Emory National Debate Institute (ENDI)

General Information

We are excited to offer two distinct institutes for policy debate this summer at Emory. The traditional 2 week camp that is available for students of all experience levels- including rising sophomores- and the 4 week sophomore institute available exclusively for rising second year debaters. Please click on the links below for additional information on either.

The 2 week ENDI Click Here
2-week ENDI: June 14-27, 2009

The ESDI - Emory 4 week Sophomore Debate Institute Click Here
4-week ENDI: June 28-July 25, 2009

Additional Camps During the 2 week ENDI [June 14 - 27] we will also be hosting the following camps:

-A middle school debate institute - information at www.pacecamp.com. [Please confirm dates on their website]
-A debate coaches institute - information below
- A Lincoln Douglas Institute - information below

Application Policy
GET APPLICATION HERE

The Application deadline has been extended. We will accept applications up until June 10th. We will be notifying people of acceptance as soon as we receive their information. Please call to verify that we have received your application.

Admission Policy
No applicant will be considered without submission of a full and accurate application. The extent and quality of the applicant's previous debate experience, including demonstrated potential, will be the dominant factors in admissions decisions. Other factors which may be considered include: the strength and number of tournaments attended, speaker awards, the comments offered in the enclosed Letter of Recommendation, and geographic diversity.

Contact Information at:
Please make sure that you identify exactly which institute you are enquiring about - 2 week, 4 week, coaches, etc.

Emory Debate
James H. Herndon
jhhernd@emory.edu
Office: 404-727-6189

The best means of reaching us is via email. If you must call please feel free to leave a message or ask for James Herndon or Christy Bradley.

What can be expected from both camps?

LAB GROUPS
Students will form relationships within specific groups. These will serve as the smaller groups through which most lab instruction will occur. Debaters will spend a majority of their days learning directly within these groups. Lab Groups will include daily activities, group assignments, research groups, and both full and mini practice debates.

ANALYSIS OF THE TOPIC
In addition to the lab setting, debaters will learn the content of the topic through camp wide lectures and through the direct instruction of every lab leader. These lectures will include broad-based coverage of both affirmative and negative arguments. Debaters will also receive a complete analysis of the topic that will prepare them to be experts on the year’s resolution.

Students will receive topic knowledge from every member of the ENDI faculty making sure that they are experts on the subjects. Finally, students will work on specific research assignments and briefs to prepare them to dominate.

PRACTICE ROUNDS
Both camps include a tournament at the end of the institute to make sure that everyone leaves with 6 competitive debates on the topic. Additionally, every lab will do a minimum of 2 full practice debaters per week with their labs making sure that students leave with experience at deploying arguments on the topic.

In addition to traditional practice rounds, labs will focus on a litany of other proven debate skill builders including mini-debates, focused one on one debates, video-taping debates, and working to improve their skills in shorter sets of time.

RESEARCH
Students will get electronic copies of all materials produced during their time at the institute. A camp evidence packet- including several affirmatives and negative positions -will be provided to the students at the beginning of the camp. This evidence will be produced by the staff of the Emory Institute.

All Research done at the camp will be directly edited and improved upon by the Emory faculty for the purpose of creating research ready for use in competitive policy rounds.

OTHER INSTRUCTIONAL ISSUES TO BE COVERED
- Theory Instruction
- Detailed Speaker Position Instruction
- How to improve speaking style
- How to Research
- How to generate ideas for research assignments

2009 Staff

James H. Herndon- Senior Programs Director- Emory Debate and former director of debate at Chattahoochee High School. Has taught a lab every year for the past 8 years. Qualified 23 teams to the TOC in 4 years.

Edward Lee- Director of Debate- Emory University. Atlanta High School debate alum. Over ten years of lab leading experience. One of the most innovate researchers and instructors of research in the country. The Man.

James Roland-Director of Community Programs for Emory Debate. Years of debate camp experience. Arguably the most inspirational coach in the country.

