room: Spik

Position & Treatment of the Roma in Europe - Nenadovic

Starting with the brief history of the Roma people in Europe, this electives covers the current biggest controversies relating to their position and treatment. This elective will discuss both the recent deportations from France and the rise of right-wing parties such as Jobbik in Hungary and the implications this has on the position of Roma, as well as the intended mechanisms of protection (such as the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, laws on protection of national minorities).

Room: Lobby 3

Debating China – Zheng Bo

Information and discussions about China, such as Mainland/Taiwan relationships, Tibet, China as World Factory, etc.

Room: Rute

EU and Asylym – Valkering

Asylum policies in the EU and how they work.

Room: Lobby 2

Histories – Wright

How historiography and the epideictic shape us. Considering the international flavor of Worlds-style debate, learning and applying historical narrative in a debate could establish credibility to various argumentation claims.

Room: Jecerzi

How to find Extensions - Loke

This lecture focuses on what is a valid Extension for the Second Teams and how to find a good one, without being told by the judges that you are just "repackaging" the Upper House. Students will take home strategies to discover a good Extension.

Room: Gobela

Needs and Motivation – Morgan

From Maslow to Max-Neef: a look at the classic

hierarchy of needs contrasted with conflicting models of need

satisfaction

8th IDAS Begins!

2010-11-21T10:52:00.002-05:00

Debate - WUDC - Guaranteed Income - IDAS 2010 Exhibition from Alfred Snider on Vimeo.

With a total of 140 hearty souls on hand, the 8th International Debate Academy Slovenia has begun in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. The program is sponsored by Za in Proti Slovenia, the World Debate Institute at the University of Vermont, the law firm of Bickell and Brewer, and the EU Europe for Citizens Program.

The event will feature ten practice debates, fifteen lectures, fifteen debate exercise sessions, over thirty elective classes and a number of exciting social events. Participants have come from over 24 countries to this year's event.

The event kicked off with an exhibition debate on Saturday night on the motion, This House believes that all citizens should be entitled to a basic income without the requirement of work. The first proposition team was Anna England Kerr of Ljubljana University and Stephen Boyle of University College Dublin and the University of Vermont, the second proposition team was Jessica Bullock and John Sadek of the University of Vermont, the first opposition team was Gavin Ilsley and Rhydian Morgan of the UK's Stylus Communications, and the second opposition team was Filip Dobranic and Maja Cimerman of Ljubljana University (the reigning EUDC ESL champions).

The event is being held at the Hotel Spik, a beautiful mountain resort with breathtaking views of the Julian Alps as well as lovely work rooms, living rooms and delicious food.

The director is Bojana Skrt and the academic director is Alfred Snider. Faculty include Stephen Boyle, Gavin Ilsley, Rhydian Morgan along with Loke Wing Fatt of Singapore, Maja Nenadovic of the Netherlands, Jaime Wright of St. John's University in the USA, Zheng Boof Peking University in China, Anne Valkering of the Netherlands, TJ Senamengern of Assumption University in Thailand, Steve Llano of St. John's University in the USA. Peter Mesarec and Helena Felc of Slovenia are important parts of the program.

There is a group of some 20 trainers and teachers who are attending the additional trainers' workshop. They will learn the WUDC format, coaching and training skills, as well as judging. They will begin judging as the week goes on and will also judge at the tournament.

On Friday everyone will take buses to Ljubljana where a three day tournament will take place at the University of Ljubljana's faculty of administration. Other teams from around Europe will join those already at IDAS for a major central European tournament.

For more information, check out http://debate.uvm.edu/idas.html and http://internationaldebateacademy.blogspot.com/

We will have more information as the program advances.

Social Events Announced

2010-11-15T22:26:00.000-05:00

Helena Felc November 15 at 6:45pm Reply • Report

By Helena Felc & Gregor Janžek

Saturday, 20. November
Get to know each other party
Location: Hotel Špik
Description: Amazing party. Drinking games. Getting to know people from all over the world.
Dress code: Wear a white T-shit if you are single or in an open relationship and wear a red T-shirt if you are in a relationship. We will have waterproof pens to write on T-shirts smart witty thoughts that will cross our minds while you will pass us (not expensive T-shirts).

Sunday, 21. November
Cultural exhibition party
Location: Hotel Špik
Description: Every country gets its own table to present itself, present their national food, drinks and other. A quiz may occur and you may win an award if you will know enough facts about Slovenia and the rest of the world (and debate gossip). Also a Tyrannosaurus Rex may (or may not be) present at said party. Prepare appropriately.
Dress code: Something typical for your country or be wrapped in your national flag.
Bring: something typical from your country preferably drinkable and eatable that makes you dizzy. Bring the booze you typically drink in your country.

Monday, 22. November
Salsa party
Location: Hotel Špik
Description: People from Venezuela will teach you how to dance salsa.
Dress code: Something to dance all night long in. Shoes are important.

Thursday, 23. November
Karaoke party
Location: Hotel Špik
Description: Drink, sing, drink some more and sing better. You know the drill.

Wednesday, 24. November
Stand up comedy night
Location: Hotel Špik
Description:
HEAVEN is where:
The police are British
The chefs Italian
The mechanics are German
The lovers are French
and it's all organised by the Swiss HELL is where:
The police are German
The chefs are British
The mechanics are French
The lovers are Swiss
and it's all organised by the Italians!!
If you think you can come up with better jokes, then impress us with your very own stand-up show. We have professional groupies who will follow the best comedians.
Awards will be given to those who will make us cry with laughter.

Tuesday, 25. November
Kitch party
Location: Hotel Špik
Description: Crazy music with crazy kitch clothing with a competition of who is the »kitchiest« of them all.
Dress code: If you are a guy – dress as gay or girlish as you think you can pull off. If a girl – dress as sexy or as manly as you can. You can put on as much or as few pieces of clothing you can handle, but make sure you go gaga.

Friday, 26. November
Site seeing Ljubljana
Location: Ljubljana city center
Description: Walk around Ljubljana and drinks.
Dress code: Naked Friday! And please shave your backs.

Saturday, 27. November
Announcement party
Location: Ljubljana city center
No description needed.

Sunday, 28. November
Traditional Skleleton party
Location: Skeleton bar, center of Ljubljana
Description: party with loads of amazing cocktails (two for the price of one). You can join the secrect 4 straws of the Apocalypse club.

NEW AT IDAS 2010
A little bit inspired by Gossip Girl: IDAS will have its own gossip blog. All you need to do is write an email and the message and photos will be posted on the blog by its own. All details will be handed to you on the place of crime. We reserve the right to remove certain entries if deemed inappropriate.

See you soon,
Helena

2010 Elective Proposals from Llano, Wright and Snider

2010-11-14T09:32:00.000-05:00

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ELECTIVES

More will come as faculty send them in!

LLANO

Eastern Philosophy and Debating

An overview of ideas from Eastern thought that are not so much a contribution to strategy as they are a contribution to your relationship with debating. Why we choose to debate will be examined from these viewpoints as opposed to how we choose to debate. However, keen students will definitely be able to make connections between this discussion and the particulars of practice.

Debate as a Martial Art

Applying the principles of martial arts to debate reveals some approaches to debate strategy that you might not have considered and that your opponents certainly are not ready for. Examination of martial arts strategies, samurai combat philosophy will be introduced and discussed and attention will be paid to the holistic way a debater should prepare for competition.

Annoying things Debaters do but shouldn't.

A combination of a rant and an enlightening lecture from an American adjudicator who seldom breaks but is happy not to, because he won't have to hear all of these terrible things you do each round in your speeches. Come learn some more productive things to do with your speech time as well as all those parts where you are not speaking.

Ancient Rhetoric and Contemporary Practice.

The principles of the ancient arts of rhetoric come to us via the ancient Greek and Roman world. This elective will attempt to discern contemporary uses of these ideas for debate. Attention will be split equally between speech style and organization as well as argument development and construction.

Dialogue as a Debating Principle

Years after its publication, David Bohm's groundbreaking study _On Dialogue_ is still seen as a response to debate. In this session we will see that Bohm's call for dialogue contains interesting and unique principles that can only be applied to BP debating. Specifically, each position on the table can learn how to engage and interact with every other position via Bohm's insights. Time will be reserved for discussion and dialogue on team interaction in a BP round and strategies for success.

WRIGHT

Ideas for Electives:

1) Narrative Reasoning: This elective discusses the persuasive form and function of narrative. Defining narrative reasoning and combining it with more traditional appeals to reason makes debaters more persuasive to various audiences.

2) Persuasive Appeals –social science as a weapon of mass consumption. This lecture will address some of the more socially scientific visions of contemporary persuasion. Including some of these devices in a debate works to demonstrate the shared space between debaters, judges, and audiences.

3) Popular Culture—using everyday experience to persuade. According to Barry Brummett, popular culture is “those systems or artifacts that most people share and that most people know about… In speaking of popular culture, then, we are concerned with things, like television, that are part of the everyday experience of most people” (Rhetoric in Popular Culture 27). How might these applications of these systems work to flesh out a case?

4) Aristotelian rhetoric: the form and function of different rhetorical forms. Recognizing the particulars of a case and a motion, using the parameters set forth by rhetorical scholarship, debaters could prep more fluid and convincing arguments.

5) Histories—how historiography and the epideictic shape us. Considering the international flavor of Worlds-style debate, learning and applying historical narrative in a debate could establish credibility to various argumentation claims.

SNIDER

International Relations Paradigms

There are paradigms, or “world views,” within which international relations events are conceptualized and decisions are made. How you view the international system influences how you think about it and the arguments you use. This elective will examine popular IR paradigms (realism, constructivism, etc.) and explain how to use them to build a team line, come up with major arguments, avoid contradictions and have a coherent approach.

How to Make Arguments More Important

There are standard things that a debater can do to give issues you bring to the debate more “impact.” If you are aware of these significance giving ideas then you can pick the one or two that apply best to the argument you are making and use them to convince the judges that your position is more important than rival positions that lack this kind of substance.

Ecological Philosophies

There are philosophical perspectives on the relationship between human beings and the ecology that can help you create coherent, consistent and compelling arguments in debates about ecological issues. They range from very human-centered to very bio-centered. These can also help you, as an individual, determine what your relationship with the ecology is and how it should operate in your life as well as in debate.

Thicker Extensions

Too often your extension is a good idea, but it consist of you saying the same things over and over again in different ways. This elective will help you learn how to build n extension out of relevant components to make it more compelling and much harder to refute. Deliver a second team extension for 4-5 minutes and keep the interest and attention of the judges while building compelling ideas.

Avoiding Doing Irritating Things While You Speak

Many debaters have arguments and make sense, and even sound good, but still do many things in delivery of a speech that detracts from their content and makes them a lot less persuasive. Learn what these things are and learn drills to make you stop doing them.

IDAS 2010 Relocates to Hotel Špik in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia

2010-10-07T19:25:00.002-04:00

This year we go to a new location! We know the town, as the World Schools Debate Academy took place there. We know the new hotel because Bojana Skrt and Alfred Snider had an inspection visit.
Because of the huge number of attendees this year, we have had to relocate to a larger facility. This has been a very good development because while we love the familiarity and the friendliness of Hotel Ormoz, the facilities could be better. And, they will be at Hotel Špik. It is a very modern tourist hotel located in a lovely mountain valley of the Julian Alps, very new, and with lovely rooms, dining facilities, bar and an indoor pool. The work spaces are also superior and we hope that the comnbination of better facilities and larger attendance should make this the best International Debate Academy ever!
Get more information at http://debate.uvm.edu/idas.html

Hotel Špik

Address: Jezerci 21, Gozd Martuljek, Kranjska Gora, http://www.hitholidays-kg.si

Buses from Ljubljana on hourly basis from 5.30 to 19.30, one way ticket 7.90 EUR

The other option is a train from Ljubljana – Jesenice and then bus Jesenice – Gozd Martuljek or if you are traveling via Austria flying to Klagenfurt or even Vienna, than you have train from Villach (every two hours) to Jesenice and than bus to Gozd Martuljek. Much easier, actually than going to Ormoz.

Questions? Consult bojana.skrt@siol.net.

Spaces are going fast, so hurry before you get left out.

Get more information at http://debate.uvm.edu/idas.html

Time To Apply for IDAS 2010!

2010-05-17T15:11:00.000-04:00

IDAS GETS RESULTS
WUDC Top EFL Speaker
WUDC Top ESL Speaker
2 OF WUDC EFL Top Ten Speakers
4 OF WUDC ESL Top Ten Speakers
*5 OF WUDC ESL Quarterfinal Teams

20-28 NOVEMBER 2010
Full program for students – instruction, IDAS 2010 tournament
IDAS 2010 tournament for students – tournament in Ljubljana at the Faculty of Administration-University of Ljubljana.
Full program for trainers, teachers, coaches, club leaders, judges at any level in any debate format.

SPECIFIC DATES
Arrive in Ormoz, Slovenia November 20 2010, dinner at 6 PM, program at 7 PM
Instruction in Ormoz November 21-25 2010
Transfer to Ljubljana morning 26 November 2010
IDAS tournament in Ljubljana afternoon 26-28 November 2010, ending at 2 PM

2010 FACULTY

Stephen Boyle, USA/Ireland: Twice in WUDC elims, won Hart House, Yale and Irish Times as debater for University College Dublin and now debate coach at University of Vermont. 2nd IDAS.
Loke Wing Fatt, Singapore: Well known Asian debate trainer, WUDC breaking judge, honorary professorship North-Eastern University China, SAID Singapore, 6th IDAS.
Gavin lllsley, Oxford, Stylus Communication.2nd IDAS.
Chris Langone, USA: Cornell University. 3rd IDAS.
Steve Llano, USA: Breaking judge at USU. 4th IDAS.
Rhydian Morgan, UK: Chief Adjudicator and Finals judge at numerous tournaments, Welsh Debating Federation, World Debate Institute faculty 2008-09, 4th IDAS.
Sam Nelson, USA: Cornell University, breaking judge at USU.4th IDAS.
Maja Nenadovic, Croatia: Founder of several debating societies across Europe, currently busy with introducing debate to countries in the Western Balkans region, and with finishing her PhD in political science at the University of Amsterdam. 3rd IDAS.
Thepparith Senamngern, Thailand: Assumption University, convener Bangkok WUDC & Thailand AUDC.2nd IDAS.
Alfred Snider, USA: Professor at University of Vermont, Director World Debate Institute, USA Coach of the Year, six recent debate textbooks, Convener 2009 US Universities Nationals, 8th IDAS.
Bojana Skrt, Slovenia: Director ZIP, three times WSDC EFL World Champion coach, 8th IDAS.
Anne Valkering, Netherlands: Oxford ESL semi-finalist 2006, finalist 2007, winner ESL final Manchester IV 2007; EUDC ESL finalist 2006, semi-finalist 2007, quarterfinalist 2008, ESL second speaker 2008, fifth speaker 2006; WUDC ESL champion 2008; DCA Dutch Nationals 2009, CA Bonaparte Debate Tournament 2007, DCA Amsterdam Open 2008 and 2009, CA Sciences Po IV 2009.

http://debate.uvm.edu/idas.html

Update for 2010 IDAS - Apply Now!

