VBI Focus Tracks (NEW for 2010)

What Should You Know About the Focus Week Experience?

Two-week camp sessions cram a lot of information into a relatively short period of time. Students learn about the mechanics of all the speeches and every major issue in LD. Significant time is spent on constructing and revising cases, and both students and instructors need to juggle lab time, practice rounds, lectures, electives, and well, you get the picture. The need to cover extensive breadth in a two-week curriculum invariably crowds out opportunities to delve more deeply into one subject. The student with a deep interest in philosophy may only get to attend a few hours of lectures devoted to her passion, or the student that does just about everything well except for debating theory might not get the attention she needs in order to excel in theory debates the following season. The bottom line is that even the best two-week camps have to cover so much that intense study of one subject area is often sacrificed in order to produce well-rounded debaters. If only students could attend a well-rounded two-week camp and then build on that foundation by specializing in particular areas…

VBI is pleased to unveil more details about this summer’s big innovation in LD instruction: Focus Weeks. Each Focus Week is a weeklong camp with a curriculum devoted to a specific subject area. Students will have the opportunity to focus on that one area without having to balance competing demands on their time. Focus Weeks will utilize lectures, focused reading time, drills, instructor-guided office hours, and instructor-guided file work to prepare students to become experts at a particular skill set. Each Focus Week will be co-led by two instructors with distinction in their subject area and staffed with instructors handpicked for their passion and expertise in a given field.

If you want to be part of the cutting edge in LD instruction, join the inaugural class of Focus Weeks this summer at UCLA!

More About Each Focus Week
Skills/Drills is this year’s version of what has been called “Week 3” in the past. This week emphasizes the application of what was taught during Session 1 (or Session 2) so that students have ample time to practice the implementation of their new knowledge. Each day is dedicated to improving a student’s understanding of a major skill in debate, and experienced students are taught advanced techniques for executing that skill. For example, one day is devoted to the mechanics of giving a successful 1AR, and another day is set aside for answering confusing positions. This week is primarily concerned with making sure that students are able to implement in practice everything they know in principle.

Theory will cover the wide range of “theoretical” issues in LD. Time will be spent comparing the evolution of theory in LD to that of theory in Policy. Students will have opportunities to attend lectures on theoretical issues that are by necessity under-covered during the main two-week experience and to spend significant time doing drills on different hypothetical scenarios centered on various theoretical objections. With the help of instructors, students will produce files on every major theoretical issue in today’s LD, and careful attention will be paid to make sure these briefs are nuanced, thorough, and ready to use in rounds. Though students will generate briefs, they will not be dependent on them. Students will be encouraged to “think beyond the block” by hearing lectures on theory’s interaction with
philosophy, Kritiks, Policy arguments, and every other element in LD. This week will teach students not just to know how to debate theory but also how to anticipate where it is headed over the next few years.

Policy Arguments in LD will cover the integration of Policy arguments in LD, from counterplans to disadvantages to “plan-type” cases. Students will learn the differences and similarities between these arguments in Policy and LD. Careful attention will be paid to stressing the ways in which LD will continue to remain distinct from Policy in the coming years, in addition to the ways in which students can apply Policy arguments to LD with great success. Instructors will guide students to produce applicable files on recurring policy issues, and these briefs will include some of the best and most recent
evidence on each issue. If you think next year’s TOC topic might be another policy-oriented resolution, this week will equip you with everything you need to do well in May.

Kritiks will cover the application of critical theory to debate. Topics, such as but not limited to Critical Legal Studies, Critical Race Theory, Feminism & Queer Theory, Critical International Relations Theory, Normativity, and Ontology, will be covered in lectures, discussions, and guided readings. Students will also learn the mechanics of debating the Kritik, from frameworks and impact calculi to alternatives. Students will have an opportunity to produce detailed and round-ready briefs on the most applicable critical arguments. Students that hope to “bring back the K” will be given every available
resource to do just that during this week.

