Our next weekly debate session will take place on WEDNESDAY 17.03 at 18:30 in AURORA (Mannerheimintie 5B, 3rd floor). The motion for the debate will again be announced only 15 min before but I promise it will be something more fun this week 
As per usual, we’ll hang out in the bar after the debate.
Next week might be a period-break week for some but not for the Debating Society because you don’t need a break from fun 
Come and meet us as usual on Tuesday 9th March at 18:30 in Cajsa (Mannereheimintie 5B, 4th floor). The motion will not be disclosed until 15 min before the debate. As per usual, you are free to watch but we’ll pair you up with an experienced debater if you want to try yourself out in debating.
Bar afterwards – because it’s a period break!
P.S. The motion for the debate was ‘This House Believes That Western Militaries Should Court-Martial Soldiers Who Enter Into Sexual Relations With Locals While Abroad‘.
Spring is here! Well…almost. We can discuss this and other more exciting things this upcoming Tuesday 2nd March at 18:30 in Cajsa (Mannerheimintie 5B, 4th floor). The motion for the debate will be announced only 15 min in advance but will be posted here in retrospect.
Remeber to sign up for cruise to Tallinn that we’ll organize on 20-21st March!
If you want to go with us to a debating tournament in Berlin in the end of April, please let me know asap.
P.S. The motion for the debate was ‘This House Would Ban All Efforts To ‘Cure’ Homosexuality’
My apologies for posting this retrospectively. This week, just like any other, we gathered on Tuesday 23rd at 18:30 to debate a motion ‘This House Would Not Allow Children Compete in Professional Sports’. Two of our new members courageously joined in the debate and contributed to quite a fine night of discussion!
On a separate note, last weekend five people from our society went to Vilnius to participate in a debating competition. One of the teams (Tianyan and Anna) made it all the way to the final alas not winning on a 3/2 split judging decision. Meanwhile, Julia exercised some excellent judging skills and Rachel with Jeremias enjoyed their first debating tournament ever! Ask in person for more gossip from the tournament and check the gallery for pictures
Next Tuesday is Laskiaistiistai which means you can legitimately postpone everything you are doing and go sledging in the middle of the day! The main sledging area will be Ullanlinnanmäki in Kaivopuisto Park and we’ll be heading there at noon.
If you want to join, meet us at 12:00 in Kaisaniemi metro station at the top of escalators. Dress warmly (you can put on your student overall if you want/have it but it’s not compulsory) and bring a sledge (or anything that would serve such purpose). We’ll be there for a good few hours so if you want to join us later just come to Ullanlinnanmäki and try to find us. You can give me a call but I have to warn you – I’m rubbish at giving directions, particularly withing the confines of Kaivopuisto covered in snow 
If (for some bizarre and inexplicable reason) you can’t make it to sledging, come to our regular debate session at Cajsa (Mannerheimintie 5b, 4th floor) at 18:30. The motion for the debate is: ‘This House Would Legalise Voluntary Euthanasia’.
As per usual, no one is forced to speak (you can just come and watch) and those of you who want to try yourself at debating would be enthusiastically supported and helped.
On Tuesday February 2nd at 18:00 in Cajsa (Mannerheimintie 5B, 4th floor) we will have an Annual General Meeting of the Debating Society. At the meeting we will elect the new board, approve documents for the past year and have a chat about our future plans for the upcoming year.
After the meeting, we will have a regular debate session in the same room (bound to start around 18:30). The motion for the week is ‘This House Would Allow Mothers/Fathers In Prison To Be Accompanied By Their Children’.
As always, we’ll proceed to the bar post-debate to hang out in a great atmosphere and celebrate our new board!
The show debate proved to be quite a success and we hope we’ll see more new members join our club this semester!
Welcome to our first meeting this decade on Tuesday January 26th at 18:30 in Cajsa (New Student House, Mannerheimintie 5B, 4th floor). The motion for the debate is ‘This House Would Enforce Racial and Religious Profiling in Airports’. As always, you can come and watch us debate or take part in it – we’ll provide all the help and supported needed.
Just to give you a taste of what is going to happen this semester apart from our regular Tuesday meetings, here is the preliminary plan of socials, travelling plans and debate trainings:
-Bowling night
-Winter-swimming
-Boardgames night
-Sledging
-Trip to Tallinn (where we might meet up with Estonian debaters!)
-Workshop by Rich Penny coming up in February
-Training seminar and workshop by another debate celebrity in mid-April
-Debating competitions in Lithuania, UK, France and Germany (info will be posted on the list as the tournaments approach)
-Debate Summer Camp in mid-June (two days of fun and debating in a peaceful Finnish countryside!)
We hope to deliver all of those and more! Stay tuned
Spring semester is about to start and so are activities of our Debating Society! We are proud to welcome you to our show debate on Tuesday 19th January at 18:30 in Mannerheim-sali (Mannerheimintie 5A, top floor). Come and watch our experienced members engage in a heated and entertaining debate and feel free to voice your opinions afterwards! The topic for the debate is ‘This House Believes That All Taxation Is Theft’.
No prior registration is needed, entrance is free, some drinks and snacks will be served after the debate. Come along!
This year our debating society was represented at Worlds University Debating Championship (WUDC) for the fourth time. We sent one team (Julia Toivanen and Anna Bessonova) and one judge (Ami Ganguli) from our institution. The winners in three different categories are:
MGIMO A (Russia) in EFL (English as a foreign language) Category
Tel Aviv A (Israel) in ESL (English as a second language) Category
Sydney A (Australia) in EPL (English as a Proficient language) Category
You can find the tab here http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tdw2qVR3Q7vfFT-aSF-7GGA&gid=2
The competition this year was hosted in Antalya, Turkey by Koç University. It was an amazingly well-run tournament in all possible ways! There were almost no delays in the schedule, the organizers worked really hard on ensuring everyone’s wishes were met and all their promises were fulfilled. We enjoyed exceptionally high-quality debates and fabulous socials. It was a truly fantastic 10-day experience in sunny Antalya in a company of great people.
Thank you Koç and we hope that our society will continue sending teams to future Worlds!
