Modern World Debates
2018 — Dubai, United Arab Emirates, AE
In line with its deep-rooted culture of debate and critical thinking, GEMS Modern Academy is honoured to host the Eight Modern World Debates, our annual inter-school debate tournament set to be conducted from the 10th to the 12th of November, 2018. Attracting a legion of budding scholars, skeptics from various parts of the world including Turkey, Germany, India, and the UAE, years of rigorous debating have established the tournament as a hallmark in the UAE debating circuit.
The competition comprises a series of preliminary rounds decided by first, random allotment and then successive power pairing, followed by the Quarter Finals, Semi-Finals, and Grand Final. All debates are conducted in the acclaimed World Schools Debating Championships (WSDC) format consisting of three members in each school’s representative team. All rounds are impromptu, testing participants' ability to think on their feet and together construct well-substantiated, logical arguments under pressing time constraints. Our motions challenge debaters' creativity and sensitivity to world issues. Resolutions from the past include "This house would remove all restrictions on immigration" and "This house would encourage women running for office to adopt masculine traits."
Our adjudicators for the Modern World Debates are accomplished debaters who have garnered accolades from reputed international competitions such as the World Universities Debating Championship and the European Universities Debating Championship, bringing their experience to our burgeoning debaters. Their valuable expertise and feedback present an excellent opportunity for participants to improve, placing them in great stead for future debates.
Much like the evolution of the Modern World Debates from the British Parliamentary style to the WSDC format, and the attribution of a strongly international ethos to the competition, we stand, most importantly, for the intellectual development of our debaters.
In this collective pursuit of sophisticated argument, we hope that every debater present takes away a chalice of unorthodox ideas, insightful opinions, and indelible memories.