Debate Commentary

A Statistical Analysis Of Side-Bias On The 2019 September-October Lincoln Douglas Debate Topic by Sachin Shah

The 2019 September-October resolution brings another topic to ascertain if the pattern of a negative side-bias observed over the course of last year continues to hold. 2019 September-October Data Set...

Grant Brown

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Debate Commentary Lincoln Douglas NSD Update Staff

Answering Ks with Katherine Fennell

Looking for introductory instruction or a review on responding to the K? NSD staff member and Philadelphia Assistant Co-Director Katherine Fennell utilizes a popular Kritik from the 2017-Jan/Feb Topic to...

Benjamin Koh

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Debate Commentary Featured Lincoln Douglas NSD Update Staff

Learning from College Debate by Brianna Aaron

Learning From College Debate Watching college debates was never really my “thing” as a high school debater. I was lucky enough as a high schooler to have had interaction with some of the smartest minds in the...

Benjamin Koh

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Category - Debate Commentary

Debate Commentary Featured Lincoln Douglas NSD Update Staff

Intro to K Strategy: The 2NR

Intro to K Strategy: The 2NR Katherine Fennell It is virtually impossible to go to a national circuit tournament in 2017 and not hear words like “racialized assemblage”, or “semiocapitalism”. With the increased...

November 27, 2017

11 min read

Debate Commentary Featured Lincoln Douglas NSD Update Staff

Does Debating Moral Issues Make You Moral? by JP Stuckert

Does Debating Moral Issues Make You Moral? JP Stuckert We hear that LD debate is “values debate,” but what is the point of having a style of debate that differs from Policy or PF in this way? And what does...

November 2, 2017

11 min read

Debate Commentary Featured Lincoln Douglas

A Call for Framework Debate by Dino De La O

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.83″] This article advances the argument that framework determines every impact in the...

October 26, 2017

10 min read

Debate Commentary Featured Lincoln Douglas NSD Update Staff

Critical Problems: Going for the Kritik by Grant Brown

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text] Critical Problems: Going for the Kritik By Grant Brown Introduction There is a serious problem in the current way...

October 24, 2017

11 min read

Debate Commentary Featured Lincoln Douglas

Structural Abuse, Substantive Advantages P1: A Criticism of the Burdens View by Salim Damerdji

I thank Martin Sigalow and Chris Kymn for their helpful input for this article. 1. Intro Is theory just whining? Certainly, some theory arguments sound like whining; after all, some debaters claim that it is abusive to...

January 9, 2017

10 min read

Debate Commentary Featured Lincoln Douglas Vintage

A Pessimistic View of Norms in LD by Salim Damerdji

Many LDers believe that the activity improves with time. The conventional wisdom goes something like this: All else equal, a true argument beats out a false argument in round. Debaters copy and comply with good norms...

January 2, 2017

15 min read

Debate Commentary Featured

Hutt Up or Shut Up E3- Nov/Dec Topic Analysis- Terrence Lonam and Ben Koh

This is episode 3 of Hutt Up or Shut Up starring Sam Azbel and Paul Zhou! Joined by guests Terrence Lonam, Associate Director of the National Symposium for Debate, and Ben Koh, Director of NSD Northeast, they discuss...

October 7, 2016

1 min read

Debate Commentary Featured

Hutt Up or Shut Up Episode 2 with Guests Shivane Sabharwal and Sean McCormick

This is episode 2 of Hutt Up or Shut Up starring Sam Azbel and Paul Zhou! Joined by guests and NSD Top Lab Teachers Shivane Sabharwal and Sean McCormick, they discuss the judge as an educator, what ought debate look...

September 26, 2016

1 min read

Debate Commentary Featured Vintage

Head 2 Head: Is the Judge an Educator?

This is NSD Update’s Head to Head! Two people will argue back and forth on a controversial debate topic. They are presented with word restrictions and limits on time for when they must submit their responses. The...

September 21, 2016

17 min read

Camp Community News Debate Commentary Featured

Announcing the NSD Update Podcast!

NSD Update is super excited to release the first episode of Hutt Up or Shut up brought to you by the National Symposium for Debate. This is a podcast hosted by NSD Staff Sam Azbel and Paul Zhou that will be released...

September 15, 2016

1 min read

Debate Commentary Featured Vintage

Head 2 Head Returns: Fairness First

After a three year hiatus, NSD Update’s Head to Head Series Returns! Two people will argue back and forth on a controversial debate topic. They are presented with word restrictions and limits on time for when they...

September 14, 2016

18 min read

Debate Commentary Featured

The NSD Flagship Topic is Housing!

We are pleased to announce that the topic that we are going to debate at the NSD Flagship Institute is: Resolved: The United States ought to guarantee the right to housing. Students should feel free to begin doing...

July 5, 2016

1 min read

Community News Debate Commentary Featured

Official 2016-2017 LD Topic List

1. Resolved: The United States ought to become party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. 2. Resolved: The United States ought to limit qualified immunity for police officers. 3. Resolved: A just...

June 16, 2016

1 min read

Debate Commentary Featured

A Conversation On Trigger Warnings by Krupali Patel and Fred Ditzian

A Conversation On Trigger Warnings by Krupali Patel and Fred Ditzian A few months ago a student of mine had a debate round that made me think about the way that we care about one another in debate. They flipped...

March 19, 2016

8 min read

Debate Commentary Featured Vintage

An Alternative View of Offense/Defense by Michael Bogaty

An Alternative View of Offense/Defense by Michael Bogaty with significant contributions by Rahul Gosain In recent years, the community has adopted a near-universal paradigm for evaluation of arguments: offense/defense...

March 16, 2016

14 min read