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Communication Studies

Debate Team Hosts First Miami Oceans Debates

By Barbara Gutierrez The tournament brought 14 schools and colleges to the University of Miami to engage in a verbal exchange about the pros and cons of aquaculture. Capitalizing on Miami’s unique proximity to the ocean and its vulnerability to the effects of climate change, the University of Miami Debate Team hosted its first Miami Oceans Debates during the weekend of April 22-23 to discuss if “Accelerated Open Ocean Aquaculture Would Be Desirable.” “We were interested in a topic about the ocean because we live here,” said David Steinberg, associate [...]

2023-05-03T11:22:14-04:00May 3, 2023|Communication Studies, School of Communication|
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University of Miami Debate Team Wins Second ACC Championship

By Barbara Gutierrez Delphine Djomo and Iman Sami made up the team that defeated Wake Forest University in a virtual debate, bringing the trophy to Coral Gables. Besides winning the top spot as a duo, Djomo and Sami were each recognized as the top two individual debaters of the competition. For more than a year, University of Miami debaters Delphine Djomo and Iman Sami spent hours researching journals, scholarly magazines, and reams of documents to master topics for their upcoming debates. Inside the School of Communication debate room, they often [...]

2022-05-18T13:26:45-04:00May 18, 2022|Communication Studies, School of Communication|
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Hurricane Debaters Continue Winning Ways

By David Steinberg & Patrick Waldinger On November 5-8, the University of Miami Debate Team traveled to The University of Vermont in Burlington to compete in the Fall Championship of the Social Justice Debates. This was the first face to face competition for the UM Team since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down travel in March of 2020. The team of Delphine Leoue Ngoko Djomo and Iman Sami won three of their four preliminary debates on the topic, “The adoption of a mandatory racial desegregation policy for K-12 public schools is [...]

2021-11-12T11:04:35-05:00November 12, 2021|Communication Studies|
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UM Debate Team Wins Two Championships

On the weekend of October 22-24, the University of Miami Debate team competed in and won two online debate tournaments. The UM Debate Intercollegiate Debate Program, unlike most college debate programs, competes in multiple debate formats. U Debate is a broad-based program open to all undergraduate students, offering a variety of debate styles and welcoming student debaters of all experience levels. Competing in the policy tournament hosted by Wayne State University, UM debaters Mollie Blank and Leah Castaneda won the event’s Novice Championship by winning the judges’ decisions in all [...]

2021-11-09T13:29:37-05:00November 9, 2021|Communication Studies|
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UM Debaters Advance to Semifinal Round at the Social Justice Debates Fall Opener

On Oct. 21, University of Miami debaters Delphine Djomo and Iman Sami advanced into the semifinal debates at the Social Justice Debates Fall Opener, hosted online by The George Washington University. The two debaters qualified for the semifinals in impressive fashion, winning all four of their preliminary debates against outstanding competition including The University of Vermont, Morehouse College, Howard University, the U.S. Air Force Academy, and The George Washington University, among others. In semifinals, the debating duo lost the decision to the eventual tournament champions from Cal Poly, San Luis [...]

2021-11-02T14:14:58-04:00November 2, 2021|Communication Studies|
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New Faculty Feature: Dr. Kallia O. Wright

By Bianca De Paz Originally from Jamaica, Dr. Kallia O. Wright recently joined the School of Communication faculty as an assistant professor and qualitative researcher specializing in intercultural health communication. More specifically, she studies communication about women’s reproductive health. Before finding her research interest, she completed her master’s and doctoral studies at Ohio University. Today, her research focuses on Black maternal health experiences and communicative experiences regarding endometriosis. Dr. Wright says she is thrilled to be a part of the School of Communication and is teaching two courses – Communication Theory (COS [...]

2021-10-26T10:03:46-04:00October 26, 2021|Communication Studies|
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University of Miami Advances into Social Justice Debates Finals

On Feb. 19-21, the University of Miami Debate Team competed in the championship tournament of the 2020-2021 Social Justice Debates advancing to the final round. The Social Justice Debates aspire to promote productive and rigorous debates, challenging current and future thought leaders to consider issues of justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunity, and privilege in U.S. society. Debating the issue of Defunding Police and Abolishing Policing, UM student debaters Delphine Leoue Ngoko Djomo and Micah Council advanced into the final round of competition, finishing the tournament in [...]

2021-02-22T13:34:19-05:00February 22, 2021|Communication Studies, School of Communication|
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Opinion: Vice-Presidential Debate Expected to Draw a Big Audience

By: David L. Steinberg and Patrick E. Waldinger The University of Miami debate team coaches note that the age of the presidential candidates, President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis, and the uncertainty of 2020 are elevating the vice-presidential debate between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris. In the wake of last week’s “Presidential Debate Debacle” and the shocking news that President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19, Wednesday night’s event may be a rare vice-presidential debate that gets a substantial audience. With the real possibility the last two presidential debates will be [...]

2020-10-06T14:51:48-04:00October 6, 2020|Communication Studies, School of Communication|
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Opinion: Presidential Debate was ‘Incoherent

By: Zachary M. Homeijer The president of the University of Miami Debate Team provides his analysis of the first presidential debate between President Donald J. Trump and former Vice President Joseph Biden. What the presidential debate lacked—civility and productive discussion—the University of Miami Debate Team was able to accomplish easily during a virtual watch party of Tuesday night's debate. Our team had the opportunity to partner with the Commission on Presidential Debates to offer a pre-debate show featuring a question-and-answer session with professors David Steinberg and Patrick Waldinger, directors of the team, and [...]

2020-10-05T10:15:56-04:00October 5, 2020|Communication Studies, School of Communication|
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What Will it Take for Biden to Win the Upcoming Debate?

By: David L. Steinberg The first presidential debate between President Donald J. Trump and former vice president and democratic presidential nominee Joseph Biden will be held at 9 p.m. Sept. 29 at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. The University of Miami’s director of debate offers his insights. For former vice president Joseph Biden to win the first presidential debate, he must reassure prospective voters that he has the vitality and acuity necessary to serve as commander in chief; he would be a safe pick (i.e., he is not [...]

2020-09-29T12:36:54-04:00September 29, 2020|Communication Studies, School of Communication|
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