12.03.2010 - 13.03.2010
Limerick Open

19.03.2010 - 20.03.2010
Irish National Maidens

26.03.2010 - 27.03.2010
DCU Open

09.04.2010
Maynooth Open

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Home Workshops
Workshops
Semester 2 Workshop Timetable

Intermediate Workshops
Workshop 11 – 19th January 2010
15-Minutes Prep: Strategies & Tactics
Approaches to the 15-minutes preparation time in Mace Debating. Time management, point generation and tactical considerations will be discussed.


Workshop 12 – 26th January 2010
Baby Steps: Logic Progression & Point-Building
How to internally structure and construct points to prove your case, and how to build up from first principles to those killer lines.


Workshop 13 – 2nd February 2010
From The Other Side: Judging Debates
To prepare for the Irish National Law Debates, a workshop on judging Mace debates. What matters in picking winners in debates, from role fulfillment to engagement to depth of analysis.


Workshop 14 – 9th February 2010
The IR Information Dump: Everything You Need To Know About The World of Acronyms
Workshop focusing on information about geo-politics needed for International Relations Debates. Why the UN is crap, why the EU is not, what the NPT is and why anyone should care about ASEAN or South Ossetia.


Workshop 15 – 16th February 2010
Maidens Workshop
A workshop on Maidens style of speaking, a 3-on-3 individual style. Role fulfillment and the differences from Mace style will be discussed. Followed by the semi-finals of Galway’s internal Maidens championship.


Workshop 16 – 23rd February 2010
The First Half: Claiming All The Ground
The positions of 1st Prop and 1st Opp in Mace Debating. How to build models, crucial rebuttal and how to claim the substantive bulk to defeat the second half will be discussed.


Workshop 17 – 2nd March 2010
The Second Half: The Art of the Extension
Workshop concentrating on 2nd Prop and 2nd Opp. Learn how to find and use good extensions, move the debate on and summate effectively.


Internal Mace Final – 9th March 2010


Advanced Workshops: “Debating is War”
Workshop 18 – 16th March 2010
Framing the Debate: Where Theory & Tactics Meet
Workshop on creating a mental framework for individual debates to allow you to conceive their philosophical cores and thus make astute tactical decisions. Concepts such as imperatives and burdens will be examined in detail.


Workshop 19 – 23th March 2010
Framing the Debate 2: The Whiteboard
A continuation of the previous week’s teachings, taking an in-depth look at specific motions and breaking them down to their constituent bits.


Workshop 20 – 30th March 2010
Beyond Buzz Words: Destroying Debating Myths
There are no absolute truths in debating, and the only certainty is that the other side is wrong. Take the final step on the road to debating enlightenment, the realisation that everything you’ve learned is a lie, but that nobody else has figured it out yet. Followed by the annual Galway Australs competition.

 

 



 
Workshop Programme For The Year
29th September 2009
Welcome to Lit & Deb
The first debating workshop of the new year, an informal workshop introducing freshers to the society and the world of arguing for fun. No real theory, just some very relaxed debating and games.

Followed by night out in (provisionally) Massimo's and the Roisin Dubh.

6th October 2009
Debating: The Concept
An introduction to competitive debating as a theoretical concept, a logic game using real-life situations as context. The first step on the road to making grown people cry using only your words.

13th October 2009

Intro to Mace Debating 1
An introduction to Mace-style debating, concentrating on simpler ideas like structure, points of information, rebuttal, positional requirements etc. Followed by a "pro-am" debate where fresher debaters are teamed up with more experienced speakers.

20th October 2009

Intro to Mace Debating 2
A continuance of the basic basics, concentrating on burdens of proof, model construction, 15-minutes prep etc. Followed by a practice debate.

27th October 2009
UCD Prep Session
Preparation workshop for the UCD IV. Will likely start with a debate. Main body of the workshop will be discussion of likely motions, brief run-through of big international news stories etc. Ideally, this workshop will involve the creation of a kind of “My First Casefile” for use by fresher teams at UCD.

3rd November 2009
UCD Review & Times Workshop
Workshop will consist of a review of the UCD motions and prominent arguments, then an introduction to Irish Times-style debating and differences between it and Mace. Followed by a practice debate in Times style.

10th November 2009
The State & You: Social Policy Debates
A workshop on social policy debates, discussing ideas such as State-individual interaction, rights, social contract etc. The format of these workshops will be opening with a debate with 3-minute speeches (or perhaps even just 15-minutes prep) on a SP motion, then discussion on what teams are missing in terms of points & analysis, some theoretical stuff, then a full-length debate on a related SP motion.

17th November 2009
Other States & You: International Relations Debates
Workshop on IR debates, focusing on both information and concepts such as sovereignty and international law. The format of these workshops will be opening with a debate with 3-minute speeches (or perhaps even just 15-minutes prep) on an IR motion, then discussion on what teams are missing in terms of points & analysis, some theoretical stuff, then a full-length debate on a related IR motion.

24th November 2009
The State & Your Money: Economics Debates
Workshop on economics debates, focusing on the free market, globalisation and trade. The format of these workshops will be opening with a debate with 3-minute speeches (or perhaps even just 15-minutes prep) on an economics motion, then discussion on what teams are missing in terms of points & analysis, some theoretical stuff, then a full-length debate on a related economics motion.

1st December 2009
The State & Your Ass in Jail: Law Debates
Workshop on law debates, focusing on the pillars of justice, prisons and contract law. The format of these workshops will be opening with a debate with 3-minute speeches (or perhaps even just 15-minutes prep) on an law motion, then discussion on what teams are missing in terms of points & analysis, some theoretical stuff, then a full-length debate on a related law motion.

TBA (poss 2nd December 2009)
UCC Prep
Preparation workshop for the UCC IV.