2010-04-22T11:15:00.000-04:00

THE EIGHTH INTERNATIONAL DEBATE ACADEMY SLOVENIA 2010
& IDAS 2010 TOURNAMENT

IDAS 2009 CONCLUDED WITH 29 COUNTRIES ATTENDING!

IDAS GETS RESULTS
WUDC Top EFL Speaker
WUDC Top ESL Speaker
2 OF WUDC EFL Top Ten Speakers
4 OF WUDC ESL Top Ten Speakers
*5 OF WUDC ESL Quarterfinal Teams

THE BEST IN WUDC/BP DEBATE INSTRUCTION AND COMPETITION

APPLICATION FORMS DUE NOVEMBER 5 2010 AVAILABLE FOR TOTAL PROGRAM OR JUST TOURNAMENT

SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE, CHECK BACK FOR DETAILS

WHEN WE REACH OUR CAPACITY NO ADDITIONAL APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED!

Organized by:
ZIP – Za in proti (ZIP), Pro et Contra, Institute for the Culture of Dialogue, Slovenia
WDI – World Debate Institute, University of Vermont
Debate Clubs, University of Ljubljana

2010 FACULTY

Stephen Boyle, USA/Ireland: Twice in WUDC elims, won Hart House, Yale and Irish Times as debater for University College Dublin and now debate coach at University of Vermont.
Loke Wing Fatt, Singapore: Well known Asian debate trainer, WUDC breaking judge, honorary professorship North-Eastern University China, SAID Singapore.
Gavin lllsley, Oxford, Stylus Communication.
Chris Langone, USA: Cornell University.
Steve Llano, USA: St. John's University NY, breaking judge at USU.
Rhydian Morgan, UK: Chief Adjudicator and Finals judge at numerous tournaments, Welsh Debating Federation, World Debate Institute faculty 2008-09.
Sam Nelson, USA: Cornell University, breaking judge at USU.
Maja Nenadovic, Croatia: Founder of several debating societies across Europe, currently busy with introducing debate to countries in the Western Balkans region, and with finishing her PhD in political science at the University of Amsterdam.
Thepparith Senamngern, Thailand: Assumption University, convener Bangkok WUDC & CA Thailand AUDC.
Alfred Snider, USA: Professor at University of Vermont, Director World Debate Institute, USA Coach of the Year, six recent debate textbooks, Convener 2009 US Universities Nationals.
Bojana Skrt, Slovenia: Director ZIP, three times WSDC EFL World Champion coach, 7th IDAS.
Anne Valkering, Netherlands: Oxford ESL semi-finalist 2006, finalist 2007, winner ESL final Manchester IV 2007; EUDC ESL finalist 2006, semi-finalist 2007, quarterfinalist 2008, ESL second speaker 2008, fifth speaker 2006; WUDC ESL champion 2008; DCA Dutch Nationals 2009, CA Bonaparte Debate Tournament 2007, DCA Amsterdam Open 2008 and 2009, CA Sciences Po IV 2009.

CURRICULUM

STUDENT TRAINING : Each Instruction day features a main lecture, exercise and drill sessions, and two complete critiqued practice debates. Many elective classes offered. Many training preparation sessions offered. Judge evaluation and training offered. Advanced, basic and beginner tracks available. The best way to get ready forn WUDC in Botswana.
IDAS 2010 TRAINER PROGRAM
The International Debate Academy Slovenia will be offering a special track for trainers, coaches and those interested in learning about how to train debaters and create debate organizations such as clubs, academic programs and leagues. The program will call upon the extensive experience of the faculty to provide specialized training, including: Basic debate training steps: observation, advice from experienced trainers and curriculum guides Judging: instruction, shadow judging, real judging experience Tournaments: hosting, administering, including tabulation software. Advanced debate training: observation, advice from experienced trainers, curriculum guides. Organizing: recruiting debaters, implementing training, scheduling meetings, publicity. Attendees will have a sample judging session every morning as well as a special training session in the afternoon. All events at the program will also be open to attendees. Special needs and requests specific to individuals can be met if given advance notice.
TOURNAMENT: Sponsored by IDAS, ZIP and hosted by Faculty of Administration University of Ljubljana. Six preliminary rounds and semifinals in the WUDC format. No team caps as of now. Convener is Bojana Skrt, Chief Adjudicator is Alfred Snider.

COST

250 Euros for full program, 60 Euros for tournament.
Fees: Includes all meals, double rooms, instructional materials, transportation from Ormoz to Ljubljana, and social activities. Accommodations: Rooms and full meals provided in Ormoz and Ljubljana. In Ljubljana we will be staying at Dijaški dom Bežigrad, www.ddb.si . Social activities each evening. Limited crash available for tournament.

Scholarships: We hope to offer substantial scholarships to needy applicants. Scholarship forms available soon.

Social Events: We will have frequent social events. We will not distribute free alcohol to 18+ attendees out of the workshop fees. We will seek soft drinks-beer-wine sponsors. We prioritize scholarships for attendees over free alcohol. We want as many people as possible to join the program.

Website: http://debate.uvm.edu/idas.html
Blogsite: http://internationaldebateacademy.blogspot.com/

Organizing Committee:
Director of the Academy: Bojana Skrt, ZIP, bojana.skrt@siol.net
Head of Training: Alfred C. Snider, World Debate Institute, University of Vermont, alfred.snider@uvm.edu

Special Thanks to Bickel & Brewer Foundation for 2009 Support

2010-04-01T12:34:00.000-04:00

SEVENTH INTERNATIONAL DEBATE ACADEMY SLOVENIA, Ormož/Ljubljana 23rd – 27th November 2009 – IDAS 2009

The Bickel & Brewer Foundation awarded Za in proti, zavod za kulturo dialoga, with a grant of 5000$ or 3317 EUR by November exchange rate for organising the International Debate Academy Slovenia.The grant money was spent for awarding scholarships for some participants in order for them to pay lower participation fee. It also helped to cover part of the costs of accomodation and food for the trainers at IDAS which helped to lower participation fee for all participants. The Bickel & Brewer grant was extremely important, because it helped participants who otherwise would not be able to come. Especially important was for everybody because it covered the trainers costs at IDAS, which allow everybody to pay lower partiicpation fee. The scholarships were extremely important for the the participants from Venezuela, because they are in the process of building debate programme in Venezuela, at the university and highschool level, and the knowledge gained at IDAS it is extremely important for them. As Venezuela government does allow their citizens only very small amount of foreign currency their would not be able to come without the scholarship we granted.

The programme consisted of two parts, the training one being held in Ormož from November 23rd – 27th and the tournament from 27th – 29th in Ljubljana at the University of public administration in Ljubljana. The total number of the participants, trainers, judges, organisers, volunteers were 122, 75 for the Ormož training part and additional 47 people for the Ljubljana tournament. Participants and trainers came from the following countries: Afganistan, Australia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Honk Kong, Ireland, Italy, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Ukraine, Venezuela, USA.

The Bickel & Brewer scholarships were announced together with the call for participants and at the IDAS 2009 web page. Till the end of September we got 24 requests for scholarhips. We awarded all of them with the grants from 70 to 100 EUR. However, 7 receipients later decided not to come, some of them because they did expect a 100% scholarhip including the travel expenses and some of them because of the unexpected problems right before the event.

International Debate Academy Partners Hold Iraq Debate Academy

2009-12-20T12:12:00.005-05:00

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.

IDAS 2009 Tournament Results

2009-12-02T09:55:00.002-05:00

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!

2009-12-02T09:55:00.001-05:00

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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:

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

2009-12-02T09:53:00.000-05:00

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.

IDAS/Futur Tournament Schedule Now Available

2009-11-12T12:44:00.001-05:00

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FRIDAY NOVEMBER 27 2009

Ormož participants

8.00 – 9.30 Breakfast

Free morning

1130 Bus to Ljubljana leaves

1400 Check into Bežigrad high school dormitory – for Ormož and tournament only participants

14.30 Tournament registration at the Faculty of Administration

1530 Opening Assembly – IDAS/Futur Tournament

1600 Round 1

1800 Round 2

2000 Dinner

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 28 2009

730-830 Breakfast

900 Round 3

1130 Round 4

1330 Lunch

1430 Round 5

1630 Round 6

1900 Dinner & Break announcement

Break Party

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 29 2009

730-830 Breakfast

900 Announcement of pairings and motion

930 Semifinals

1130 Final Round

1300 Closing Ceremonies

Stephen Boyle Added to Faculty

2009-10-09T12:29:00.004-04:00

With the 2009 International Debate Academy Slovenia looming in November, IDAS is proud to announce that Stephen Boyle has been added to the faculty.

Stephen is now a coach at the University of Vermont, but he is far better known for his exploits as a debater for University College Dublin. There he was the Irish Times champion, he was twice in the elimination rounds at WUDC (reaching the quarterfinals), won Yale & Hart House, among other distinctions.

Welcome Stephen!

Trophies & Scholarship News

2009-09-02T11:01:00.003-04:00

Filip Dobranic is finishing up the trophies for the tournament. Pretty sharp. And he had to go all the may to Mallorca to get them!

We hope you have heard about the scholarship fund donated by the Dallas law firm of Bickel & Brewer. Huge thanks to them for supporting debate!

To apply go to http://debate.uvm.edu/idas.html and get the application form and the scholarship form and send them in.

Deadline is October 15 2009.

Interest seems very high in the program this year, so apply early, because when spaces at the lovely Hotel Ormoz are gone we will close registration.

IDAS 2009 Is Ready to Rock Your World

2009-07-31T20:35:00.002-04:00

THE SEVENTH INTERNATIONAL DEBATE ACADEMY SLOVENIA
& IDAS/FUTUR 2009 TOURNAMENT

THE BEST IN WUDC/BP DEBATE INSTRUCTION AND COMPETITION

21-29 NOVEMBER 2009
Full program for students – instruction, IDAS/FUTUR 2009 tournament
IDAS/FUTUR 2009 tournament for students – tournament in Ljubljana at the Faculty of Administration-University of Ljubljana.
Full program for trainers, teachers, coaches, club leaders, judges at any level in any debate format.

SPECIFIC DATES
Arrive in Ormoz, Slovenia November 21 2009
Instruction in Ormoz November 21-26 2009
Transfer to Ljubljana morning 27 November 2009
FUTUR tournament in Ljubljana afternoon 27-29 November 2009

APPLICATION FORMS AVAILABLE FOR TOTAL PROGRAM OR JUST TOURNAMENT

Organized by:
ZIP – Za in proti (ZIP), Pro et Contra, Institute for the Culture of Dialogue, Slovenia
WDI – World Debate Institute, University of Vermont
Debate Club, Faculty of Administration, University of Ljubljana

Scholarship Fund established by
Download Application Form HERE

FACULTY -- more to come!

Loke Wing Fatt, Singapore: Well known Asian debate trainer, WUDC breaking judge, honorary professorship North-Eastern University China, SAID Singapore, 5th IDAS.
Jens Fischer, Germany: Berlin Debating Union, Chief Adjudicator at Europeans, 5th IDAS.
Leela Koenig, Netherlands: Cork Worlds 2009 Best ESL speaker, Top ESL Speaker at Euros 2007 and 2008, DCA Newcastle Euros 2009, CA of Amsterdam, Euros 2010 bid, lecturer at The Hague University, philosophy student at Leiden University. 1st IDAS.
Chris Langone, USA: Cornell University. 2nd IDAS.
Isabelle Loewe, Germany: Winner EUDC (ESL), ESL-Semifinalist Worlds 2007, DCA Tallinn EUDC 2008; CA/DCA of several tournaments, among them, Prague, Tilbury IV, Yeditepe Open, Jacobs Open; Winner and finalist of several tournaments in Europe; Officer for International Law and Human Rights Education
Branka Marusic, Croatia: Former President Europeans Council, IDAS Finalist, 3rd IDAS.
Rhydian Morgan, UK: Chief Adjudicator and Finals judge at numerous tournaments, Welsh Debating Federation, World Debate Institute faculty 2008-09, 3rd IDAS.
Maja Nenadovic, Croatia: Founder of several debating societies across Europe, currently busy with introducing debate to countries in the Western Balkans region, and with finishing her PhD in political science at the University of Amsterdam. 2nd IDAS.
Debbie Newman, UK: President of Cambridge Union, England and Wales National Champion, WSDC 2008 World Champion coach for England. 2nd IDAS.
Alfred Snider, USA: Professor at University of Vermont, Director World Debate Institute, USA Coach of the Year, six recent debate textbooks, Convener 2009 US Universities Nationals, 7th IDAS.
Bojana Skrt, Slovenia: Director ZIP, three times WSDC EFL World Champion coach, 7th IDAS.
Anne Valkering, Netherlands: Oxford ESL semi-finalist 2006, finalist 2007, winner ESL final Manchester IV 2007; EUDC ESL finalist 2006, semi-finalist 2007, quarterfinalist 2008, ESL second speaker 2008, fifth speaker 2006; WUDC ESL champion 2008; DCA Dutch Nationals 2009, CA Bonaparte Debate Tournament 2007, DCA Amsterdam Open 2008 and 2009, CA Sciences Po IV 2009.

CURRICULUM

STUDENT TRAINING : Each Instruction day features a main lecture, exercise and drill sessions, and two complete critiqued practice debates. Many elective classes offered. Many training preparation sessions offered. Judge evaluation and training offered. Advanced, basic and beginner tracks available. The best way to get ready forn WUDC in Turkey.
IDAS 2009 TRAINER PROGRAM
The International Debate Academy Slovenia will be offering a special track for trainers, coaches and those interested in learning about how to train debaters and create debate organizations such as clubs, academic programs and leagues. The program will call upon the extensive experience of the faculty to provide specialized training, including: Basic debate training steps: observation, advice from experienced trainers and curriculum guides Judging: instruction, shadow judging, real judging experience Tournaments: hosting, administering, including tabulation software. Advanced debate training: observation, advice from experienced trainers, curriculum guides. Organizing: recruiting debaters, implementing training, scheduling meetings, publicity. Attendees will have a sample judging session every morning as well as a special training session in the afternoon. All events at the program will also be open to attendees. Special needs and requests specific to individuals can be met if given advance notice.
TOURNAMENT: Sponsored by IDAS, ZIP and hosted by Faculty of Administration University of Ljubljana. Six preliminary rounds and semifinals in the WUDC format. No team caps as of now. Faculty will serve as adjudication core and administration for the tournament.

