Senior Fellows
The Senior Fellows Program is designed for rising seniors in high school to receive a combination of experience in debate coaching and intense debate instruction at the same time. This program is intended for students from anywhere in the U.S. who have shown exceptional success at the national level in debate.
As a senior fellow, the upcoming senior will serve three roles. Each fellow will act as a faculty assistant to help lead a lab group, constructively critique institute students, and aid the faculty. Secondly, the fellow will be educated in advanced theory and argumentation from the institute faculty. The fellow will be prepared on the September/October topic of their upcoming senior year by creating an evidence brief, preparing both affirmative and negative cases, and developing in-depth blocks on the topic with the aid of other faculty members. Finally, the fellow will learn how to take up entrepreneurial and leadership roles in the debate community. Each fellow will develop a Strategic Action Plan to promote some aspect of debate in their local debate community.
Program Purposes
- We want to introduce top, national level debaters with a high likelihood and strong affinity for coaching debate after graduation to the actual experience of coaching. This introductory experience to the world of coaching debate is intended to prepare them in the short run for acting as superior captains and aids to coaches of their teams while at the same time helping elucidate the role of the judge so they may better understand the judging mentality in the rounds of their upcoming season. In the long run, this will hopefully encourage them to pursue coaching after high school and help remain strongly involved in the activity because of their preparation for the transition.
- This session will provide the Fellow with in-depth topic preparation and instruction on the September/October topic and general debate strategy for the year. All faculty members will not only be available to work with the student, but will be guaranteed to do so as part of the Senior Fellows Program to provide insight in debate and give the fellow a strong preparation for the upcoming season.
- Many debaters get engulfed in the national circuit and often forget the local circuits where they came from. This program is intended to help bring national level debaters back to perspective of local debate to help reinvigorate the purpose and value of debate to them in their final year.
- Finally, due to the regional purpose of this camp, the Senior Fellows Program is another opportunity to help develop a community link between new, local debaters and older, more experienced national circuit debaters to provide an avenue for growth and inspiration to more local debaters.