Communication Studies

Last Monday evening at the Shalala Student Center, University of Miami’s Debate Team hosted the team from iDebate Rwanda. The public debate focused on genocide recovery, forgiveness, and justice. Two decades ago, Rwanda was facing one of the most difficult times in its history. In 1994, the genocide against the Tutsis began. Over a span of 100 days, more than one million men, women, and children lost their lives solely due to their Tutsi ethnicity. Twenty years later, Rwanda is rebuilding with an aim to restore peace and accelerate its [...]

The University of Miami Debate Team earned top honors at the University of North Georgia debate invitational over the weekend of Sept. 25-27.  Eight students represented The U in Parliamentary Debate competition in English and in Spanish at the event in Gainesville, Georgia. Two of the four teams advancing to the final round of Spanish language debate were UM teams. The UM team of Juliana Carvajal (junior, political science) and Victoria Ormaechea (sophomore, media management) won first place honors and Natacha Larnaud (junior, journalism) and Maria Victoria van Eerdewijk (junior, [...]

In their first-ever appearance in Florida, Rwandan debaters from the African country’s iDebate Rwanda program will visit the University of Miami for a public debate about genocide recovery, forgiveness, and justice. The UM Debate Team is hosting the event, which will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, September 28 at the Shalala Student Center Senate Room. The event is part of the Rwandans' second annual tour of the U.S. that runs through the end of October. The “Voices from a Post-Genocide Generation Tour” started in 2014 and aims to share the [...]

Summer is a time when students are free from school and parents scramble to find a camp their child can have fun in, but that is also educational. With so many camp choices, probably the hardest sell for a parent to make to their free-from-the-constraints-of-learning child would be... debate camp. I can hear the conversation now: "You mean a camp that's like school,” asks a dumbfounded child. "Kind of, but I swear it's fun," says a parent with a trembling voice. This is the part when tears and arguments start [...]

The University of Miami Debate Team completed its competition in Policy Debate ranked fourth nationally by the American Debate Association for 2014-15, rising two spots from sixth place in 2013-14. The nationally ranked second place Novice Debate squad and the nationally ranked second place Individual Novice Debate team drove this impressive performance. UM’s Junior Varsity squad placed fifth in the nation. Despite relying almost exclusively on students with no prior debate experience, UM’s team excels against programs with more coaches and more experienced high school debaters by relying on a [...]

On April 6, University of Miami’s Debate Team hosted a public debate with three collegiate debate champions from Ireland. The Irish debaters were winners in the Irish Times National Debate Championship earning them a tour of the United States, during which they participate in a series of audience debates. The Irish Debaters, Hugh Guidera and his partner Rónán O’Connor of Trinity College in Dublin, and Eoin MacLachlan of University College, also in Dublin, began their tour in early March in Spokane, Washington. After stops in Kansas City, Los Angeles, Denver, [...]

By Lizzie Wilcox Senior Spencer George has been a member of University of Miami’s debate team since the fall semester of his freshman year. He started debating a little in high school, but really got into it once he came to UM. George just wrapped up his debate career over spring break at the American Debate Association Nationals, where he was one of three finalists for the Julia Burke Award. “It’s an award given to individuals who are successful in debate competitively and also focus on reaching out to others, [...]