COST

250 Euros for full program, 60 Euros for tournament.
Fees: Includes all meals, double rooms, instructional materials, transportation from Ormoz to Ljubljana, and social activities. Accommodations: Rooms and full meals provided in Ormoz and Ljubljana. Social activities each evening. Limited crash available for tournament.

Scholarships: We hope to offer substantial scholarships to needy applicants. Scholarship forms available soon.

Website: http://debate.uvm.edu/idas.html
Blogsite: http://internationaldebateacademy.blogspot.com/

Organizing Committee:
Director of the Academy: Bojana Skrt, ZIP, bojana.skrt@siol.net
Head of Training: Alfred C. Snider, World Debate Institute, University of Vermont, alfred.snider@uvm.edu
Tournament Host: Helena Felc

IDAS Wins $5000 Scholarship Fund from Dallas Law Firm

2009-07-31T14:27:00.000-04:00

The Dallas-based law firm of Bickel and Brewer announced today a $5000 grant to the International Debate Academy Slovenia, sponsored by ZIP Slovenia and the World Debate Institute USA, for scholarship funds to bring the best and neediest of students to the 2009 program, a week-long intensive debate training program that will take place in November.

Sarah Marshala, director of the Bickel and Brewer Foundation, called in this message to Bojana Skrt, IDAS director. "I am happy and very grateful for this award, and I am excited about now offering more scholarships than ever. I hope that the example set by this visionary law firm is something that lawyers in Europe will learn from," said Skrt.

Bickel & Brewer is one of the most aggressive, creative and successful litigation firms in the United States. The firm's concentration in complex litigation and dispute resolution is not confined to particular substantive areas of the law, but to the litigation practice itself. As such, many of the firm's attorneys have gained national recognition by handling cutting-edge cases in a wide variety of substantive legal fields. Bickel & Brewer has proven time and again that the well-honed skills of its litigators may be universally applied to forge profitable resolutions of disputes in any area of law or any area of commercial enterprise. Although the trial and forensic abilities of Bickel & Brewer litigators are unparalleled, these tools are often used as strategic deterrents rather than as implements of first resort. Thus, a substantial portion of the firm's practice is preventative counseling and problem solving. The firm recognizes that in many instances its clients' objectives are best served by successfully avoiding litigation and that success is measured by the advice and counsel provided to achieve this end. However, if full-scale litigation is in the client's best interest, no law firm in the country understands and successfully galvanizes the process as well as Bickel & Brewer. http://www.bickelbrewer.com/index.php?id=the_firm

The International Debate Academy Slovenia is now in its seventh year and has become one of the world's premier debate training programs, focusing on training in the WUDC format. Students from over twenty countries have attended the program, and faculty members come from the top ranks of debate trainers from around the world. http://debate.uvm.edu/idas.html

The dates for 2009 are 21-29 November 2009.

One of the other events Bickel and Brewer supports is the International Public Policy Forum that it operates in partnership with New York University. It is a debate contest that allows high school students from all over the world to compete against each other to earn an all-expense paid trip to New York City for the top eight teams and a chance to win $10,000. Formerly known as the Bickel & Brewer/ NYU National Public Policy Forum, the IPPF is a unique debate competition involving public and private schools from across the globe. Visit www.nppf.net for more information! See their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/International-Public-Policy-Forum/211483875322?ref=ts .

Debate Academy for Schools Students About to Begin

2009-07-02T09:00:00.001-04:00

WORLDS SCHOOLS DEBATE ACADEMY AND TOURNAMENT

Zreče, Slovenia, 5th – 12th July 2009

Za in proti, zavod za kulturo dialoga Slovenia, www.zainproti.com and World Debate Institute, USA, debate.uvm.edu kindly invite you to participate at the International Worlds Schools Debate Academy and Tournament Zreče Open, 5th – 12th July 2009.

The Academy is divided in two parts. The training part starts on Sunday evening, and finishes on Friday lunch time. The tournament starts on Friday early afternoon, finishes on Sunday evening. The participants can apply for the whole event or for the tournament only.

High school students, teachers, coaches and trainers are invited. At the training part the participants will be divided into three different groups based on their experience and expertise - beginners, intermediate and advanced. There will be a special group for trainers and coaches. There will be small groups with a 1 to 6 student trainer ratio, meaning lots of individual attention.

Participants will be staying in Hotel Smogac in the center of Zreče. You can check about the hotel at www.smogavc.si

Prepared motions for this year:

This house has no confidence in capitalism.
This house would focus more on adapting to climate change than preventing it.
This house believes that religious belief is the most important barrier for multiculturalism.
This house would forcefeed anorexics.

Quarterfinals: This house would make only organ donors eligible for organ transplant.
Finals: This house believes trade unions should be mandatory.

Trainers:

Maja Cimerman, member of the Team Slovenia at Worlds Schools Debate Championship 2006, 2007 (EFL World Champion WSDC Korea)

Filip Dobranic, member of the Team Slovenia at Worlds Schools Debate Championship in 2006, 2007, 2008 (Top EFL speaker at WSDC 2007 Korea and 2008 USA, EFL World Champion WSDC 2007 Korea and 2008 Washington).

Anna Mojca England Kerr, member of the Team Slovenia at Worlds Schools Debate Championship 2006, 2007 (EFL World Champion WSDC Korea).

Rhydian Morgan, Great Britain, Chief Adjudictor at numerous tournaments and trainer.

David Register, University of Vermont. USA, award-winning coach.

Bojana Skrt, Za in proti, zavod za kulturo dialoga, Slovenia (EFL Worlds Champion Coach WSDC Canada, Korea, USA).

Alfred C. Snider, University of Vermont, USA, award-winning coach.

Anja Šerc, Za in proti, zavod za kulturo dialoga, Slovenia

Ruth Zisman, Doctoral Fellow at New York University, USA, award-winning coach.

Organising committee:
Miha Andric
Bojana Skrt

Attend the entire event:
Arrival on Sunday late afternoon, July 5th
Departure on Monday morning, July 12th
Participation fee: 250 EUR covers all instruction, accomodation and food for 8 nights, trainers, materials and tournament.
Application form for entire event

The participants should apply individually.

Attend the tournament only:
Arrival: Friday, the 10th, morning
Departure: Monday, the 12th, morning
Participation fee: 100 EUR covers accomodation and food for 3 nights and tournament expences.
The cost for an additional night (coming on Thursday) is 30 EUR.
Application form for tournament only

The participants should apply as 3 members teams. Each team should be accompanied by a judge.

Participation fees should be paid in cash upon arrival or via bank tranfer prior to the event. The ones who would like to pay via bank tranfer, please, contact debata@siol.net for additional information.

Application forms in the attachments. Please, send the application forms to debata@siol.net as soon as possible but not later than June 25th.

You can check the news and updates at http://debate.uvm.edu/wsda.html

SCHEDULE

Sunday, 5th of July 2009
16.00 – 19.00 Registration
19.00 – 20.00 Dinner
20.00 – 22.00 Opening, participants test, demo debate and introduction to the format.

Monday, 6th of July 2009
7:30 -- 8:30 Breakfast
8:45 Morning announcements
9.00 – 10.00 Lecture: Public speaking
10.00 – 12.00 Exercises
12.00 – 13.00 Lecture: Points of information
13.00 – 14.30 Lunch
14.30 – 19.00 Debates (preparation for debates, debates, feedback)
19.00 – 20.00 Dinner

Tuesday, 7th of July 2009
7:30 -- 8:30 Breakfast
8:45 Morning announcements
9.00 – 10.00 Lecture: Argumentation
10.00 – 12.00 Exercises
12.00 – 13.00 Lecture: Argumentation
13.00 – 14.30 Lunch
14.30 – 19.00 Debates (preparation for debates, debates, feedback)
19.00 – 20.00 Dinner
20.00 – 21.00 Electives

Wednesday, 8th of July 2009
7:30 -- 8:30 Breakfast
8:45 Morning announcements
9.00 – 10.00 Lecture: Building proposition case.
10.00 – 12.00 Exercises
12.00 – 13.00 Lecture: Motions analyses
13.00 – 14.30 Lunch
14.30 – 19.00 Debates (preparation for debates, debates, feedback)
19.00 – 20.00 Dinner
20.00 – 21.00 Electives

Thursday, 9th of July 2009
7:30 -- 8:30 Breakfast
8:45 Morning announcements
9.00 – 10.00 Lecture: Building opposition case.
10.00 – 12.00 Exercises
12.00 – 13.00 Lecture: Refutation.
13.00 – 14.30 Lunch
14.30 – 19.00 Debates (preparation for debates, debates, feedback)
19.00 – 20.00 Dinner
20.00 – 21.00 Open Forum

Friday, 10th of July 2009
7:30 -- 8:30 Breakfast
8:45 Morning announcements
9.00 – 10.00 Lecture: Third speeches
10.00 – 12.00 Exercises
12.00 – 13.00 Lecture: Reply speeches

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Prepared motions will be announced during first weekend in May.

Friday, 10th of July 2009
13.00 – 14.00 Lunch
14.30 Openning of the tournament

15.00 – 17.00
Debater briefing
Adjudication briefing and judges test

17.00 Round 1 prepared

19.00 – 20.00 Dinner

Saturday, 10th of July
9.00 Round 2 – prepared

11.00 Impromptu motion announced
12.00 Round 3 – impromptu

13.00 – 14.00 Lunch

14.00 Impromptu motion announcement
15.00 Round 4 – impromptu
17.00 Round 5 – prepared
19.00 – Dinner and socials

Sunday, 11th of July
9.00 Round 6 – prepared

11.00 Impromptu motion announcement
12.00 Round 7 – impromptu

13.30 – 14.30 Lunch

14.30 Quarterfinalists announcement
15.00 Quarterfinal – prepared

16.30 Semi – finalists announcement, impromptu motion announcement
18.00 Semi – finale
19.30 Dinner

21.00 Finale – prepared
Closing ceremony
Party

What is the International Debate Academy?

2009-05-25T13:54:00.003-04:00

2008 faculty celebrate another successful program

The International Debate Academy is a training program for college and university students who are interested in the arts and skills of debating. It takes place in Slovenia each November and has been held for six consecutive years. This November it will hold its seventh session.

The program is sponsored by Za in Proti, the national debate program of Slovenia directed by Bojana Skrt, and the World Debate Institute of the University of Vermont in the USA directed by Alfred Snider. Skrt directs the program and Snider is the director of training.

The program was originated because there was a high level of interest in debating in Europe, especially in the former communist nations, but very little expertise for training. There were no university faculty members who specialized in speech communication, argumentation and debate, and so students were basically on their own in terms of training. The idea was to create a low-cost one-week program for these students and to try and attract the best possible trainers from other countries, especially those with a more established debate tradition.

All except for two years the program has been held in Ormoz, a small town in eastern Slovenia. It has a good rail connection and the Hotel Ormoz (two star) has been willing to rent out its entire space for the dormitories, classrooms and practice space required. Hotel Ormoz now as additional housing nearby. Hotel Ormoz serves three adequate meals a day to all attendees.

The program has attracted some of the finest trainers from around the world, from places like the USA, UK, Australia, Singapore, Germany and many other nations. The presidents of the World Debate Council and the European Debate Council have been faculty. Former British and American champions have trained here. The program has also been used to prepare a new generation of trainers from the Balkans and Eastern Europe. Former students, who have become European champions, have returned to serve as trainers. Trainers have included professors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, and public officials.

It is important to remember that IDAS trainers are never paid, their travel expenses are never covered and all they receive is room and board while at the academy. They do it because they love the program and they are dedicated to debating.

The program consists of five full days of training followed by a three-day tournament. Training lasts from breakfast until after a late dinner, and involves lectures, drills, exercises, elective courses and two full practice debates each day. After these training days the entire contingent boards buses and heads to a university campus or a full tournament of three days, with housing in high school dormitories.

During its history IDAS has had attendees from many nations, including:

Afghanistan
Albania
Australia
Austria
Bosnia
Bulgaria
Byelorussia
Canada
Croatia
Czech Republic
Estonia
Germany
India
Kazakhstan
Lithuania
Macedonia
Malaysia
Mongolia
Poland
Romania
Russia
Serbia
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Ukraine
United Kingdom
USA
Venezuela

The evaluations of the program have been universally positive. Students have treasured the opportunity to work with so many notable international debate experts. They have gone on to achieve remarkable competitive success in heir own countries and internationally. More importantly, many of them have returned to their homes to become important, dynamic and successful leaders in creating larger and more diverse debate communities of their own. Ultimately, the goal of the academy is to bring debate and its inherent civic engagement potentials to broader populations. Whether on looks at this standard or the standard of competitive success, the academy has been a success. As the years go by even more and more will be seen from the academy graduates. The best from them still lies in the future.

2009 Faculty Announced

2009-04-16T14:16:00.003-04:00

IDAS 2009 FACULTY

DIRECTOR OF ACADEMY:
Bojana Skrt, Slovenia
Three times orld cham[pion EFL coach, World Schools Debating Championship.

DIRECTOR OF INSTRUCTION:
Alfred Snider, USA
Twice winning coach, Northeast USA Universities Debating Sweepstakes Champion, six debate textbooks, USA Coach of the Year.

FACULTY:

Loke Wing Fatt, Singapore
WUDC breaking judge, honorary doctorate, legendary debate trainer.

Jens Fischer, Germany
Berlin Debating Union, Euros Chief Adjudicator

Sam Greenland, Australia
Semifinals WUDC Vancouver

Leela Koenig, Netherlands
Cork Worlds 2009 Best ESL speaker, Top ESL Speaker at Euros 2007 and 2008, DCA Newcastle Euros 2009, CA of Amsterdam Euros 2010 bid

Christopher Langone, USA
Veteran lawyer, Cornell University coach

Branca Marusic, Croatia
Former EUDC President, IDAS Finalist

Rhydian Morgan, UK
CA of numerous tournaments around Europe

Maja Nenadovic, Croatia
Founder of several debating societies across Europe, currently busy with introducing debate to countries in the Western Balkans region, and with finishing her PhD in political science at the University of Amsterdam

Debbie Newman, UK
President of Cambridge Union, England and Wales National Champion, WSDC 2008 World Champion coach for England

Anne Valkering, Netherlands
ESL World Champion, Bangkok Worlds

ASSISTANT TRAINERS

Maja Cimerman, Slovenia
IDAS finalist, WSDC EFL champion

Filip Dobranic, Slovenia
IDAS finalist, WSDC EFL Champion, twice EFL top speaker, WSDC

Dates Set for Academy 2009

2009-01-06T02:57:00.002-05:00

Sat 21 November 2009 arrival, finish on 29 November 2009 at tournament.
Once again it will be in Ormoz, tournament will be in Ljubljana.

