There are not so many Dutch people going to WUDC this year and therefore we will cover WUDC in a less extensive way. However, it is still of great importance to the debating community, so we will provide you with some articles that contain information about WUDC and some useful links on where to find more information. This article is written by John Harper for his own blog.
By John Harper
Every year in late December/early January the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC) takes place, this is the largest Debating competition in the World, and involves teams from every continent. This year it is being Hosted by the UT-MARA debating society in Malaysia.
It has increasingly become something of a spectator sport in recent years, with thousands of people tuning in online (and out-rounds on TV a coupe times).
If you want to follow this years competition online, I recommend following the official Youtube channel, which will be streaming rounds as they happen, as well as saving them for posterity. You can find the [UPDATED] schedule of rounds here, Malaysia is in the UTC+08:00 timezone, for those who find maths confusing you can check the time that means for you here.
Live updates can be found on the official Facebook and Twitter pages. When it doubt ask them and they will respond promptly.
Lively discussion from around the world always takes place on twitter, follow this hashtag search.
How it works
Worlds contains 9 rounds of British Parliamentary Debates, spread over three days, this takes quite a toll on participants, adding an element of endurance on top of the intellectual demands of the competition. Followed by Open Octofinals, Quarters, Semis and Grand final. As well as quarter, semi and grnad finals for the English as a Second Language (ESL) and Semi and Grand Finals for the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) category.
The Break (the teams progressing to the out rounds) is traditionally announced at Midnight on new years eve local time. New years day is traditionally a day off to recover and socialise, with the outrounds taking place across the next few days. Other highlights include public speaking and “masters” (old debaters who are judging) competitions, as well as various social and cultural events.
Over de auteur