Our Tuesday-Debates at Dorotheenstr. 24 are at the very heart of our club activities and for many of our members a weekly tradition.
German Debates/English Debates
At 7 PM, students from around the world are attracted to the Berlin Debating Union’s English debate. Members and guests from the USA, Russia, Israel, the Netherlands and, of course, Germany find a common interest in their love of argumentation and analysis. As international as our English debates are, native speakers are in the clear minority and perfect English is certainly not a requirement to participate.
After eight debaters have volunteered to speak, positions are assigned and preparation time begins. For 15 minutes, partners confer on strategy and cooperatively develop arguments.
Although the topic of the Tuesday debate, unlike topics at tournaments, is posted on the website a few days before the meeting, arguments are typically developed in tandem during the preparation time.
After 15 minutes, the adjudicator begins the debate and eight speeches of seven minutes in length follow in succession.
Topics typically include basic issues of democracy, ethics, economics, human rights and international relations.
After the debate, adjudicators evaluate the performance of each team and announce their decision, providing both explanations for their decision and feedback to individual speakers.
During the semester break, our Tuesday’s Debates already start at 6 PM. During September 2023 we meet in room 2.102. You can find this room on the first floor of building 1. Please use the left staircase.
And afterwards?
By around 9.30pm all arguments will have come to an end we will leave the Uni behind for a more comfortable location. When the weather is good we usually find a nice spot at the Spree and when it’s bad we’ll relocate to a cozy bar next to the Uni.