Tags: UGA Debate


UGA Receives First Round Bid!

The University of Georgia team of Austin Layton and Mike Lacy has been awarded a first round at-large bid to the 2011 National Debate Tournament, to be held in Dallas, TX in March. Recognizing UGA LL as one of the 16 top two-person debate teams in the country, recieving a "first round" is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious awards in policy debate. Voted on by coaches around the country, the bid automatically qualifies the team for…
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Tournament Results, Press


Writing and Defending the Affirmative Plan

Though sometimes writing the plan is almost an afterthought in the affirmative research process, how the plan is written and how the affirmative defends it are of central importance to affirmative strategy. There are three important considerations in writing the plan, and they offer competing ways to do so. The plan must be topical, it must implement a solvent mechanism, and it must be written with potential counterplans in mind. This post takes…
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Debate Theory, Counterplans


New GDI Flyers

Athena Murray, lead art director for the Georgia Debate Institutes, has recently released two new fliers promoting this summer's camps. Check it out! Downloads GDI Flyer 2 GDI Flyer 3
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Georgia Debate Institutes

Group of people
GDU Hosts Public Debate

On November 30th, 2010, the Georgia Debate Union hosted a public debate on United States immigration policy. Junior Mike Lacy and Sophomore Austin Layton debated the question of whether allowing greater immigration of skilled workers to the United States would advance US interests in the 21st century. Despite rain that evening, a crowd of UGA students and staff made the trip to observe the debate at the Tate Student Center.
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Press, Public Debate


GDU Hosts College Debate Tournament

Over the Martin Luther King Day weekend, the Georgia Debate Union held the inaugural Bulldog Debates at the University of Georgia. 57 teams from 22 colleges and universities across the country attended the event. In the final round, the University of Michigan defeated Harvard University. The Georgia Debate Union would like to thank the UGA faculty, students, and staff, as well as the many gracious members from across the debate community, who…


Written Ballots - UGA College Tournament

A few judges provided written comments on their debates at the University of Georgia college debate tournament, held on the UGA campus MLK weekend (Jan 15-17). I'm sure the coaches of affected teams will find them helpful -- so we decided to post them publicly. Other electronic comments were submitted to DebateResults and are available there. Downloads Written Ballots - Georgia Tournament 2011
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Tournament Results


Home Sweet Home: Writing and Defending Your 1AC

The affirmative gets infinite prep, first and last speech, and gets to choose the topic. So why does the aff ever lose?! Often, the aff loses debates because they have a poorly-built 1AC. Putting a lot of thought and research into your 1AC is key to winning on the aff. Getting the House in Order Your 1AC should be written with the 2AR in mind. Just as a 1NC is better if it includes multiple strategies, the 1AC needs to have several different…
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Debate Theory


Choosing Wisely - Aff Advantage Selection Against Kritiks

Choosing advantages plays an important role in affirmative kritik strategy, but too often debaters make these choices on the fly before debates trying to figure out what they need to take out of the 1AC instead of having reasons for why something is in the 1AC.  Most policy affirmatives draw from conventional reasons for their advantages.  Often, the reasons for advocacy in particular terms (i.e. terrorism, economic growth, and…


Paperless Future: Hey, Ho, Microsoft Word Has Got To Go

The debate community has always repurposed technology to suit its needs. My earliest memory of this involved taping photocopied quotations to recipe cards from the kitchen.  After that, it was Rubbermaid storage tubs and accordion folders.   Each time, the adapted item served some specific need created by the changing nature of the debate activity, and each time the technology wasn't a perfect fit.  You can only fit a short…
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Paperless Debate


Backfiles for New Programs

Effective immediately, UGA will offer to provide our set of electronic backfiles to any new or emerging college program that requests it and genuinely cites a lack of evidence as a barrier to participation. Electronic backfiles include: Impact files (heg, growth, space, etc.) Neg generics (consequentialism, theory) Critique answers (other than those that are topic-specific) Aff generics (referendum answers, con-con answers, etc.) Answers to…
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Debate Pedagogy
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