Dr. Steve Llano

On Tuesday March 23rd Dr. Steve Llano from The University of St. Johns lectured on Argumentation. Steve delivered his lecture from his office in New York City. The lecture focused on the Toulmin model of argumentation (see image to the left). There was also interactive discussion between the members of UTA and Steve. Using the Toulmin model they discussed and developed arguments for the motion: THW Ban Boxing.

Following the lecture the members of UTA Debate held a practice debate. The motion was THW Ban Gambling. Steve adjudicated and gave great feedback to all of the participants. Thank you Steve for all of your help and we look forward to working with you again!

Flyer for the Debate Workshop and notes from our last meeting

The programme and the time are now set for the Debate Workshop. See the link for more specifics and don't forget to reserve your spot with Karen as soon as possible.
http://www.uta.fi/~kkmiha/studentWorkshop.pdf

Last Tuesday's motion was "THB that positive discrimination should be enforced by the government to have a more equal society." Everybody participated and there was a lot of engaging dialogue and arguments. So much so that the discussion was able to continue after the meeting in another venue :)

See you all next Tuesday, same place, same time. This time Karen will be there!

NO MEETING NEXT WEEK

As all of the UTA students know next week is the break. So there will be no meeting on Tuesday. So have a great week and enjoy the time off!
Both Mirja and I will not be in the city but if you need to contact me I should be available via email!
Thanks
Karen

Announcement & Congratulations!

Mirja Hamalainen lecturer in the Language Center and advisor to the UTA Debate Society has received a Fullbright Scholarship for the Fall. Mirja will be lecturing in the Speech Department and coaching at The University of Vermont. She will be working closely with Prof. Alfred Snider and members of the Lawrence Debate Union to advance her knowledge and skills in British Parliamentary.
Congratulations Mirja!
-K

Notes/ Thoughts on the Guest Lecture by David Arter

On 2.23.10 the UTA Debate Society had a guest lecture by David Arter. David Arter is a lecturer in the Political Science and International Relations Department. Prof. Arter used his dynamic speaking style to engage a large group of students and lecturers. With an array of humor, Finnish Language and engaging analysis Arter had the group compelled. I personally learned alot of information about Finnish political and culture that I had never previously considered.

Following the lecture we had a debate with a few new BRAVE students that were willing to participate. The motion of the debate was:
* THB that Finnish should be the only official language in Finland.
The debate was successful and I was impressed by the new students that participated. It was also nice to see that I was the only non-Finn in the debate. This made for a better quality debate and it was interesting to see the different perspectives.

Things to think about:
RECRUITMENT! RECRUITMENT! RECRUITMENT!
*Announcements in your lectures, it will take a minute and could attract alot of potential debaters!
*Flyers!! We still have the flyer that was designed by Chris. If you would like copies to disperse through the city and campus send me an email and I will take care of it!
*Advertisement: Avisi etc.

NEXT MEETING:
*I will be giving a short lecture on structuring speeches and specifics of role fulfillment. I believe that the members of the debate society are really improving and we are ready to step up our skills and focus on the fundamentals of debate!!!
*Following the lecture we will have a debate! I will be bringing a list of motions and I will select one, and then we will draw positions in the debate. It will be a bit more challenging but I think participants will find that it is more simple than it appears!

Any questions, concerns or comments feel free to either email me or post them on the blog!

Thanks
Karen
Kgnelson@uvm.edu

Meeting Notes 2.16.10

Update: What happend at the last meeting?

DECISIONS:
Recruitment- We need to be constantly recruiting people!! This includes both Finnish and International Students.
So how do we recruit people????
-Flyers: Chris has designed a flyer which has had some distribution through the City and Campus. We discussed the idea of organizing a large group of people to meet on Campus and distribute flyers. We can set this up prior to the next meeting by using the mailing list. And we can include a note about the guest lecture by David Arter.
-Show Debate: The idea of having another show debate was mentioned. Except this time we would have it in more of a public venue and it would include members of the UTA Debate Society.

Meeting Time- We have decided that the meetings will be starting promptly at 17 (5 pm) every Tuesday!

What was next......VIDEO!!!
We watched a video from The International Debate Academy in Slovenia '07. The Motion of the debate was about apologizing for colonialism. The Link to the video is still available on the Blog.

DEBATE>>>DEBATE>>>>
We had a full debate in the BP Format. The motion of the debate was This House Believes that GMF (Genetically Modified Food) is the solution to World Hunger. The debate was very successful and it showed alot of improvement!

ANNOUNCEMENT!

Prof. David Arter from the International Relations and Political Science Dept. is coming to our next meeting on Tuesday Febr. 23rd. Prof. Arter will be giving a lecture on Finnish Culture and Politics. We will then have a debate on a topic discussed in the lecture. And following the debate we will have an open discussion with Prof. Arter. This is going to be a great event for the society! If you have any questions, comments, suggestions or concerns feel free to let me know!
Thanks
Karen
Karen.Nelson@uta.fi