Dylan Keenan- Debate Coach for Emory University. 2008 National Debate Tournament College Semi-finalists. NFL Champion. Research Guru, Math Nerd.

Mikaela Malsin- Emory Debate Junior, Former Emory lab leader, Assistant coaching experience with Chattahoochee & Westminster.

Ana Nikolic- Emory Debate Sophomore, NDT Participant, two years Emory lab leading experience.

Stephen Weil- most TOC qualifications in history, 2007-2008 2nd ranked college team. TOC Champion. Previous Lab Leader for the University of Michigan and Emory University

Feedback about Lab Leaders from Previous Students

"I definitely learned a lot during my sophomore year camp experience because of EdLee and James Herndon. A lot of other rising sophomores from my squad had gone to a range of other camps, and when we came back from summer I realized that I was far ahead of most or all of them in both debate skills and knowledge on the topic. I benefited a lot from all of the discussions, lectures, and practice debates. If it was possible, I would have returned to their lab for both my junior and senior year."

"Stephen Weil is the man. His lectures were unbelievable. The first week I was intimidated to be in the room with him – but at the end of camp I didn’t want it to end. Did I mention Stephen is the man?"

"i'll be honest, i came to debate camp with a lot of prejudices about my peers in the debate community. maybe it's because i don't feel like i instantly fit into the category of a stereotypical debater, but i was expecting everyone over the summer to be too intellectual and boring to be around. i think herndon was one of the main people to change this perception. whether it was his ability to make fun of his students while still getting along with all of them or the hilarious stories he tells us, i learned a ton from him while having a great time and seeing how awesome some debate coaches and students are."

"Ana is the nicest person I have ever met. Debate camp was intimidating but Ana did her best to make us all feel welcome. I really felt like she cared that we got better about debate."

"Ed Lee is a genius. He can explain any aspect to you, in ways that you are guaranteed to learn, and he may be the coolest guy i've ever met."

"James Herndon may be the sole reason i've had any success in debate so far. Hands down, he's the best lab leader of all time."

"You know who I love? James Roland. Seriously, that guy is my hero. If I could pay him to follow me around and talk to me all day long I would do it."

"Herndon and Lee combined have given me the most entertaining and learning debate experience of my life. They'll make sure you leave with a better debate mind, and that you had a great time."

"Mikaela was a great lab leader this summer. I felt that she was an expert at the energy topic. She worked so hard and pushed us to get better."

"what's awesome about ed is that having him as a teacher at camp for just a few weeks makes him a permanent coach and friend. for example, i was at a tournament last weekend and i saw him on his way to judge a round, and even though he was incredibly busy, he still stopped to throw the frisbee and talk about my year and school. he's got that same attitude towards all his students, so deciding to learn from him at camp was definitely worthwhile."

Dorm Staff

At Emory we are personally committed to monitoring students throughout their day. The Emory Dorm Staff will be comprised entirely of current or former high school teachers. The dorm staff has years of experience working not just with high school aged students but also at debate institutes.

Lincoln Douglas Institute Information

Students are assigned to appropriate lab and theory groups based on experience and current knowledge of debate concepts. Public speaking skills are emphasized through practice speeches, video-taping, and practice rounds. Extemporaneous speaking is used as a teaching tool to develop the skills of organization, concentration, exposition, and public speaking. A sample topic allows students to learn how to apply in practice what is taught in theory. Students will learn fundamentals of debate including reasoning, presentation, and research.

Coaches Institute Information

The Institute for coaches offers a full curriculum for directing debate and has been offered as a graduate level academic course at Emory University and Georgia State University (for additional tuition fees). The Institute has also been offered for Staff Development Unit credits through the State of Georgia. A flexible curriculum allows teachers to focus on the following areas: program development, public relations, organizing a debate squad, teaching debate skills, argument and debate theory, and focused argument and topic development and research.