CURRICULUM PREVIEW

Each year, we feature a range of knowledge and skill-based lectures for both LD & Worlds Debate. Lab sessions are interspersed with content-packed lectures and drill-based applications, while electives may range between LD/Worlds-specific skills (such as Cross-examination, Research Hacks, Reverse-engineering) to general theories or topic areas (Civil Rights History for Debate, Soft Power & Geopolitical Culture, Orientalism, and more). Below is a preview of our 2020 curriculum, including our specialized lectures on Asian American history and studies.

Antiblackness & Asian Solidarity

In this elective, students will gain an understanding of anti-blackness and how Asians frequently participate in anti-black systems. The elective will cover how arguments about race, anti-racism, and Asian solidarity relate to both debate and to society more broadly.

Refutation & Research

This lecture from the first day of Project Dialogue's LD Lab covers essential refutation and rebuttal skills, in addition to research hacks and a demonstration for cutting cards. Tune in for a Kahoot game on key questions related to refutation & argumentation as well!

Making of Asian America & Model Minority Myth

This elective discusses what the "model minority" myth is, and how the myth has been used to suppress minority voices. We'll look at the history of the myth within America, point to institutions that continue to thrive off this myth, and explore ways to combat it.

Extensions, Weighing, and Policy Arguments

A preview from the second day of Project Dialogue's LD Top Lab, this video covers a presentation on extensions and weighing, including different strategies for impact calculus. We also begin an introduction to policy arguments, such as the components of a plan-based affirmative!

Orientalism and Asian American Theory

This elective will be a comprehensive overview of post-colonial theories of Orientalism, the basic history of Asian Americanism, and other more commonly read literature bases within Asian American critical theory. The elective will be pretty broad and will spend more time explaining the fundamentals behind understanding the phrase 'Asian Americanism' and topics in post-colonial and Asian American studies.

Framework & Answering Framework

This morning lab lecture from the third day of Project Dialogue's LD Lab is a comprehensive overview of framework and answering framework arguments. We discuss the structure of frameworks for use in case-writing and common philosophical theories used in LD, such as utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics, in addition to strategies and types of arguments for answering any framework.