More news coming.

IDAS 08 Videos Now Available

2008-12-04T10:37:00.000-05:00

Faculty from 2008 pose at celebration dinner

Many videos are now available from the International Debate Academy 2008 recently concluded in Slovenia (IDAS). The videos feature a wide variety of subjects in training for the WUDC format from a wide variety of instructors from all over the world.

A complete archive can be found at http://www.uvm.edu/~debate/watch/?M=D where the videos listed as "idas08" are the ones you are interested in. This is a huge archive and may contain many other videos of interest to you.

The videos will be individually released with annotations on the Debate Video website at http://debatevideoblog.blogspot.com/ .

The videos are all in the .M4V or Podcast format. They can be watched from within your iTunes player or by opening them from within the Quicktime application. Because they are high quality and relatively large, you might want to download them.

For latest IDAS news go to
http://internationaldebateacademy.blogspot.com/

For Information about IDAS go to
http://debate.uvm.edu/idas.html

Full Tab for 2008 Tournament

2008-11-30T15:35:00.002-05:00

Here is access to the full tab:

Team tabs
http://debate.uvm.edu/usudc/idas2008/Team%20Tab%20After%20Round%206.html

Speaker tabs
http://debate.uvm.edu/usudc/idas2008/Speaker%20Tab%20After%20Round%206.html

Stats
http://debate.uvm.edu/usudc/idas2008/Statistics%20After%20Round%206.html

Motions
http://debate.uvm.edu/usudc/idas2008/idas08motions.htm

Elim results
http://debate.uvm.edu/usudc/idas2008/idas08semisfinals.htm

2008 Academy Results

2008-11-30T14:26:00.001-05:00

IDAS 2008 TOURNAMENT
SEMIFINALS

ROOM 1

1 Univ Ljubljana CIMERMAN-DOBRANIC 2ND OPP
4 Univ Ljubljana JAKOVAC-PLOSTAJNER 1ST GOV ADVANCES
5 Cornell SOLLOWAY-STITELER 1ST OPP
8 Serbia-Croatia JANKULOSKI-BLACE 2ND GOV ADVANCES

JUDGES: FISCHER, LOKE, LLANO

ROOM 2

2 Germany HILDEBRANDT-ASYAMOVA 1ST GOV ADVANCES
3 Vermont CARESS-NATALE 2ND GOV ADVANCES
6 Slovenia ZVEPLAN-CVIKL 2ND OPP
7 Slovenia PODLOGAR-JANZEK

JUDGES: GREENLAND, MORGAN, LANGONE

THBT the United Nations should send a multinational peacekeeping force to Sri Lanka.

FINALS

ROOM 1

1st GOV JANKULOSKI-BLACE
2ND GOV JAKOVAC-PLOSTAJNER
1ST OPP HILDEBRANDT-ASYAMOVA FIRST PLACE
2ND OPP CARESS-NATALE SECOND PLACE

JUDGES: MORGAN, MARUSIC, LOKE, LLANO, GREENLAND

THBT violent action to protect the environment is justified.

SPEAKERS

Position Name Team Total points Average Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6
1 Natale Caress-Natale 482 80.33 85 77 83 78 83 76
2 Hildebrandt Hildebrandt-Asyamova 476 79.33 82 82 74 77 83 78
2 (3) Plostajner Jakovac-Plostajner 476 79.33 75 79 81 79 78 84
4 (5) Asaymova Hildebrandt-Asyamova 472 78.66 81 80 76 74 84 77
4 Podlogar Podlogar-Janzek 472 78.66 80 81 79 73 80 79
6 Dobranic Cimerman-Dobranic 470 78.33 78 78 80 82 77 75
6 (7) Caress Caress-Natale 470 78.33 82 76 79 75 82 76
8 (9) Cimerman Cimerman-Dobranic 468 78.00 76 79 78 81 78 76
8 Jakovac Jakovac-Plostajner 468 78.00 65 82 82 78 77 84
8 (10) Zveplan Zveplan-Cvikl 468 78.00 75 76 78 84 78 77

IDAS 08 TOURNAMENT MOTIONS

ROUND ONE
THW make voting compulsory.

ROUND TWO
THW not negotiate with the leaders of Iran.

ROUND THREE
This house would not prosecute battered wives for killing their husbands.

ROUND FOUR
TH would allow the advertising of prescription drugs.

ROUND FIVE
THBT governments should not bailout failing corporations.

ROUND SIX
This House would ban international adoption.

SEMIFINALS
THBT the United Nations should send a multinational peacekeeping force to Sri Lanka.

FINALS
THBT violent action to protect the environment is justified.

Full results at bottom of USA WUDC results page:
http://debate.uvm.edu/usudc/usudctab0809.html

2008 International Debate Academy Begins

2008-11-26T13:05:00.000-05:00

Sam Greenland speaks in the demo debate

Arrivals can be difficult and this one was no exception. All are now here and safe. Now we are about 80 people from 15 countries here for a week before we move to Maribor for the tournament.

Sunday night most people had arrived and a demo debate was featured. The motion was “This house would punish parents for the crimes of their minor children." It was an all-star cast, with Debbie Newman (world champion WSDC coach for England, England-Wales debate champion, former president of Cambridge Union) debating with Sam Greenland (Sydney WUDC semifinalist in 2007, former Hong Kong WSDC coach) were opening proposition, Sam Natale (top speaker, Northeast Universities 2008, University of Vermont) and Lucas Caress (top speaker, Global Youth Debate Conclave, Bangalore 2008, University of Vermont) were closing proposition; Filip Dobranic (twice top EFL speaker at WSDC, University of Ljubljana) and Maja Cimerman (EFL world WSDC champion, University of Ljubljana) were opening opposition, and last but not least Steve Llano (former national champion coach in USA, St. John's University) and Loke Wing Fatt (Singapore, WUDC breaking judge, father of debate in China) as closing opposition. It was a very spirited debate, chaired by Berlin Debating Union's Jens Fischer, and caused a great deal of discussion among he students. The video is coming soon.

Each day has the same schedule. There is an 8:45 AM organizational meeting at breakfast, followed by a series of lectures divided by experience level. After one hour there is a brief break before we meet again for an hour of drills on the subject of the lectures to help turn theoretical materials into behavior and habit. Then a motion is given and everyone has a debate with a long critique. There is a lunch break followed by a digestion break before the afternoon's activities take place. There are two one-hour period for elective classes. During each of these periods between five and seven different topics are offered, and students can choose which they would like to go to. I will send along a list of enacted electives later. After the second elective of the afternoon another motion is announced and with another debate and a long critique before dinner.

The first practice debate motions were:
1-THW pay a salary to stay-at-home parents
2-TH would create separate units for gays in the military.
3-THBT supporting Georgia's NATO bid is more important than maintaining good relations with Russia.
4-THBT the capitalist experiment has failed.
5-THW criminalize Holocaust denial.

Evenings have had a considerable social component. On Monday night the Country Exhibition took place where students brought items, foods, beverages and other things from their country on display and shared them with everyone. This was a robust affair of international fraternity and lasted well into the night. On Tuesday evening the traditional Slovenian "Kitsch Party" took place. Students swapped clothing and dressed outrageously for the party. It raged for quite a while before the judging took place. Sam(antha) Ricker of the University of Vermont was the winner, looking quite good in ponytails and wearing Helena Felc's pajamas. Second place was Don(na) Bracciodieta of St. John's, who had nice cleavage. Pictures will be coming along soon.

Having been at all six International Debate Academy sessions, I would say that the experience level and excellence of the teams is growing immensely here and all over Europe and the world.

Stay tuned for more from Ormoz.

Arrival & Tournament Schedule

2008-11-16T11:53:00.003-05:00

SUNDAY ARRIVAL SCHEDULE IN ORMOZ

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 23 2008
1900 Dinner at Hotel Ormoz
20.00 Opening Session
Introductions
Brief introduction to the format-Newman
Exhibition debate
Discussion of exhibition debate
Students take assessment test for group assignments
Students vote for elective choices
Socialize and find a debate partner

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 28 2008
1600 Check into Maribor dorms, Registration opens
1630 Leave dorm, walk as a group to the tournament – Faculty of law
1700 Opening Assembly
1800 Round 1
Dinner at the tournament venue
2000 Round 2

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 29 2008
730-830 Breakfast
900 Round 3
1130 Round 4
1300 Lunch
1430 Round 5
1630 Round 6
1900 Dinner & Break announcement
Break Party

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30 2008
730-830 Breakfast
900 Announcement of pairings and motion
930 Semifinals
1130 Final Round
1230 Closing Ceremonies
1300 Departure

Arrival Information - IMPORTANT

2008-11-16T11:33:00.004-05:00

From Bojana Skrt:

We will see in a week and I am resending you my email with the information about traveling to Ormož and extra nights accomodations and other things. Here is my mobile phone number in case you need some emergency assistance: + 386 41 423377. Please, in case you are not coming, let me know as soon as possible.

Have in mind that all the extra nights prior to 23rd November should be paid to the Hotel Ormož and that in case you need an extra night in Maribor, you can not stay in the Dijaški dom Drava, where we are staying during the tournament, but you need to find some other accomodation.

Please, check IDAS web page and blog for the programme and all updates:
Website: http://debate.uvm.edu/idas.html
Blogsite: http://internationaldebateacademy.blogspot.com/

Here are a few bits of information I would like to share with you.

1. In case you can not come, please, inform me immediatly – we do have a waiting list of debaters who want to come and we can not accept them because of lack of the space, this is true for the whole Academy and tournament only.

2. Venues

In Ormož we are staying in Hotel Ormož, www.hotel-ormoz-grozd.si. It is a modest hotel, but comfortable hotel, nothing fancy, there are mainly two bed rooms with your own bathrooms and TV. There is no wireless internet, you can check your emails in Ormož youth center or the public library. The adress is Vrazova ulica 5 – it is located in the very center of Ormož near main bus station, 8 minutes from the train station.

In Maribor we will be staying in highschool dormitory Dijaški dom Drava, www.dddrava.si, adress is Smetanova 67. It is located in the center of Maribor. There are two or three bed rooms, a few rooms are sharing the bathrooms.

The tournament will be held at Faculty of law, University of Maribor, www.pf.uni-mb.si, adress: Mladinska ulica 9, Maribor

3. Extra nights
The registration fee 200 EUR covers the whole Academy - from dinner on the 23rd November to breakfast on the 30th.

Tournament only
The registration fee for the ones who are coming only for the tournament is 50 EUR, it covers the accomodation and food from dinner on the 28th till breakfast on the 30th. You should plan your departure from Maribor in early afternoon.

All the extra nights should be paid by you directly to the hotel. If you need an extra night in Hotel Ormož, please, inform me about it and I will make the reservation.

If you need an extra night in Maribor, you need to make your own reservation.
VERY IMPORTANT – YOU CAN NOT BE IN DIJAŠKI DOM DRAVA FOR EXTRA NIGHTS. You need to make reservations in some other hotels - at the end of this email I am sending you the low costs options in Maribor – you can book them via Internet.

4. Registration
The Ormož registration starts on Sunday, the 23rd at 16.00. Please, do not forget the first session starts at 20.00 on the 23rd, so plan your trip accordingly.

The check in in Dijaški dom Drava starts at 14.00. The registration for the tournament starts at Faculty of law at 16.00. The tournament starts at 17.00.

Everybody from Ormož will leave together by bus from Ormož to Maribor, no extra fee for this travel.

4. Travelling to Ormož
Ormož is well connected by train.

Coming from Vienna or Graz – you should take the train to Maribor - Pragersko -Ormož. Sometimes you need to change the train in Pragersko.

Coming from Ljubljana - sometimes you need to change in Pragersko – Ormož

Coming from Budapest – the train stops in Ormož.

In case you are coming as a group it might be more convinient and not so much more expencive than train we send you a van to pick you at the airport and bring you to Ormož. In case you are flying in really late, this would be the only option – so if this is the case, let me know, so I can arrange a pick up for you.

In case you are coming in Ljubljana before 23rd, there are some limited crashes available with Slovenian university students – let me know if you need them.

Here is the train schedule

>From Ljubljana to Ormož, the price is around 10 EUR one way

Ljubljana Departure 05:45 Pragersko Arrival 07:21 Pragersko Departure 07:31 Ormož Arrival 08:18

Ljubljana Departure 07:40 Ormož Arrival 10:25

Ljubljana Departure 10:18 - Pragersko Arrival 12:17 Pragersko Departure 12:57 Ormož Arrival 13:43

Ljubljana Departure 12:45 Pragersko Arrival 14:49 Pragersko Departure 15:10 Ormož Arrival 15:41

Ljubljana Departure 17:25 Pragersko Arrival 19:29 Pragersko Departure 19:44 Ormož Arrival 20:15
>From Maribor to Ormož, costs around 3 EUR one way
Maribor Departure 07:00 Ormož Arrival 08:18

Maribor Departure 12:25 Ormož Arrival 13:43

Maribor Departure 14:15 Pragersko Arrival 14:34 Pragersko Departure 15:10
Ormož Arrival 15:41

Maribor Departure 15:25 Ormož Arrival 16:35

>From Maribor to Ljubljana, costs around 6 EUR one way
Sometimes a change of trains is needed in Zidani most.

Maribor 14:15 Ljubljana 17:03

Maribor 15:14 Ljubljana 17:32

Maribor 15:20 Ljubljana 18:03

Maribor 16:20 Ljubljana 18:45

Maribor 17:15 Ljubljana 19:58

Maribor 18:00 Ljubljana 20:25

Maribor 19:45 Ljubljana 21:38

Maribor 21:00 Ljubljana 23:28

>From Graz to Maribor, 13 EUR one way
Graz 8.36 Maribor 9.38
Graz 10.36 Maribor 11.39
Graz 14.02 Maribor 15.04
Graz 15.40 Maribor 16.50
Graz 18.37 Maribor 19.39

Maribor 12. 42 Graz 14.47
Maribor 14.14 Graz 15.17
Maribor 16.21 Graz 17.24
Maribor 18.19 Graz 19.22

ACCOMMODATION IN MARIBOR

Hotel Piramida ****

Position: city centre
Bus stop distance < class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.termemb.si/EN/default.asp?id=2617">http://www.termemb.si/EN/default.asp?id=2617

Hotel Orel ***

Position: city centre
Railway station < class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.termemb.si/EN/default.asp?id=2635">http://www.termemb.si/EN/default.asp?id=2635

Hotel Bellevue ****

Position: near Maribor

Hotel Belllevue in Pohorje near Maribor is a pleasant hotel attracting guests throughout the year with its interesting a creative offer.

