So far this season, 55 bids to the Tournament of Champions have been earned by policy teams at qualifying tournaments. Rohan Sadagopal of Edina High School and the University of Minnesota is curating a comprehensive record of this year’s bids using a publicly-accessible Google Doc. To make it easier to remember, you can access the document via toc.the3nr.com. Bids that have been officially certified are posted on the TOC website.
Some Good cites
Posted by Scott Phillips
on September 29, 2011
2 comments
An interesting new study about Util and public policy makers that is going around the blogosphere:
Most of us seem to be placing too much value on the wrong characteristics. Our preferred candidates are able to “connect” with the public. We want to like our leaders; we favour candidates who we’d be comfortable having a beer with. But according to the study, this isn’t the type of candidate who will give us utilitarian outcomes. If we really want the greatest happiness of the greatest number, we should be electing psychopathic, Machiavellian misanthropes.
Since it seems implausible that we are best off governed by Machiavellian psychopaths, I take the findings of Bartels and Pizarro–that those attracted to utilitarianism tend toward the psychopathic and Machiavellian–as prima facie evidence that utilitarianism is “self-effacing,” that it recommends its own rejection.
And some global conflict U for K debates
(all pilfered from the dish)
Judge Philosophy Guidelines
Posted by Scott Phillips
on September 2, 2011
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As the season begins, there are many people who will begin judging for the first time. There are also many people who realize they are terrible judges and want to improve. As such, people will be writing and posting new judge philosophies. I wanted to try and put together a guide for people approaching this task to help guide them through the process. These insights are gleaned from my years in debate looking at judge philosophies and from many revisions to my own philosophy and the effects I saw it have on debates I judged.
I will update this post a few times before Greenhill, but a few people asked me about it so I wanted to get the bare bones out there.
Updated 9-14
Learn By Watching: The Role of Film Study in Debate
Posted by Bill Batterman
on September 2, 2011
1 comment
I wrote an article about film study that was published in the September issue of Rostrum, the National Forensic League’s monthly magazine. Based on a lecture I gave this summer at Georgetown, the article is reprinted below the fold.
Opening tournament prep
Posted by Scott Phillips
on August 31, 2011
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There are many factors that go into how you should prep for the beginning of the year: the size of your squad, how much time you have, what tournament you are going to etc. For the purpose of this series I will assume the following:
1. Your squad has 2-4 people (coaches or debaters) who can reliably be counted on to produce useful debate work
2. You will be making your debut at Greenhill or a similar large TOC tournament
3. You have a decent chance of making it to the doubles (4-2 record or better)
Debate Central Digest
Posted by Scott Phillips
on August 30, 2011
2 comments
You can find it here- its a recap of all their recent content. There are several good articles, an organized collection of camp lectures and more.
Summer Lecture Flashback: Debating Existential Risk
Posted by Bill Batterman
on August 17, 2011
1 comment
Over the course of the summer I recorded several lectures that have been posted to Debate Vision. While some readers might have already seen them, it can’t hurt to share them again here on The 3NR. This lecture introduces students to the concept of existential risk and provides tips for effectively debating it — it is embedded below the fold.
Compiled Materials for Speaking Drills
Posted by Bill Batterman
on August 16, 2011
1 comment
To make it easier to use the speaking drills referenced in the hip-hop article, I have compiled a document with all of the materials formatted and organized for ease of use. This freely available resource includes all of the hip-hop and other songs as well as a few additional materials that are helpful when doing speaking drills. Enjoy!
Summer Lecture Flashback: Learning By Watching
Posted by Bill Batterman
on August 15, 2011
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Over the course of the summer I recorded several lectures that have been posted to Debate Vision. While some readers might have already seen them, it can’t hurt to share them again here on The 3NR. On the heels of the film study lecture, this one discusses strategies for learning by watching others debate — it is embedded below the fold.
Speaking Challenge: Alphabet Aerobics
Posted by Bill Batterman
on August 14, 2011
8 comments
Does your speaking speed rival Gift Of Gab’s? Do you set rooms on fire with the speed of your flows? Think you’ve got what it takes to be the fastest MC in debate?
On the heels of “Learning From Hip-Hop: Lessons for Debaters from How To Rap: The Art and Science of the Hip-Hop MC,” we’re giving debaters the opportunity to show off their MCing abilities.
