International Debate Academy

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

Image via Wikipedia

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.

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. 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
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.