The wonderful atmosphere of the Bellevue wellness center will provide a relaxing experience for hotel guests as well as outside visitors; the center also features a wide offer of saunas:

- Aroma steam baths - Turkish baths;
- Extreme Finnish sauna;
- Chromotherapeutic sauna;
- Laconium - mild sauna;
- Showers of surprise.

Care and relaxation are also provided in Ciproš, in the form of massages and pampering for two.

Homepage: http://www.termemb.si/EN/default.asp?id=1456

Garni hotel Tabor ***

Position: near city centre

This carefully maintained family hotel is located not far from the centre of Maribor, and is in the vicinity of the multi-purpose event centre Dvorana Tabor and a tennis centre. We offer contemporarily furnished rooms, a restaurant, two clubrooms, three meeting rooms and storage for skies and bicycles. We bring pleasure to groups, sportsmen and women and permanent guests with special offers.

Parking, storing of bicycles and skies, e-mail and connection to Internet are all free of charge. Free use of meeting rooms for groups with board and lodgings in the hotel. For private vehicles and buses there is an enclosed car park, which is free of charge. For a supplement we organise excursions and sightseeing trips.

Double room standard – separated beds – 31€ person per night

Hompage: http://www.hoteltabor.podhostnik.si/

Hotel UNI ~ Youth hostel **

Position: in city centre

The Youth Hostel Hotel Uni is a member of the youth hostel network in Slovenia within the scope of IYHF (INTERNATIONAL YOUTH HOSTEL FEDERATION).
The Youth Hostel Hotel Uni is suitable for the traveelers who plan to stay in Maribor only a few days (daily rental). The holders of the International Student Identity Card (Hostelling International) and members of the Traveller`s Association of Slovenia have special benefits.

Youh Hostel UNI has been awarded 5 triangles, the highest award in the Slovenian youth hostel categorization.

Youth Hostel UNI offers:
accomodation in city centre (historical and culture sights), single, double and tripple rooms with private bath with towels and hotel cosmetics,
single, double and tripple rooms with linen, mini fridge, telephone and internet acces
use of the mini kitchen,
use of the computer room with internet access,
free rent-a bike,
open 24-hours and all year long.
Supplement for selfservice breakfast.

Extremely important is also the location of the hostel. Namely, the hostel is situated in the centre of Maribor in the approximate vicinity of the Rectorate of the University of Maribor, the Faculty of Economics and Business, the Faculty of Natural Sciences, the Faculty of Law and also the University Library.

Single room – 25€ person/night
Double room – 25€ person/night
Tripple room – 25€ person/night

Homepage: http://www.termemb.si/EN/default.asp?id=2649

Lollipop hostel

Position: city centre

A newly opened and as yet small, but friendly, true travellers/backpackers hostel in the centre of Maribor. Minutes from the main bus and rail stations and yet in the heart of the city.

Two blocks awy from the City Park.

Full use of kitchen any time of the day. Full use of chill out room with Cable TV, DVD with free films to view, Hi Fi, Games Console with hundreds of games to play. Free Internet. Bed Linen and Towels Included. Constant Hot Water.

Escort around town to show you the best of Maribor, including the beautiful River Drava, Shops, Museums, Theatres, Restaurants, Clubs and the best Kebab shop and pizza bar, not to mention a tour of local bars to share a beer or two.

Bed in 4-bedroom – 20€ person/night
Bed in 6-bedroom – 20€ person/night

More accommodation possibilities: http://www.slovenia.info/?_ctg_namestitev=0&title=Accommodation

Jens Fischer on International Debate Academy

2008-11-16T06:19:00.002-05:00

Jens judges a debate at IDAS

Why is IDAS a good thing to attend?

Having coached young debaters at the past two International Debate Acadamies in Slovenia, I feel that this academy provides a unique learning environment. With international coaches from different continents, and different debating systems, students are able to compare different views and choose from a wide variety of interesting subjects. The unique framework provides ample opportunity to actually discuss problems in some depth, as opposed to just repeating ready-made answers. During the IDAS week, all student will be able to intensively practice their skills, so that real progress can be made.

IDAS is a lot of fun. The days are filled with hard work, but also with hugely entertaining activities. The fact that IDAS is held in Ormoz contributes immensely to establishing an atmosphere of severe working and severe partying.

I have never been to a more international academy, with students from dozens of countries. In Europe, there is no academy like this, and probably this is a unique institution worldwide. The competition at the end of the academy has proved to be a great way of putting all the things you have learned into action, facing competent judges and receiving helpful feedback.
I could not think of any other place if you really want to get into international debating and to meet people from different continents and all sorts of backgrounds. In my opinion, there is no way you could not benefit from attending IDAS 2008.

IDAS 2008 Full - Join Us at the Tournament

2008-10-20T20:11:00.005-04:00

The International debate Academy Slovenia is now full. We have every room in the Hotel Ormoz full and even some additional spaces. Thanks to everyone who has shown such great support for the program. We are at our limit for the instructional part of the program. We are proud that so many have recognized us as the premier Worlds format training program on the globe.

But there is still an opportunity for you to join us and be part of what we are doing. There are lots of spots open for the tournament component of the program. The tournament will be a full service event hosted at the Faculty of Law in Maribor, Slovenia. The program will begin afternoon of 28 and continue until 30 November 2008. Join us for a vigorous and economical tournament. We will offer housing, meals and complete tournament entry fees for 50 Euros per person.

We offer great judging, featuring our remarkable faculty, including:

Loke Wing Fatt, Singapore: Well known Asian debate trainer, WUDC breaking judge, honorary professorship North-Eastern University China, SAID Singapore, 4th IDAS.
Jens Fischer, Germany: Berlin Debating Union, Chief Adjudicator at Europeans, 3rd IDAS.
Sam Greenland, UK/Hong Kong/Australia: WUDC semifinalist for Sydney, Hong Kong world schools coach, 3rd IDAS.
Steve Llano, USA: Professor at St. John’s University NY, NE USA Director of the Year, USA National Champion coach, 3rd IDAS.
Branka Marusic, Croatia: President Europeans Council, IDAS Finalist, 2nd IDAS.
Rhydian Morgan, UK: Chief Adjudicator and Finals judge at numerous tournaments, Welsh Debating Federation, World Debate Institute faculty 2008, 2nd IDAS.
Debbie Newman, UK: Past president of Cambridge Union, England & Wales National Champion, former Director of Centre for Speech & Debate at English-Speaking Union, England World Schools coach and WSDC world champion coach.
Alfred Snider, USA: Professor at University of Vermont, Director World Debate Institute, USA USA Coach of the Year, six recent debate textbooks, 6th IDAS.
Bojana Skrt, Slovenia: Director ZIP, thrice WSDC EFL Champion coach, 6th IDAS.

Book your spot at the tournament now. There are cheap flights to Graz, Austria via Ryanair and other options, with an easy train connection to Maribor.

For more information contact Bojana Skrt at bojana.skrt@siol.net. Bojana can help you with travel arrangements.

The form to apply for the tournament is at http://debate.uvm.edu/idastourn.doc

The general website is at http://debate.uvm.edu/idas.html

See you in Maribor at the tournament!

Loke Wing Fatt on the International Debate Academy

2008-08-29T09:46:00.002-04:00

Loke Wing Fatt from Singapore:

I will be teaching at the IDAS for the 4th time this year, and consider it a great learning experience. Interacting with each new batch of keen, motivated and intelligent debate students make me feel hopeful that they will be the new catalysts of change in their respective future careers as they hone their debating and critical thinking skills with us. Moreover, it was a fantastic way to make new friends and network with fellow trainers from around the world. Each and every student is important to us and we always do our utmost to make sure that all of them take home life's lessons we have learnt in our different debate education journeys from diverse parts of the globe.

Elective Choices Announced for 2008

2008-08-15T14:06:00.003-04:00

For a number of years now at the International Debate Academy we have offered a series of "electives." We have time slots in the schedule where we offer 4-5 different topics at once and students choose the presentations they would like to go and learn from. We offer a broad swath of subjects and ask the attendees when they arrive which ones they like the best. We tally the votes and then create a schedule of electives.

Here is the preliminary list for this year.

ELECTIVE CHOICES

-Evidence
-Counter proposals
-Religious based law- a short introduction into Sharia, Jewish and Canon law
-EU 101
-International law-brief introduction
-Right of self detremination
-Basis of criminal law- on international level
-UN 101
-NATO 101
-Rhetoric & style
-Identifying clash
-Zen debating - knifing without the knife
-Debating rights
-Advocating Marxism
-Economics, aka how to win debates on economics against economists, by an economics grad.
-Politics, aka how to win debates on political theory against politics students, by a politics postgrad.
-Philosophy, aka how to beat utilitarians in debate, by a philosophy postgrad.
-Law, aka how to beat lawyers in debates about law, by a man who hates lawyers.
-Extensions; how to speak brilliantly as the third speaker in British Parliamentary debates.
-Samurai debate
-Classical rhetorical theory
-Advanced opposition strategy
-Debating internationally as an English Foreign Language speaker
-Public, Radio, TV debates
-Preparation before the tournament, preparation at the tournament
-Motion Analysis-Tips on how to interpret debate motions and find the core issues of debate.
-BP Adjudication-An overview of how to make fair decisions in BP debates as a BP adjudicator.
-Saving a Bad Upper House Debate- What to do when your Upper House teams are not doing what they are supposed to do? Tips on how to win the debate at the Lower House when the people upstairs are under-performing.
-Strategic POIings-Tips on how to make the most of the POIs as an "offerer" or a receiver.
-Debating in Asia-An overview account of how debating is conducted in Asia.
-Extra Practice for BP Beginners (Combination of Elective 1 and 2 Sessions together) For beginners of BP debating who want an extra session of practice during the IDAS 2008.
-MINE IS BIGGER THAN YOURS-An explanation and evaluation of various measures by which you can show that your arguments are more important than theirs. Useful later in the debate and especially in the whip speech. In a debate where both sides are winning some issues, you need to show that yours come first.
-POINTS OF INFORMATION FOR MEANIES-Get the down and dirty about how to ask mean points and give mean answers. Learn how to take their points and make them count towards your victory. Not for the squeamish. Use some of these with care. Optional funny lines will also be provided.
-REVIEWING EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE ABOUT SPEAKING STYLE-This presentation will inspect experimental findings about which speaking styles and mannerisms are most persuasive to audiences. While the research is not based in debate, it has been replicated and confirmed to be the actual situation in real life. Learn how to avoid powerless language, learn which hand gestures to avoid, learn which posture is most persuasive and a lot more. This presentation will not cover the use of aroma.

Coach/Trainers Elective Sessions
-Debate formats
-Drills and games to teach debate
-Curriculum development
-Creating lesson plans, creating workshop
-Training program model
-Adjudication
-Team based research strategy
-Basic coaching tips
-Team building
-Organising and running debate club
-Creating and coordinating the network of debate clubs
-Fundraising for debate
-Organising debate tournament
-Organising public debate
-Promotion of debate activities

Academy Schedule Announced

2008-08-15T12:38:00.002-04:00

SIXTH INTERNATIONAL DEBATE ACADEMY SLOVENIA
NOVEMBER 2008

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 23 2008
Arrival Day

1900 Dinner

20.00 Opening Session
Introductions
Introduction to the format
Exhibition debate
Discussion of exhibition debate
Students take assessment test for group assignments
Socialize and find a debate partner

MONDAY NOVEMBER 24 2008
730-845 Breakfast
845 Morning announcements
900 Lecture
Advanced: Critiques
Intermediate: Case development
Beginner: Public speaking
1015-1130 Exercises
1130 Announcement of motion
1200 Practice debate
1330 Lunch
1500 Elective 1
1600 Elective 2
1700 Announcement of motion
1730 Practice debate
1900 Dinner
Evening – Country Exhibition

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 25 2007
730-845 Breakfast
845 Morning announcements
900 Lecture
Advanced: Clash
Intermediate: Argument & content development
Beginner: Role of the speakers, case structure, note taking
1015-1130 Exercises
1130 Announcement of motion
1200 Practice debate
1330 Lunch
1500 Elective 1
1600 Elective 2
1700 Announcement of motion
1730 Practice debate
1900 Dinner
Evening – Open

WENSDAY NOVEMBER 26 2008
730-845 Breakfast
845 Morning announcements
900 Lecture
Advanced:How to win debate from the first proposition
Intermediate: Extension
Beginner: Proposition strategies
1015-1130 Exercises
1130 Announcement of motion
1200 Practice debate
1330 Lunch
FREE TIME
1700 Announcement of the motion
1730 Practice debate
1900 Dinner
20.00 Elective 1
21.00 Elective 2

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27 2008
730-845 Breakfast
845 Morning announcements
900 Lecture
Advanced: Framing
Intermediate: Whip speeches
Beginner: Opposition strategies
1015-1130 Exercises
1130 Announcement of motion
1200 Practice debate
1330 Lunch
1500 Elective 1
1600 Elective 2
1730 Practice debate
1900 Dinner
Evening – Open

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 28 2008
730-845 Breakfast
845 Morning announcements
900 Lecture
Advanced: Style
Intermediate: Advanced opposition strategies
Beginner: Case development
1015-1130 Exercises
1130 Announcement of motion
1200 Practice debate
1330 Lunch
1430 Board the bus
1500 Bus to Maribor leave
1600 Check into Maribor dorms
1630 Leave dorm, walk as a group to the tournament – Faculty of law
1700 Opening Assembly
1800 Round 1
Dinner at the tournament venue
2000 Round 2

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 29 2008
730-830 Breakfast
900 Round 3
1130 Round 4
1300 Lunch
1430 Round 5
1630 Round 6
1900 Dinner & Break announcement
Break Party

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30 2008
730-830 Breakfast
900 Announcement of pairings and motion
Semifinals
1100 Final Round
Closing Ceremonies
Departure

Scholarship Form Now Available

2008-08-15T12:30:00.002-04:00

The form to apply for a scholarship to attend the 2008 International Debate Academy is now available.

You can get it at http://debate.uvm.edu/idas08scholform.doc

[FROM THE FORM]

Please make sure to include:

1. A written statement by the applicant explaining:

a) Why you believe you are in need of financial aid.

b) What you can offer to the intellectual climate of IDAS in exchange so that it will be a more rewarding experience.

c) What are you doing to try and raise money to pay the uncovered portion of your fees.

d) Specify the amount of scholarship required for you to attend. There will be no 100% awards.

