Cameroon Debate Academy ’13 Success!
Cameroon Debate Academy 2013 was a huge success. The program was jointly sponsored by the World Debate Institute, the Cameroon Debate Association and the Catholic University of Cameroon (CATUC).
What will a registration fee of US$5.06 get you?
85 students attended the one week session 22-27 July 2013 in Bamenda, Cameroon. Marius Yannick Binyou, the Director of the Cameroon Debte Association worked with WDI Director Alfred Snider in the planning and implementation of this event along with Emmanuel Tange of CATUC. Instruction took place in both English and French. WDI instructors included Kenneth Newby of Morehouse College USA, Patricia Johnson-Castle of McGill Univerity Canada and Mariel Golden of the University of Vermont. Chongwain Fidelis, Honorable Kwi, Joseph Binsai and others were essential for the project. Joachim Tchinouh Fofe provided excellent instruction and debate critiques. We wish him all the best in his new duties with the Cameroon Debate Association.
Mariel Golden, Kenneth Newby, Alfred Snider, Patricia Johnson-Castle
Here is an interview Alfred Snider did with a local correspondent athttp://debate.uvm.edu/low_bandwidth/Snider_at%20Cameroon_Debate_Academy2013.mp3
Video from the event is available on a special channel for the Cameroon Debate Academy athttps://vimeo.com/channels/566561 . These include the final round in French and English, the demonstration debate featuring students and faculty, as well as a comprehensive documentation of the lectures (all) and over 50% of the tournament rounds.
Sulem Yong Tranca
Cameroon Debate Academy 2013 Motions:
• Demo debate – THW compel children to care for their elderly parents
• Mini-debate – THBT Modern technology has done more harm than good to the Cameroonian youth
• Practice 1 – THW increase taxes on tobacco
• Practice 2 – THBT citizens should not give money to beggers
• Practice 3 – THW ban international adoption
• Practice 4 – THBT all politicians should publicly disclose all of their finances sixty days before the election
• Practice 5 – THBT Crimes committed by police should be punished more severely
• Practice 6 – THBT Cameroonian youth will be better off if they stay in Cameroon
Tournament
• Round 1 – THBT the African Union should have onePan-African Army
• Round 2 – THW have university administrations elected by the students and faculty
• Round 3 – THBT parents should not hit their children
• Round 4 – THW have Cameroon adopt one educational system for Francophones and Anglophones
• Semifinal – THBT Western Cameroon should be an independent state
• Final - THW ban bushmeat
Motions were chosen to fit in with local conditions and culture. These may not be appropriate everywhere, but they worked well in Cameroon. Thanks to the Cameroon Debate Association and the World Debate Institute for their assistance.
Each day was composed of a combination of short lectures, active exercises and critiqued practice debates. On Thursday “elective” classes were offered that students could choose between. Electives offered included:
TAKING NOTES AS A DEBATER – ALFRED SNIDER – HALL 1
Taking notes properly allows you to give an organized speech and understand what your opponents are saying. This method is simple and allows you to adapt your notes to your speaker position.
ARGUMENTS YOU SHOULD NOT MAKE – KEN NEWBY – HALL 2
Every argument is not created equal. There are some arguments that you should not make such as those containing logical fallacies, bad references, and pseudo arguments. This session will aim to help you eliminate the obstacles to clear thinking and learn how to make only arguments that will win the debate.
GETTING ORGANIZED – MARIEL GOLDEN – STANR 1
Organization or structure is one of the most important aspects of making an effective debate speech. This session will go over how to structure arguments.
ARGUING ABOUT DEMOCRACY – PATRICIA JOHNSON-CASTLE – AN 2
Learning about different forms of government: communism, authoritarianism, and democracy. This lecture aims to give you enough information to be able to create compelling arguments for and against democracy.
FREEDOM, GOVERNMENT AND RIGHTS – MARIEL GOLDEN – HALL 2
Learn about how to justify freedom as well how to justify limits on freedom. This lecture will look more into the role of government and how to justify government restriction on individuals.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THE MOTION – KEN NEWBY – HALL 1
Have you ever received a motion that you didn’t know anything about? Learn how to argue when you don’t know what to say about the motion. This lecture will teach you how to construct arguments about any topic using information you know.
MAKING YOUR ARGUMENTS MORE IMPORTANT – ALFRED SNIDER – AN 2
All arguments are not created the same. You need to work to make your arguments more important that the arguments of your opponent. This talk will discuss how to do that.
WINNING THE DEBATE FROM FIRST PROPOSITION – PATRICIA JOHNSON-CASTLE STANR 1
How to know when to present a model, how to present the most relevant arguments and how to keep them relevant throughout the debate. Winning on first prop is hard, but not impossible.
FRENCH ELECTIVES
Comment gagner en tant OG? Joachim Hall 3
Les Censeurs du gouvernement et de l’oppositio Marius Hall 4
La Refutation Joachim Hall 3
L’argumentation Marius Hall 4
After a four round tournament, eight semifinalist teams advanced. The full speaker tab is athttp://debate.uvm.edu/tabs/cameroondebateacademy2013/Round%204%20-%20main/Speaker%20Tab%20After%20Round%204.html
The full team tab is athttp://debate.uvm.edu/tabs/cameroondebateacademy2013/Round%204%20-%20main/Team%20Tab%20After%20Round%204.html
In the semifinal round it was Valentine-Samuel, Chiamaka-Kenneth, Lovette-Nlend and Pacy-Perez who advanced to the final round, judged by Kenneth Newby, chair, Marius Yannick, Chongwain Fidelis and Mariel Golden. The winners were Valentine-Samuel with Pacy-Perez in second please. Congratulations to Ugochukwu Valentine Akwenedu and Atigi Samuel Motom for winning the championship. Sulem Yong Tranca was named as the top female debater. Complete names of all debaters are available on the results pages above.
Marius Yannick and Alfred Snider
The special thanks list would probably be incomplete because this was a real community effort. Congratulations to the organizers who held the event on a registration fee of CFR2500 ($5.06 US).
Plans are being developed now for Cameroon Debate Academy 2014.
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