Throughout this 8-week course, students will learn and then utilize effective argumentation through active debates. Most importantly, the course is designed for learners to have fun while engaging with complex debate topics!

While the course is formatted for learners between the ages of 10-13, most debate topics will be high school & college level (e.g. universal healthcare, nuclear proliferation). Concepts will be heavily scaffolded and new challenges will be introduced after each debate round. Throughout the course, students will be paired into Zoom breakout rooms for 5-minute intervals prior to mini-debates so that teammates can collaborate as they prepare for the debate round. Team collaboration and camaraderie will be heavily emphasized during debate round prep and teams will be frequently rotated.

Week 1: Review of the fundamentals of argumentation and effectively delivering arguments in a claim/warrant/impact structure. Practice mini-debate. 

Week 2: A lesson on logical fallacies and a lesson on effective delivery of ethos/logos/pathos during debates. Research and evidence-weighing drills. Full competitive Public Forum debates.

Week 3: Rebuttal and impact-weighing activities. Full competitive Public Forum debates. 

Week 4: Clinic on using values inside of debate rounds, including utilitarian vs deontological impact-weighing and objectivity vs subjectivity. 

Week 5: A clinic on effective public speaking, including variety, tone, and volume. Full competitive Public Forum debates. 

Week 6: Examining evidence, including availability heuristics and correlation fallacies. Full competitive Public Forum debates.

Week 7: Cross examination drills with a focus on building litanies of questions. Full competitive Public Forum debates. 

Week 8: Final Tournament. 

Learners are recommended (but not required) to have completed Debate 101/Debate 102, the 1-week Summer Debate Camp, or have other previous debate experience prior to the course.