Experienced British Parliamentary format debaters needed for online debate project
IDEA UK is looking for six experienced university-level debaters based in the UK or the Republic of Ireland to take part in a series of online debates with members of a debating society from the Ukraine and a number of debaters from EU countries.
The debates will utilise Google Hangouts technology and will use the British Parliamentary (BP)/ World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC) format. For more information about the British Parliamentary/ WUDC format, read Neill Harvey Smith’s Practical Guide to Debating, available as a free Creative Commons Licenced download from this link: http://idebate.org/sites/live/files/9781617700163-web.pdf
After a successful trial run over the summer, IDEA UK wants to continue testing the potential of Google’s Hangouts system as a debating tool, and is also working to introduce BP format debating to university debaters who have trained and competed in other formats.
Debaters who want to get involved with the project must have access to a computer with a broadband internet connection and a microphone. They will also need to set up a Google user account, but these are free and easy to create.
Anyone who would like to take part in the upcoming round of online debates should send an email[log in to unmask]" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none;color:rgb(6,110,148)">[log in to unmask] before noon on 16 December. The email must include:
- The sender’s full name;
- The university they are studying at;
- The degree they are reading for;
- A brief list of debating competitions that they have taken part in, either as a speaker or as a judge.
We are also interested in applications from debaters with previous experience of the British Parliamentary format who are based outside the UK, and who would be eligible for the English-as-a-Second-Language or English-as-a-Foreign-Language breaks at WUDC.
This is a great opportunity for IoNA debaters who are planning to attend WUDC Chennai to get in some last minute practice, while also helping debaters new to the international circuit learn more about one of the world’s most popular debating formats.