Novice Policy Debate

Per Harvard's policy, all in-person students are required to be fully vaccinated. Students will also be integrated into Harvard's regular testing system upon arrival. Detailed information will be posted closer to arrival.

RESEARCH | ARGUMENTATION | PERSUASION

Designed by successful coaches with teaching and classroom experience, our program offers a fast-paced, yet engaging curriculum that equips students with the skills they need for success at their first policy debate tournament.

From day 1, we emphasize debate fundamentals, introducing students to argumentation theory and providing students with a carefully constructed evidence packet designed to help guide them through the topic.

Morning sessions are spent covering new debate concepts and topic information through engaging lectures and interactive lessons. In the afternoons, students engage in debates, applying skills from earlier lessons. Evenings are reserved for students to work one-on-one with the instructors, reviewing concepts, delivering practice speeches, or discussing new arguments.

Level: Beginner

Beginner or no policy debate experience

Summer 2023 Sessions

Online: Session One -- June 25-July 7
In-Person: Session Two -- July 9-July 21

Tuition

In-person
Resident: $3,849
Commuter: $2,749
Online: $1,349

About the Program

Benefits of an Online Experience

Although we are disappointed that we cannot host students at the beautiful Harvard campus, we are incredibly excited about the opportunities an online camp offers. We have been working around the clock to make sure students experience all of the things that helped us fall in love with debate so many summers ago. We are designing fun new material every day, but here are a few things you can expect already:

Exciting lectures delivered live via Zoom from top experts in the topic area. Each session will include a Q&A session for students and be recorded so that students can return and review materials later or catch up on something they miss.
Engaging, student-directed lessons that take advantage of fun online learning tools and give students the opportunity to breakout in groups, teach and learn from their peers, pursue their specific research interests, and make new friends.
Individualized feedback and the option to reserve specific meeting times with instructors daily.
Challenging curriculum that you can return to all year- each assignment will be posted on the class page, along with additional assignments that students can complete to learn more. We offer 2-3 different level of assignment for each concept so that students can challenge themselves during camp or return later in the year to continue learning.
Each evening we will host a viewing party to show debates or relevant topic movies. These will be educational, but it is also an opportunity for students to hang out and get to know other debaters online.

Daily Schedules

The in-person workshop (Session One) will start each day at 9am ET and conclude at 9pm ET.

The online workshop (session two) will have required meetings from 10am-5pm ET (with breaks) and optional meetings from 7pm-9pm ET.

Each day is broken up into 3 parts. In general, we will spend the first part of our day learning new content and discussing readings from the night before. The second part of the day will be devoted to group research and research presentations. The final part of the day is devoted to skills practice and games. Students are encouraged to attend all parts in order to get the most from camp, however, we understand this might be difficult for everyone. If you are unable to attend part of camp, please reach out and let your instructors know.

Learning Objectives

Strategy: Constructing strategic arguments
Research: Advanced research practices
Argumentation: Line-by-line argumentation
Delivery: Persuasive and clear speaking
Preparation: Tournament preparation techniques

What Students and Parents Say

I loved so many things, it’s hard to choose. The game nights and movie nights were great, I learned so much from the guests, and the debates stretched my comfort zone but I got a lot of experience from them. The different breakouts and variety were great. They created an immersive experience without me having to leave my room. I can’t think of anything I would want to improve. This camp was awesome!

Policy Debater

I already have experience in varsity policy, but considering I haven't been very consistent, this has been a good way for me to review and prep for the coming year as well as gather topic info.

Policy Debater

Online is generally very difficult to make quite as productive but the adaptation from in person camp was amazing, and very well organized, and the lab leaders had great ways of keeping us from getting bored.

Policy Debater

It never got boring like everything else in quarantine. It's just really hard to sit in front of a computer all day, but that doesn't apply specifically to this.

Policy Debater

Everything went very smoothly. I really enjoyed online camp and this opportunity.

Policy Debater

Faculty

Tripp Rebrovick, PhD, is the Director of Debate at Harvard University. He has a BA from Harvard and a PhD from Johns Hopkins University. Tripp has over twelve years of experience teaching at summer workshops and has worked with students of all skill levels. While a debater, he was the top speaker at the TOC, winner of NFL Nationals, and a four-time elimination-round participant at the NDT.

Margaret Strong was an assistant coach at Harvard for the 2021-2022 season and will start the Masters in Communications program at Wake Forest in the fall. Marge previously coached at Michigan State University, the University of Kentucky, and UC Berkeley. She reached the semifinals of the National Debate Tournament.

Ruby Klein is an assistant coach of debate at Harvard, now entering her second year. She graduated from Wake Forest University in 2021, when she received at First Round bid the NDT and reached the octafinals. Ruby has extensive experience coaching novice debate both online and in person.