2. A written statement from a teacher, coach, debate coordinator, collegue discussing the students' potential and past debate/training performances record.

Scholarship applications must be sent to Bojana Skrt at bojana.skrt@siol.net by October 1 2008. Scholarship awards will be announced on October 10 2008.

Debbie Newman Added to Faculty

2008-08-05T10:46:00.003-04:00

Debbie Newman (middle) with Bojana Skrt of IDAS (left) and Phyllis Hirth (right) convenor of World Schools Debate Championship in Washington, DC 2008

The International Debate Academy is proud to announce that Debbie Newman will be joining us in 2008 as a faculty member.

Debbie Newman has been a debater since high school where she reached the final of the world schools debating championships for England. At university she went on to become the President of the Cambridge Union and was the England & Wales National Debating Champion. After graduation, Debbie went to work for the English-Speaking Union where she eventually became the Head of the Centre for Speech and Debate. She is a qualified teacher and education consultant and is the current coach of the England Schools Debate Team. She has taught and judged debate around the globe and was this year for the third time at the World Debate Institute.

Applications Now Available Online

2008-07-12T18:10:00.002-04:00

Get them now! Send them in as soon as possible but by October 15. Space may be limited this year!

For the entire program November 23-30 2008
http://debate.uvm.edu/idasall.doc

For just the tournament in Maribor November 28-30 2008
http://debate.uvm.edu/idastourn.doc

2008 Academy Details Announced

2008-07-01T15:58:00.003-04:00

Ljubljana mayor Jankovic chats with winning team before final round

INTERNATIONAL DEBATE ACADEMY SLOVENIA 2008

THE BEST IN WUDC/BP DEBATE INSTRUCTION
23-30 NOVEMBER 2008

MANY WAYS TO PARTICIPATE:

Full program for university students – instruction, tournament.
Tournament for university students – tournament in Maribor.
Full program for trainers, teachers, coaches, club leaders, judges at any level in any debate format.

SPECIFIC DATES:

Arrive in Ormoz, Slovenia November 23 2008
Instruction in Ormoz November 24-28 2008
Transfer to Maribor afternoon 28 November 2008
Tournament in Maribor evening 28-30 November 2008

FACULTY

Loke Wing Fatt, Singapore: Legendary debate trainer, WUDC breaking judge, honorary professorship North-Eastern University China, SAID Singapore, 4th IDAS.
Jens Fischer, Germany: Berlin Debating Union, Chief Adjudicator at Europeans, 3rd IDAS. Invited.
Sam Greenland, UK/Hong Kong/Australia: WUDC semifinalist for Sydney, Hong Kong world schools coach, 3rd IDAS.
Neil Harvey-Smith, UK: President Worlds Council, Chief Adjudicator Europeans 2008, US Universities 2009, WUDC finalist, 2nd IDAS.
Steve Llano, USA: Professor at St. John’s University NY, NE USA Director of the Year, USA National Champion coach, 3rd IDAS.
Branka Marusic, Croatia: President Europeans Council, IDAS Finalist, 2nd IDAS.
Rhydian Morgan, UK: Chief Adjudicator and Finals judge at numerous tournaments, Welsh Debating Federation, World Debate Institute faculty 2008, 2nd IDAS.
Uve Poom, Estonia: Europeans EFL Champion, IDAS Finalist, Euros 2008 organizer, 2nd IDAS. Invited.
Alfred Snider, USA: Professor at University of Vermont, Director World Debate Institute, USA Coach of the Year, six recent debate textbooks, 6th IDAS.
Bojana Skrt, Slovenia: Director ZIP, twice WSDC EFL Champion coach, 6th IDAS.

Curriculum:
Students: Each Instruction day features a main lecture, exercise and drill sessions, and two complete critiqued practice debates. Many elective classes offered. Many training preparation sessions offered. Judge evaluation and training offered.
Trainers: Special track created based on the needs of attending trainers. All welcome.

Tournament:
Sponsored by IDAS, ZIP and hosted by Debate Club University of Maribor Faculty of Law. Six preliminary rounds and semifinals in the WUDC format. No team caps as of now. Faculty will serve as adjudication core and administration for the tournament.

Accommodations:
Rooms and full meals provided in Ormoz and Maribor. Social activities organized each evening.

Fees:
Includes all meals, double rooms, instructional materials, transportation from Ormoz to Maribor, and social activities.
200 Euros for full program, 50 Euros for tournament.

Scholarships:
We hope to offer substantial scholarships to needy applicants. We are in negotiations with sponsors now and hope to be able to offer substantial scholarship assistance. Get a scholarship form at the website.

Applications and information available:
APPLICATION DEADLINE 30 OCTOBER 2008
SOON AT THE WEBSITE http://debate.uvm.edu/idas.html
Questions? Ask Bojana Skrt, bojana.skrt@siol.net

Peter Mesarec, Assistant Director
Helena Felc, Social Director
Zlata Subinski, Tournament Host

Website: http://debate.uvm.edu/idas.html
Blogsite: http://internationaldebateacademy.blogspot.com/
More about ZIP: http://www.ljudmila.org/debata

We look forward to working with you at IDAS 2008!

-Bojana & Tuna

2008 International Debate Academy Announced

2008-03-09T06:56:00.002-04:00

It is with great pleasure that ZIP-Slovenia and WDI-USA announce the Sixth International Debate Academy to be held in Slovenia in November 2008.

2008 DATES ARE NOVEMBER 23-30

SEE OUR BLOG AT http://internationaldebateacademy.blogspot.com/

THREE EVENTS:

WORKSHOP FOR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

WORKSHOP FOR TRAINERS, COACHES AND TEACHERS

AN INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT

For university students and trainers/teachers
23– 30th November 2008, Slovenia

Organized by:
ZIP – Za in proti (ZIP), Pro et Contra, Institute for the Culture of Dialogue, Slovenia
WDI – World Debate Institute, University of Vermont, USA

Webpage, registration form, scholarship form: http://debate.uvm.edu/idas2008.html

What is it?

It is the most international British Parliamentary Debate Training in the world with a distinguished training group. Attendees have come from over 26 different debating nations. The program involves a rigorous combination of lectures, skill exercise sessions and two practice debates per day. A major tournament will take place at the end. This year the tournament at the end of the Academy is open to all interested university debaters, so everybody who does not have time to come for the whole week can join us only for the tournament.

FACULTY FOR 2007 (MOST RETURNING FOR 2008)

Jens Fischer, Berlin Debating Union, Germany, Europeans CA
Neill Harvey-Smith, UK, Former WUDC Finalist
Steve Llano, St. Johns University, USA
Loke Wing Fatt, SAID, Singapore, WUDC breaking judge
Branka Marušic, EUDC President, Croatia
Rhydian Morgan, UK, Euros winner & multiple CA
Sam Nelson, Cornell University, USA
Uve Poom, Estonia, 2007 Euro ESL Champion
Bojana Skrt, Za in proti, zavod za kulturo dialoga, Slovenia
Alfred C. Snider, University of Vermont, USA, Director, World Debate Institute

Who can apply?

Students: For the whole Academy, everybody interested in debating is welcome, and can be beginners or they can be very experienced. The training will be divided into different tracks, based on the participant’s needs and experience, but reflecting realistic pedagogical needs.

Students: For the tournament only. Come and join us for spirited competition and fellowship. For the tournament only you apply as a team. One judge per 1 or 2 teams, 2 judges per 3 or 4 teams.

Trainers and Teachers: We will also have a track for trainers, coaches, team organizers and club trainers that will be far more flexible. See how debate training is done by those experienced, attend seminars on materials and technique, learn adjudication and a lot more.

Participation fee

The whole Academy (it covers 8 days full room and board – accommodation/food, training and materials) TO BE ANNOUNCED.
Tournament only (it covers 2 days full room and board – accommodation/food, tournament expenses) TO BE ANNOUNCED.
The payment should be made in cash on arrival.
This is a non-profit project, and no organizers or trainers are paid for their effort. Fees are designed to cover some costs only.

Scholarships
There are limited scholarships available. The scholarship application procedure is as follows: submit a scholarship form, receive a scholarship, and formally accept the scholarship. Scholarships will not be available for travel. SCHOLARSHIP FORM WILL BE AVAILABLE LATER.

Organizing committee:
Director of the Academy: Bojana Skrt, ZIP, bojana.skrt@siol.net
Head of Training: Alfred C. Snider, World Debate Institute, University of Vermont, alfred.snider@uvm.edu

IDAS 2007 Trainers Debate - Apologize for Colonialism

2007-11-27T14:16:00.001-05:00

1st Proposition:
Alfred Snider, Director, World Debate Institute, University of Vermont, USA
Rhydian Morgan, Consultant, GRM Communications, UK
1st Opposition:
Neill Harvey-Smith, Consultant, Debate Chambers, UK
Branka Marusic, President, European Universities Debate Council, Croatia
2nd Proposition:
Sam Nelson, Cornell University, USA
Jens Fischer, Berlin Debating Union, Germany
2nd Opposition:
Loke Wing Fatt, S.A.I.D., Singapore
Uve Poom, Current Euros EFL Champion, Estonia

Final Results of Internaional Debate Academy 2007

2007-11-25T13:32:00.000-05:00

Tournament champs with UK's Rhydian Morgan in the middle: Filip Dobranic and Maja Cimerman

19 countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, UK, Germany, Rumania, Mongolia, Taiwan, India, USA, Serbia, Ukraine, Estonia, Canada, Singapore, Bosnia & Herzgovina, Russia, Slovenia, and Venezuela.
32 teams.
16 adjudicators.

Here are the results:

Semifinal Round

The motion is:
This House believes that women should get an equal position in war with men.

Hall A
1Gov Ceranic & Jankovic-Romano Serbia ADVANCE
1Opp Kerr & Belak Slovenia
2Gov Plostajner & Jakovac Slovenia ADVANCE
2Opp Gabric & Vlacic Slovenia
Judges: Branka Marusic (chair), Neill Harvey-Smith, Loke Wing Fatt, Steve Llano, Jens Fischer

Hall B

1Gov Kunej & Kranjc Slovenia
1Opp Dobranic & Cimerman Slovenia ADVANCE
2Gov Bellwood & Culy USA ADVANCE
2Opp Tertnik & Jenko Slovenia
Judges: Isabel Loewe (chair), Rhydian Morgan, Sam Nelson, Simon Grabrovec, Uve Poom

Final Round

This House believes that financial support from the state should be sufficient to live on without requiring work.

1Gov Bellwood & Culy USA
1Opp Dobranic & Cimerman Slovenia
2Gov Plostajner & Jakovac Slovenia
2Opp Ceranic & Jankovic-Romano Serbia

WINNER: Maja Cimerman & Filip Dobranic Slovenia

TOP SPEAKER: Anna Mojca England Kerr Slovenia

2 Spela Kranjc Slovenia
3 Simon Belak Slovenia
3 Spela Kunej Slovenia
5 Filip Dobranic Slovenia
6 Maja Cimerman Slovenia
7 Igor Jakovac Slovenia
8 Alia Bellwood USA
8 Edita Gabric Slovenia
10 Alexandra Neacsu Romania

Find it at http://debate.uvm.edu/dcpdf/IDAS2007FullTab.xls

MOTIONS FOR IDAS 2007 TOURNAMENT

Thanks to European Union program "All Equal, All Different" for the support of the equal opportunities motions during the tournament.

1. This House believes that all universities should have an equal opportunities officer.
2. This House believes the state should provide free education in the languages of ethnic minorities.
3. This House believes that the state should pay for trans-gender surgeries.
4. That this House would remove the right to refuse life-saving medical treatment.
5. This House would take a hard line against Iran.
6. This House believes that romantic relationships between university instructors and their students should be illegal.

SEMIFINALS:
This house believes that women should get an equal position in war with men.

FINALS:
This House believes that financial support from the state should be sufficient to live on without requiring work.

Stand by for an announcement of next year's International Debate Academy.

President-elect and Mayor Meet Debaters at International Debate Academy

2007-11-25T13:31:00.000-05:00

Photo: Dr. Danilo Turk, President-elect of Slovenia, with students

When the International Debate Academy left its instructional home in the little town of Ormoz and made its way to Slovenia's capital, Ljubljana, it got the recognition of some of the most prominent politicians in the country.

Dr. Danilo Turk, President-elect of Slovenia, addressed the debaters and judges at the opening ceremonies. Dr. Turk won an overwhelming mandate for President. He served for years as Kofi Anan's assistant at the UN in New York. He cautioned the debaters to understand the audience and not just the opponents in the debate and to recognize, in debating about equal opportunities, the distinction between discrimination and rational difference. He also answered several questions from the debaters, including how to respond to lies spread against you in politics.

Photo: Zoran Jankovic with tournament top speaker, Anna Mojca England Kerr.

Zoran Jankovic is the newly elected mayor of Ljubljana. He encouraged the debaters about visiting Ljubljana and indicated future cooperation with ZIP. ZIP will be co-sponsoring a conference in April to take place in Ljubljana. For more information, see http://debate.uvm.edu/betterworld.htm

Both politicians recognized the importance of debate in Slovenia, with Dr. Turk indicating he had been following it for several years.

Elimination Debates at International Debate Academy

2007-11-25T13:30:00.001-05:00

Photo: Vesna, Tuna, Mario, Milan

The semifinals have just begun at the Faculty of Economics in Ljubljana.

The motion is:

This House believes that women should get an equal position in war with men.

Hall A
1Gov Ceranic & Jankovic-Romano
1Opp Kerr & Belak
2Gov Plostajner & Jakovac
2Opp Gabric & Vlacic
Judges: Branka Marusic (chair), Neill Harvey-Smith, Loke Wing Fatt, Steve Llano, Jens Fischer

Hall B

1Gov Kunej & Kranjc
1Opp Dobranic & Cimerman
2Gov Bellwood & Culy
2Opp Tertnik & Jenko
Judges: Isabel Loewe (chair), Rhydian Morgan, Sam Nelson, Simon Grabrovec, Uve Poom

Results to come soon.

International Debate Academy Tournament Slovenia Tab Now Available

2007-11-25T02:39:00.000-05:00

Photo: Neill Harvey-Smith judging

The semifinals take place this morning, but the tab is now up and available. My thanks to Jens Fischer for his assistance.

Find it at http://debate.uvm.edu/dcpdf/IDAS2007FullTab.xls

Full results coming soon.

Academy Concludes and Moves on to Ljubljana for the Tournament

2007-11-24T09:07:00.000-05:00

In the small town of Ormoz, Slovenia, there were a lot of different languages being spoken as people from seventeen different nations gathered to focus on Worlds/BP format debating for six days, from 17-22 November 2007.

