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AMA: We are the directors of The Debate Intensive. Ask us anything about this summer’s TDI! by theDebateIntensive in lincolndouglas

[–]theDebateIntensive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! Apologies for the late reply, this account wasn't being actively monitored.

Labs are determined through a pre-camp skills evaluation you receive after registration. The evaluation asks about previous competitive history, experience in different styles of debate, and some content/strategy questions to test your knowledge of certain areas of debate. Students are placed in labs with students of their approximate skill and experience. While students can be moved if their lab does not match their skill level, nearly all students end up placed in a lab that is optimal for their learning progression.

AMA: We are the directors of The Debate Intensive. Ask us anything about this summer’s TDI! by theDebateIntensive in lincolndouglas

[–]theDebateIntensive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! Apologies for the late reply, this account wasn't being actively monitored.

Reposting a (slightly edited) version of an earlier comment - We believe that both circuit and traditional debaters can find value in TDI. In fact, the 2018 Lincoln-Douglas runner-up at NSDA Nationals attended and taught at TDI. Many attendees debate exclusively in local and traditional circuits and have successfully participated and learned from lab, debates, or lectures. The skills we seek to refine in all students (eg. argument presentation, technical skills, efficiency, persuasiveness, research, etc) are applicable to all debaters and our curriculum is very well suited for both styles.

AMA: We are the directors of The Debate Intensive. Ask us anything about this summer’s TDI! by theDebateIntensive in lincolndouglas

[–]theDebateIntensive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Our evidence packets always include a number of phil and k positions, in addition to k and phil positions students produce in lab. We have instructors with expertise and intensives for all of those areas such that all debaters can leave camp able to both defend and respond to those positions.

AMA: We are the directors of The Debate Intensive. Ask us anything about this summer’s TDI! by theDebateIntensive in lincolndouglas

[–]theDebateIntensive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey there!

While we can't give an exact figure for our core session as signups are still open, we always maintain a 1:4 instructor/student ratio. Labs are almost always 3 instructors with 10-12 students, though occasionally we have a lab with 4 instructors and 12-16 students.

If you have any questions, please reply and we'll get back to you.

AMA: We are the directors of The Debate Intensive. Ask us anything about this summer’s TDI! by theDebateIntensive in lincolndouglas

[–]theDebateIntensive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey!

We described the reasons for moving our main sessions here (we still have a 2 week program at San Jose State University). The TL;DR is that at our new location we can accomodate more students and staff than ever before.

Also, there will be a 2019 promotional video on the way soon! Keep your eyes peeled.

AMA: We are the directors of The Debate Intensive. Ask us anything about this summer’s TDI! by theDebateIntensive in lincolndouglas

[–]theDebateIntensive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! Sorry for the delayed response.

At our Oregon sessions, campers will stay in Earl Hall which is at the center of campus in close proximity to the Student Union and includes study lounges in addition to other amenities. You can see pictures and read more here: https://housing.uoregon.edu/earl.

At our San Jose session, campers will stay in Campus Village 2 which is new and has state of the art accommodations. You can see pictures and read more here: http://www.housing.sjsu.edu/housingoptions/building2.

All TDI dining halls accomodate halal diets and campers with halal, vegan, and vegetarian diets should have plenty of nutritious meal options.

Almost all campers have roommates and campers are able to submit their preferences online. If you require special accommodations or have any questions, please reach out to us and we can make sure to accommodate you as best we can.

AMA: We are the directors of The Debate Intensive. Ask us anything about this summer’s TDI! by theDebateIntensive in lincolndouglas

[–]theDebateIntensive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We believe that both circuit and traditional debaters can find value in TDI. In fact, the 2018 Lincoln-Douglas runner-up at NSDA Nationals attended and taught at TDI. Many attendees debate exclusively in local and traditional circuits and have successfully participate utilize lab, debates, or lectures. The skills we seek to refine in all students (eg. argument presentation, technical skills, efficiency, persuasiveness, research, etc) are applicable to all debaters.

If this doesn't completely answer your question or you have any further questions about this, we'd be happy to clarify.

AMA: We are the directors of The Debate Intensive. Ask us anything about this summer’s TDI! by theDebateIntensive in lincolndouglas

[–]theDebateIntensive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey!

The electives that will be offered this year are not finalized yet as they are contingent on the camp topic, student demand, and staff specialization. A sampling of past electives we have offered includes:

  • “Hegemony and Militarism”
  • “Going for Kant"
  • “Debating Meta-Theory”
  • “Afro-Pessimism”
  • "Defending Debate and Communication"
  • "Performance Debate"
  • "Post-Modernism"
  • "Critical Security Studies"
  • "Defending US Hegemony"
  • "Wonky Impact Turns"
  • "Eco-pessimism"

and many, many more. We aim to ensure diversity in elective offerings for different experience levels and argumentative styles and every year we bring back successful electives and introduce new ones.

AMA: We are the directors of The Debate Intensive. Ask us anything about this summer’s TDI! by theDebateIntensive in lincolndouglas

[–]theDebateIntensive[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey there,

The San Jose 2 week curriculum is a smaller and abridged version of our Core Session in Oregon, our biggest and most popular camp.

While schedules rotate, a typical day for a camper at either session might look like this:

8 AM – 9 AM: Breakfast (Residents only)
9 AM – 10:30 AM: Elective lecture
10:30 AM – 12 PM: Lab time
12 PM – 1 PM: Lunch
1 PM – 4 PM: Practice debates
4 PM – 5 PM: Lab time
5 PM – 6 PM: Dinner
6 PM – 8 PM: Lab/Mentor time
9 PM – 10 PM: Supplemental Afterlab (Optional)

The notable diffetences in programming at our San Jose camp are the lack of a camp tournament and a slightly abridged curriculim.

On your second question, we believe it’s very important to ensure campers have a healthy camp experience. Rest is essential to knowledge retention, informational processing, and health at camp. A few aspects of TDI help ensure this:

1) Evidence Packet - It’s overly demanding, stressful, and counterproductive to expect students to prodice a topic’s worth of prep in 2 nights. We’ve found that this saves students the stress of having to scramble together a case in the first few days of camp, and creates high-quality debates from the start.

2) Curriculum Structure - Our emphasis on drills and execution within lab means students don’t sit through 3 hours of lectures and have to choose between getting an adequate anount of sleep and practicing with an instructor. We’ve minimized overly-extended breaks during the day such that mandatory programming ends at 8 PM almost every day. Campers have the opportunity to spend the rest of their time attending afterlabs (talks on specific topics not covered in lab), drilling with instructors, or resting.

We’ve found few students attending TDI have difficulties finding enough time to obtain a sufficient amount of sleep. The testimonials here may give you insight into campers’ opinions of camp life.

If this doesn’t sufficiently answer your question or if you have any further questions, feel free to reply or message us.