Unlike their younger peers, Varsity debaters are allowed to do their own research in order to create unique arguments. While we strongly encourage original research, students who want a preview of what other debaters across the country are reading can refer to the following resources:

Open Evidence Project – features full sets of research produced by summer debate institutes before the debate season starts.

Policy Debate Wiki – features disclosure/outlines of arguments read by teams from across the country.

National Association for Urban Debate Leagues core files – Evidence produced by the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues. Another source of arguments and evidence for our Varsity debaters. In partnership with The Asia Group, NAUDL has also produced a series of introductions to their own core file arguments.

Videos:

Demo Debate: this video exhibits a simplified policy debate (using middle school times) to help students, coaches, and judges better understand the format and structure of policy debate as well some of the components of the Fall Core Files. At around 35 minutes in length, this video is short enough for in-class or after-school viewing.

This demo debate is also useful as a note-taking (aka “flowing”) exercise – simply play the video and transcribe the speeches. That said, most Dallas Urban Debaters will benefit from watching a holistic video on flowing techniques before attempting to do so.

Debate Synergy Flow Template