The program is sponsored by Z.I.P. (Za in Proti, Institute for Culture of Dialogue, the Slovenian national debate program) and the World Debate Institute (University of Vermont USA) and is now in its fifth year.

People attended who are citizens of: Slovenia, USA, UK, Germany, Singapore, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, Ukraine, Estonia, Russia, Bosnia, Taiwan, Canada, India and Mongolia.

The program had a number of illustrious faculty members, including:

Loke Wing Fatt, SAID Singapore and WUDC breaking judge.
Jens Fischer, Germany, Chief Adjudicator at Euros.

Neill Harvey-Smith, WUDC finalist and Chief Adjudicator for Euros
2008, now with Debate Chambers, United Kingdom.

Steve Llano, USA national champion coach, St. Johns University, USA.

Branka Marusic, President of European Universities Debating Council, Croatia.

Rhydian Morgan, Chief Adjudicator at numerous UK tournaments, now with GRM Communications, United Kingdom.

Sam Nelson, USA national champion coach, Cornell University, USA.

Uve Poom, Europeans EFL Champion and Euros 2008 organizer.

Bojana Skrt, World Schools EFL Champion coach twice, Slovenia.

Alfred Snider, USA national champion coach, Director of World Debate Institute, University of Vermont, USA.

With sixty people occupying the Hotel Ormoz, the days were full of learning activities. Each day included a morning lecture, a drill and exercise session, and then a full critiqued debate. Afternoons consisted of two slates of elective classes (where students can pick from 4-5 different subjects to attend), followed by another full critiqued debate. Evenings were free, but included a number of social events, such as the country exhibition and the kitsch party.

The following are some of the elective topics:
Poom:

Intl relations 1

Intl relations 2

Economics for idiots

Debating about rights

Fatt:

Research methods

Humor

Rebutting

Motion analysis

Marusic:

Motion interpretation

Case division

Counter proposals

Morgan:

Style vs. substance

Identifying clash

Newman hierarchy

Principles of criminal justice

Zen debating - knifing without the knife

Derivation of rights

Harvey-Smith:

Economics with NHS, aka how to win debates on economics against economists, by an economics grad.

Politics with NHS, aka how to win debates on political theory against politics students, by a politics postgrad.

Philosophy with NHS, aka how to beat utilitarians in debate, by a philosophy postgrad.

Law with NHS, aka how to beat lawyers in debates about law, by a man who hates lawyers.

Extensions; how to speak brilliantly as the third speaker in British Parliamentary debates.

Snider:

Note-taking before and during the debate

Your 15 minutes prep and how to use it

Mine is bigger than yours, comparing arguments

Llano:

Samurai debate

Classical rhetorical theory

Advanced opposition strategy

Skrt:

Strategy: How do we debate when we do not have a clue about the topic? What do we do when the first government comes out with a really bad case? ….

Nelson:

Tricks are for Kids. The role of the trickster in argumentation and its implications for current debate practice.

Public speaking like you mean it! How to be a persuasive speaker

Make love not war. Rejecting the warrior narrative in debate and replacing it with a more functional mindset: Debater as lover!

Games people play. Debate games that teach you how to hone your debate skills.

Separate coaching electives were held, including:

Experiential learning - Poom

Drills and games to teach debate - Fatt

Adjudication - Harvey-Smith

Training program model - Snider

Team based research strategy - Llano

Running university debate club: keep them coming, keep them staying, keep them motivated. Skrt

Fundraising for the university debate club. Skrt

Organising debate tournament. Skrt

Organising public debate. Skrt

One other event of note was the show debate that was staged by the faculty. Steve Llano and Bojana Skrt chaired a debate on the motion; this House would apologize for colonialism. The first government team was Alfred Snider and Rhydian Morgan, the second government team was Jens Fischer and Sam Nelson, the first opposition team was Neill Harvey-Smith and Branka Marusic, and the second opposition team was Loke Wing Fatt and Uve Poom. The debate was a spirited affair, but was fairly serious (unlike many show debates) and tried to provide real examples to the student audience. The video will be posted online very soon. No decision was announced and the students kept talking about their individual decisions late into the night.

With sponsorship grants to debate motions on the issue of equal opportunities, many of the motions shared this these. Motions for the practice debates included:

This House would bring George W. Bush to trial for war crimes.

This House believes in cultural and racial assimilation.

This house would support an independent state for the Kurdish people.

This House supports affirmative action to solve for the effects of discrimination.

This House would grant immunity to dictators who step down voluntarily.

This House believes that there should be no religious holidays recognised as national holidays.

This House believes the criminalisation of hate speech is a bad idea.

This House believes all public bathrooms should be unisex.

On Friday morning everyone boarded a bus for Ljubljana where they were housed in a dormitory and a tournament is now going on at the University of Ljubljana’s Faculty of Administration and the Faculty of Economics.

More on the tournament in a separate post.

Preparation Letter to Attendees

2007-11-05T16:25:00.000-05:00

I am really glad you decided to participate at IDAS 2007 and I am sure together we will create a great event. I would also kindly ask everybody who registered in case something goes wrong and you can not participate, you let as know as soon as possible, because we do need to inform the venues about the final number. There are a little more than 70 participants from 17 countries, 4 continents comfirmed their participation for the whole Academy and there are around 15 debaters coming only for the tournament.

Here are some more details about the Academy, more details you can find at: http://debate.uvm.edu/idas2007.html, which I do recommend you check on regular basis till the beginning of the Academy.

Topic area: majority of the topics will be from the field of equal opportunities. You can find the list of topics and some research material on the IDAS web page.

Locations:
- From 17th – 23rd morning, Hotel Ormož, Vrazov trg 35 – it is the center of Ormož, 5 minutes walk from the train station. You can not get lost, Ormož is a small town.
- From 23rd 12.00 (registration) to Sunday 25th, Dijaški dom Bežigrad, Kardeljeva ploščad 28, Ljubljana. Please, go to http://www.ljubljana-tourism.si/ to find the map and the direction to come to the dorm.

Beginning of the Academy: The full calendar of Academy in Ormož and tournament in Ljubljana is available on the web page. Here I would just like to stress that the Academy starts on Saturday, the 17th at 17.00, so you are expected to come before that.

On Friday morning, the 23rd we will go to Ljubljana (the transport will be arrange by us), where the tournament will start at 14.00. The final debate will be at 12.00 on Sunday, the 25th November, the guest speaker being a mayor of Ljubljana Zoran Jankovič.

Participation fee: You are expected to pay the participation fee upon arrival in cash. You will get the official comfirmation of the payment. Here are the things which are covered by your participation fee, trainers voluntary work and other trainer in kind countribution, like their travel expences, ZIP and sponsorship from Office for youth and the action All equal – all different.

- Full board in Ormož, starting on the 17th with dinner and finishing on the 23rd with lunch; in Ljubljana starting with dinner on the 23rd, finishing on Sunday, the 25th with breakfast. In case you are staying extra nights in Ljubljana or coming earlier in Ormož, you need to pay directly to the hotel, however you do need to inform us about it.

- Transportation from Ormož to Ljubljana.

- Lectures, material, organisation.

All the other expences are yours, from extra nights, extra meals, transportation and everything else.

Social: There will be a country exhibition organised on Sunday evening. This is an event in which all of you need to participate: bring food, sweets, drinks, gifts, souvenirs, information about you country, music, dances you put it in display and you share all of these with all the participants. We are having participants from 17 countries, so we can expect a really great country exhibition.

Dress code: We are very informal, however, you can be if you want to, dress how you feel. Have in mind we are arranging the reception in Ormož mayor castle and that at the tournament finals there will be Ljubljana mayor coming.

Transport to Ormož: We are not organising pick ups and we do not organise the transport from Ljubljana to Ormož, this is up to you. Here is the list of trains for Ormož from Ljubljana and the information about the transportation from the airport to Ljubljana. Ljubljana train and bus station are together.

TRAINS TO ORMOŽ

Ljubljana 7.40 Ormož 10.25
Ljubljana 12.50 – Pragersko 15.08 arrival/departure 15.10 – Ormož 15.41
Ljubljana 17.25 – Pragersko 19.29 arrival/departure 19. 44 – Ormož 20.15

For the ones who are coming from Zagreb and Belgrade, change the train in Zidani most – you do not need to go to Ljubljana.

The train ticket one way from Ljubljana to Ormož is between 9 and 10 EUR.

BUS FROM LJUBLJANA AIRPORT TO LJUBLJANA

There are two different bus companies transporting from the airport to Ljubljana bus and railway station (they are together). It takes 30 to 45 minutes, costs 4,5 EUR.

7.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 16.00 18.00 20.00
5:45 6:40 10:55 12:40 14:30 16:00 17:30 18:25 22:55 00:00

CONTACT NUMBERS:
Sintija Dobrotinšek, + 386 (0) 31 658 971
Bojana Skrt, + 386 (0) 41 423377

Looking forwad seeing you in Slovenia,

Bojana & Sintija

Equal Opportunity Motions

2007-11-02T11:54:00.000-04:00

Since we have received substantial funding to discuss and debate equal opportunities as an issue, some of our motions will come from this category. As in the past, we are releasing a list of motions for your inspection. Not all of these motions will be used in the practice debates and the tournament.

TH believes positive discrimination is the best way to achieve equal opportunities.
TH supports that affirmative action to remedy the effects of discrimination is justified.
TH believes that racial equality is an impossible ideal.
TH believes the criminalisation of hate speech is a bad idea.
TH believes the state should pay for the education in the ethnic minorities languages.
TH supports a special seat for Roma in the European Parliament.
TH supports that ethnic minorities should have special seats in national parliaments.
TH believes in cultural and racial assimilation.
This house believes that homosexuals make good parents.
This house would permit Gay couples to adopt.
This house would put women in the military front line
This house believes that women should get an equal position in war with men
This house would positively discriminate in favor of women in the highest managment positions.
This house would positively discriminate women in the government.
This house believes:
That family and feminism are incompatible.
That we will only be post-feminist when we are in post-patriarchy.
That housewives should be paid for their work.
That feminism should give way to multiculturalism.
That feminism is corrupting the family.
That reproductive technologies are anti-women.
That media potrayal of women brings more harm than good.
That society is well – served by the maintenance of a separate culture for the deaf.
That individualts with disabilities ought to be afforded the same opportunities as able – bodied athletes.
That Mentally Handicapped People Are Better Cared For In The Community Than In Institutions.
That Elderly People Are Better Cared For In The Community Than In Institutions
That Mentally Handicapped People should be their own advocates.
That the state should be responsible for providing religious groups the venues for practising their religion.
That there should be no religious holiday recognised as a national holiday.
That all religious symbols should be banned from schools.
That sexual harassment on the working place should be punished more severly.
That state should pay for transgender surgeries.
All public bathrooms should be unisex.
Universities should have an ombudsman to investigate claims of sexual harassment of students by faculty.
Romantic relationships between professors and their students are unacceptable.

Academy Equal Opportunities Motions Background Files Available

2007-10-31T11:10:00.000-04:00

The Academy (and scholarships) is being partially financed by a grant to investigate and debate about the concept of equal opportunities. Thus, a number of our motions will be about this concept, which is of increasing importance in the European community.

Here are some background pdf files for you to download and examine in preparation for debating these motions.

http://debate.uvm.edu/dcpdf/idas2007_equalopportunity.pdf

http://debate.uvm.edu/dcpdf/idas2007_discrimination.pdf

http://debate.uvm.edu/dcpdf/idas2007_ethnicminorities.pdf

http://debate.uvm.edu/dcpdf/idas2007_disabilities.pdf

http://debate.uvm.edu/dcpdf/idas2007_gender.pdf

http://debate.uvm.edu/dcpdf/idas2007_homosexuals.pdf

Transport Links to the Academy

2007-10-29T08:41:00.000-04:00

Try to be in Ormoz by 1700 hours, please!

TRAINS TO ORMOZ
Ljubljana 7.40 Ormoz 10.25
Ljubljana 12.50 – Pragersko 15.08 arrival/departure 15.10 – Ormoz 15.41
Ljubljana 17.25 – Pragersko 19.29 arrival/departure 19. 44 – Ormoz 20.15

For the ones who are coming from Zagreb and Belgrade, change the train in Zidani most – you do not need to go to Ljubljana.

The train ticket one way from Ljubljana to Ormoz is between 9 and 10 EUR.

BUS FROM LJUBLJANA AIRPORT TO LJUBLJANA
There are two different bus companies transporting from the airport to Ljubljana bus and railway station (they are together). It takes 30 to 45 minutes, costs 4,5 EUR.
7.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 16.00 18.00 20.00
5:45 6:40 10:55 12:40 14:30 16:00 17:30 18:25 22:55 00:00

Academy Spaces Filling Up Fast

2007-10-17T07:05:00.000-04:00

With a month to go before it begins, there are already over 60 debaters enrolled in the International Debate Academy. There is a limit (around 80) so act fast!

Students are enrolled from (in no order): Kazakhstan, Romania, Croatia, Russia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Netherlands, Serbia, Albania, Venezuela, USA, Estonia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Bulgaria, Bosnia & Herzogovina, and more. Faculty expand the list of countries, with Singapore and the UK.

Get information at the website, along with application and contact forms:
http://debate.uvm.edu/idas2007.html

See you there!

New Elective Topics Announced

2007-10-14T20:51:00.000-04:00

PHOTO: Bojana Skrt with Korean debaters in 2005

Bojana Skrt has announced her elective topics for the upcoming IDAS 2007.

1. Roles of the speakers: What is each speaker supposed to do? What kind of skills are most required for different speeches?

2. Strategy: How do we debate when we do not have a clue about the topic? What do we do when the first government comes out with a really bad case?

3. Preparations between the tournaments, preparation in debate club, individual preparation.

4. Debating internationally as an English Foreign Language speaker.

5. Administering a university debate club: keep them coming, keep them staying, keep them motivated.

6. Fundraising for the university debate club.

7. Organising a debate tournament.

8. Organising a public debate.

9. The myth of the conventional wisdom.

Preliminary Curriculum Announced

2007-10-10T08:09:00.000-04:00

FIFTH INTERNATIONAL DEBATE ACADEMY SLOVENIA

For university students and trainers/teachers
17th – 25th November 2007, Ormož/Ljubljana, Slovenia

The website and the application forms are at
http://debate.uvm.edu/idas2007.html

The news blog with updates is at
http://internationaldebateacademy.blogspot.com/

*CURRICULUM*

This is a preliminary curriculum plan. We will be adding more elements.

Each instruction day will have a morning session with: lecture, skill workshops, and a full critiqued debate; then lunch; followed by an afternoon session with: _two_ elective periods (multiple classes offered, you choose which you wish to attend) and a full critiqued debate. Evenings will be free.

We will break the attendees down into beginning, intermediate and advanced groups.

Lectures:

Beginners
1. Public speaking - Poom
2. Case development (both sides) - Marusic
3. Types of arguments - Harvey-Smith
4. Extensions & Points of Information - Fatt
5. Psychology of Debate - Nelson & Llano

Intermediate
1. Case development (both sides) Fatt & Nelson
2. Argument & Content Development - Poom
3. Extensions & Whip Speeches - Marusic
4. Rhetoric & Style - Morgan
5. Points of Information - Fischer

Advanced
1. Clash - Harvey-Smith
2. Framing - Harvey Smith
3. Points of Information & Style - Snider
4. International Relations - Poom
5. Political Philosophy - Morgan

Electives:

Students will vote on arrival for the electives they most prefer, and those will be offered and the most popular will be offered more than once. The ballot will have paragraph explanations of the elecives. More electives will be added in the next two weeks.

Poom:
Intl relations 1
Intl relations 2
Economics for idiots
Debating about rights

Fatt:
Research methods
Humor
Rebutting
Bangkok 2008 Prep
Drills & games for learning to debate
Motion analysis

Marusic:
Motion interpretation
Finding evidence
Case division
Counter proposals

Morgan:
Style vs. substance
Identifying clash
Newman hierarchy
Principles of criminal justice
Zen debating - knifing without the knife

Harvey-Smith:
Economics
Philosophy
Extensions

Snider:
Notes
Your 15 minutes prep
Mine is bigger than yours
Other debate formats

Llano:
Samurai debate
Classical rhetorical theory
Team based research
Advanced opposition strategy

Fischer:
Coming soon

Skrt:
Coming soon

Nelson:
Coming soon

Coach Sessions: (offered during electives)
Experiential learning - Poom
Drills and games to teach debate - Fatt
Adjudication - Harvey-Smith
Full long-term training program model - Snider
Team based research strategy - Llano
Many more to come

*SCHEDULE*

FIFTH INTERNATIONAL DEBATE ACADEMY SLOVENIA
NOVEMBER 2007

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 17 2007
Arrival Day
1700 Opening Session
Introductions
Introduction to the format
Exhibition debate
Discussion of exhibition debate
1900 Dinner
Socialize and find a debate partner

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 18 2007
730-845 Breakfast
845 Morning announcements
900 Lecture
1015-1130 Exercises
1130 Announcement of motion
1200 Practice debate
1330 Lunch
1500 Elective 1
1600 Elective 2
1700 Announcement of motion
1730 Practice debate
1900 Dinner
Evening – Country Exhibition

MONDAY NOVEMBER 19 2007
730-845 Breakfast
845 Morning announcements
900 Lecture
1015-1130 Exercises
1130 Announcement of motion
1200 Practice debate
1330 Lunch
1500 Elective 1
1600 Elective 2
1700 Announcement of motion
1730 Practice debate
1900 Dinner
Evening – Open

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 20 2007
730-845 Breakfast
845 Morning announcements
900 Lecture
1015-1130 Exercises
1130 Announcement of motion
1200 Practice debate
1330 Lunch
1500 Elective 1
1600 Elective 2
1700 Announcement of motion
1730 Practice debate
1900 Dinner
Evening – Open

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 21 2007
730-845 Breakfast
845 Morning announcements
900 Lecture
1015-1130 Exercises
1130 Announcement of motion
1200 Practice debate
1330 Lunch
1500 Elective 1
1600 Elective 2
1700 Announcement of motion
1730 Practice debate
1900 Dinner
Evening – Open

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 22 2007
730-845 Breakfast
845 Morning announcements
900 Lecture
1015-1130 Exercises
1130 Announcement of motion
1200 Practice debate
1330 Lunch
1500 Elective 1
1600 Elective 2
1700 Announcement of motion
1730 Practice debate
1900 Dinner
Evening – Country Exhibition

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 23 2007
730-845 Breakfast
845 Morning announcements
900 Bus to Ljubljana
Check into Ljubljana dorms
1300 Lunch
1200-1400 Registration for tournament
1400 Judging briefing
1500 Opening ceremonies
1530 Announcement of motion
1600 Round 1
1730 Announcment of the motion
1800 Round 2
1930 Dinner

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 24 2007
730-830 Breakfast
900 Announcement of the motion
920 Round 3
1130 Announcement of the motion
1150 Round 4
1300 Lunch
1430 Announcement of the motion
1450 Round 5
1700 Announcement of the motion
1720 Round 6
1930 Dinner & Break announcement
Break Party

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 25 2007
730-830
930 Announcement of pairings and motion
1000 Semifinals
Noon Finals
1330 Closing ceremonies

Faculty Information Updated

2007-10-10T08:03:00.000-04:00

Preliminary Schedule Released

2007-09-09T14:02:00.000-04:00

We may make some changes, but this is what we have in mind.

FIFTH INTERNATIONAL DEBATE ACADEMY SLOVENIA
NOVEMBER 2007

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 17 2007
Arrival Day
1700 Opening Session
Introductions
Introduction to the format
Exhibition debate
Discussion of exhibition debate
1900 Dinner
Socialize and find a debate partner

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 18 2007
730-845 Breakfast
845 Morning announcements
900 Lecture
1015-1130 Exercises
1130 Announcement of motion
1200 Practice debate
1330 Lunch
1500 Elective 1
1600 Elective 2
1700 Announcement of motion
1730 Practice debate
1900 Dinner
Evening – Country Exhibition

MONDAY NOVEMBER 19 2007
730-845 Breakfast
845 Morning announcements
900 Lecture
1015-1130 Exercises
1130 Announcement of motion
1200 Practice debate
1330 Lunch
1500 Elective 1
1600 Elective 2
1700 Announcement of motion
1730 Practice debate
1900 Dinner
Evening – Open

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 20 2007
730-845 Breakfast
845 Morning announcements
900 Lecture
1015-1130 Exercises
1130 Announcement of motion
1200 Practice debate
1330 Lunch
1500 Elective 1
1600 Elective 2
1700 Announcement of motion
1730 Practice debate
1900 Dinner
Evening – Open

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 21 2007
730-845 Breakfast
845 Morning announcements
900 Lecture
1015-1130 Exercises
1130 Announcement of motion
1200 Practice debate
1330 Lunch
1500 Elective 1
1600 Elective 2
1700 Announcement of motion
1730 Practice debate
1900 Dinner
Evening – Open

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 22 2007
730-845 Breakfast
845 Morning announcements
900 Lecture
1015-1130 Exercises
1130 Announcement of motion
1200 Practice debate
1330 Lunch
1500 Elective 1
1600 Elective 2
1700 Announcement of motion
1730 Practice debate
1900 Dinner
Evening – Country Exhibition

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 23 2007
730-845 Breakfast
845 Morning announcements
900 Bus to Ljubljana
Check into Ljubljana dorms
1300 Lunch
1200-1400 Registration for tournament
1400 Judging briefing
1500 Opening ceremonies
1530 Announcement of motion
1600 Round 1
1730 Announcment of the motion
1800 Round 2
1930 Dinner

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 24 2007
730-830 Breakfast
900 Announcement of the motion
920 Round 3
1130 Announcement of the motion
1150 Round 4
1300 Lunch
1430 Announcement of the motion
1450 Round 5
1700 Announcement of the motion
1720 Round 6
1930 Dinner & Break announcement
Break Party?

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 25 2007
730-830
930 Announcement of pairings and motion
1000 Semifinals
Noon Finals
1330 Closing ceremonies

European 07 EFL Champion Joins Faculty

2007-09-06T09:53:00.000-04:00

Uve Poom has been added to the faculty at IDAS 07. Uve is a two-time attendee of the program, was in the IDAS Grand Final in 2006 and this year won the European EFL Debate Championship in Istanbul. Uve has grown tremendously into an excellent debater as well as an excellent trainer and event organizer.

Uve had a lot to do with the Tallinn Open last year and engineered the train components of that program. He is also an active part of the team that will host Europeans 2008 in Tallinn.

He writes:

I will probably give a couple of debate content lectures at Tallinn DebSoc in Sept-Nov, so when I have them prepared, I can also give you a better overview of what I could take about. International relations and economic development/foreign aid are what I'm particularly interested in.

International Debate Academy

New Website for Debate Academies - Go There

News about IDAS 2010 and 2011

IDAS 2011 Announces Program and Costs

IDAS 2011 Announces Dates and Details

THE NINTH INTERNATIONAL DEBATE ACADEMY SLOVENIA 2011& IDAS 2011 TOURNAMENTNOVEMBER 19-27 2011HOTEL SPIK, KRAJNSKA GORA, SLOVENIA

SEE 2010 REPORTS AThttp://internationaldebateacademy.blogspot.com/

AND TOURNAMENT RESULTS AThttp://debate.uvm.edu/usudc/idas2010/

LUXURIOUS HOTEL SPIKhttp://internationaldebateacademy.blogspot.com/2010/10/idas-2010-relocates-to-hotel-spik-in.html

THE BEST IN WUDC/BP DEBATE INSTRUCTION AND COMPETITION

APPLICATION FORMS DUE NOVEMBER 15 2011 AVAILABLE FOR TOTAL PROGRAM OR JUST TOURNAMENT

NO SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION YET.

Website: http://debate.uvm.edu/idas.htmlBlogsite: http://internationaldebateacademy.blogspot.com/

IDAS Graduates Score Big at WUDC 2011

Vermont Wins IDAS 2010 Tournament

Breaking Teams at IDAS 2010

On To Ljubljana for the Tournament

Electives from First Two Days IDAS 2010

8th IDAS Begins!

Social Events Announced

2010 Elective Proposals from Llano, Wright and Snider

IDAS 2010 Relocates to Hotel Špik in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia

Time To Apply for IDAS 2010!

IDAS GETS RESULTS*WUDC Top EFL Speaker*WUDC Top ESL Speaker*2 OF WUDC EFL Top Ten Speakers *4 OF WUDC ESL Top Ten Speakers *5 OF WUDC ESL Quarterfinal Teams

Update for 2010 IDAS - Apply Now!

THE EIGHTH INTERNATIONAL DEBATE ACADEMY SLOVENIA 2010& IDAS 2010 TOURNAMENT

IDAS 2009 CONCLUDED WITH 29 COUNTRIES ATTENDING!

IDAS GETS RESULTS*WUDC Top EFL Speaker*WUDC Top ESL Speaker*2 OF WUDC EFL Top Ten Speakers *4 OF WUDC ESL Top Ten Speakers *5 OF WUDC ESL Quarterfinal Teams

THE BEST IN WUDC/BP DEBATE INSTRUCTION AND COMPETITION

APPLICATION FORMS DUE NOVEMBER 5 2010 AVAILABLE FOR TOTAL PROGRAM OR JUST TOURNAMENT

SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE, CHECK BACK FOR DETAILS

Special Thanks to Bickel & Brewer Foundation for 2009 Support

International Debate Academy Partners Hold Iraq Debate Academy

IDAS 2009 Tournament Results

Instruction in Ormoz Ends, on to Ljubljana!

IDAS 09 Off to a Strong Start

IDAS/Futur Tournament Schedule Now Available

Stephen Boyle Added to Faculty

Trophies & Scholarship News

IDAS 2009 Is Ready to Rock Your World

THE SEVENTH INTERNATIONAL DEBATE ACADEMY SLOVENIA & IDAS/FUTUR 2009 TOURNAMENTTHE BEST IN WUDC/BP DEBATE INSTRUCTION AND COMPETITION

Scholarship Fund established by Download Application Form HERE

IDAS Wins $5000 Scholarship Fund from Dallas Law Firm

Debate Academy for Schools Students About to Begin

WORLDS SCHOOLS DEBATE ACADEMY AND TOURNAMENT

Zreče, Slovenia, 5th – 12th July 2009

What is the International Debate Academy?

2009 Faculty Announced

Dates Set for Academy 2009

IDAS 08 Videos Now Available

Full Tab for 2008 Tournament

2008 Academy Results

2008 International Debate Academy Begins

Arrival & Tournament Schedule

Arrival Information - IMPORTANT

Jens Fischer on International Debate Academy

IDAS 2008 Full - Join Us at the Tournament

Loke Wing Fatt on the International Debate Academy

Elective Choices Announced for 2008

Academy Schedule Announced

Scholarship Form Now Available

Debbie Newman Added to Faculty

Applications Now Available Online

2008 Academy Details Announced

2008 International Debate Academy Announced

IDAS 2007 Trainers Debate - Apologize for Colonialism

Final Results of Internaional Debate Academy 2007

President-elect and Mayor Meet Debaters at International Debate Academy

Elimination Debates at International Debate Academy

International Debate Academy Tournament Slovenia Tab Now Available

Academy Concludes and Moves on to Ljubljana for the Tournament

Preparation Letter to Attendees

Equal Opportunity Motions

Academy Equal Opportunities Motions Background Files Available

Transport Links to the Academy

Academy Spaces Filling Up Fast

New Elective Topics Announced

Preliminary Curriculum Announced

Faculty Information Updated

Preliminary Schedule Released

THE NINTH INTERNATIONAL DEBATE ACADEMY SLOVENIA 2011
& IDAS 2011 TOURNAMENT

NOVEMBER 19-27 2011
HOTEL SPIK, KRAJNSKA GORA, SLOVENIA

SEE 2010 REPORTS AT
http://internationaldebateacademy.blogspot.com/

AND TOURNAMENT RESULTS AT
http://debate.uvm.edu/usudc/idas2010/

LUXURIOUS HOTEL SPIK
http://internationaldebateacademy.blogspot.com/2010/10/idas-2010-relocates-to-hotel-spik-in.html

Website: http://debate.uvm.edu/idas.html
Blogsite: http://internationaldebateacademy.blogspot.com/

IDAS GETS RESULTS
WUDC Top EFL Speaker
WUDC Top ESL Speaker
2 OF WUDC EFL Top Ten Speakers
4 OF WUDC ESL Top Ten Speakers
*5 OF WUDC ESL Quarterfinal Teams

THE EIGHTH INTERNATIONAL DEBATE ACADEMY SLOVENIA 2010
& IDAS 2010 TOURNAMENT

IDAS GETS RESULTS
WUDC Top EFL Speaker
WUDC Top ESL Speaker
2 OF WUDC EFL Top Ten Speakers
4 OF WUDC ESL Top Ten Speakers
*5 OF WUDC ESL Quarterfinal Teams

THE SEVENTH INTERNATIONAL DEBATE ACADEMY SLOVENIA
& IDAS/FUTUR 2009 TOURNAMENT

THE BEST IN WUDC/BP DEBATE INSTRUCTION AND COMPETITION

Scholarship Fund established by
Download Application Form HERE