Philosophy will cover the application of current topics in both analytic and continental philosophy to LD. The curriculum will include lectures and directed readings on normative ethics, metaethics, applied ethics, political philosophy, epistemology, and philosophy of language. Students will develop familiarity with under-utilized philosophers, such as Derek Parfit, Samuel Scheffler, Peter Railton,
as well as learn contemporary adaptations of ideas as old as those of Immanuel Kant. In addition to gaining exposure to various philosophers, students will learn how to think about philosophy clearly and creatively so that they can apply this method of reasoning to every topic during the rest of their careers. And though philosophy permeates every part of debate, students will spend significant time
learning how to apply their advanced understanding of philosophy to developing smarter, more nuanced frameworks and standards analysis in particular. Alumni of this track will likely never run a criterion of “net benefits” again.

Announcing the Leadership for the Focus Weeks

Focus Weeks Directors

Mike Bietz, Director of Debate at Harvard Westlake High School and Managing Director of Victory Briefs.

Tim Case, Director of Debate at Presentation High School and Curriculum Director of VBI.

Neil Conrad, Assistant Coach at The Greenhill School and Curriculum Director of VBI.

Skills/Drills

Anjan Choudhury, Director of Forensics at Walt Whitman High School, one of the most successful programs in history.

Todd Liipfert, Assistant Coach at Walt Whitman High School and 2008 NFL National Champion.

Theory

Patrick Diehl, Assistant Coach at Scarsdale High School and 2007 TOC Champion.

Jake Nebel, Assistant Coach at The Greenhill School and two-time champion of The Greenhill Fall Classic and The Glenbrooks Invitational.

Policy Arguments in LD

Shane Stafford, Director of Forensics at The Blake School and former Coach of the Policy programs at Pace University, Wake Forest University, and Wayne State University.

Chris Theis, Assistant Coach at Trinity Prep School and two-time TOC Champion (2008, 2009).

Kritiks

Wesley Craven, Director of Debate at South Eugene High School and coach of the 2005 NFL LD Runner-Up.

John Lewis, Former Assistant Coach at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory School and 2006 TOC Octa-finalist.

Philosophy

Peter Van Elswyk, Assistant Coach at Harvard-Westlake High School with a B.A. in Philosophy from Biola University.

Ryan Davis, Two-time Arizona State Champion in LD, Coach of the 2003 NFL Nationals Champion, and now a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Philosophy at Princeton University.

Focus Week (s) Support Staff / Assistants
Stephen Babb
Matt Dunay
Karlyn Gorski
Ben Holguin
Christian Keil
Jane Kessner
Ryan Lawrence
Erik Legried
Ben Lewis
Todd Liipfert
David McNeil
Sean Mumper
Ellen Noble
Danielle Smoggard
Catherine Tarsney

Frequently Asked Questions

Will Focus Week curricula replace or repeat curriculum taught during Session 1 or Session 2?
No, all Focus Week curricula will supplement the curriculum taught during Session 1 and Session 2. In this sense, a Focus Week curriculum will build upon information covered during the typical main two-week
session, but it will not replace or repeat it.

The big idea here is that a student will be able to delve much deeper into the details of a particular subject area, which would be impossible in the environment of a main two-week session at any camp.

If I attend another camp for its main two-week session, may I still attend one or more Focus Weeks?
Although we believe it would be best for a student to attend Session 1 or Session 2, since that ensures that a student receives the proper foundation for the Focus Week experience, it is by no means a prerequisite. A student that attends another camp is welcome at our Focus Weeks.

What Focus Weeks do you recommend?
That depends on your own personal goals and interests. If you have a deep interest in an area, I might recommend that one. If you have a weakness in an area, I might recommend that one. If you are strong in one area but don’t have the teammates or coaches during the year that are required to produce effective briefs, I might recommend that area. I recommend that you sign up for as many Focus Weeks as possible. Each Focus Week offers one more opportunity to specialize in an area that could be your key to winning more rounds the following season, and if you have your sights set on elite competitive goals, you will need to be good at every one of these areas.

Will Focus Week curricula be tied to one particular topic from the list of future possible resolutions?
No, a topic will not be chosen for any Focus Week. Unlike a main two-week camp experience that prepares for a particular resolution, all Focus Weeks material will be generally applicable to the season(s) ahead. During Focus Weeks, past topics will be used as starting points for discussion or drills, and each Focus Week will spend some time covering applications of the material to future possible topics, but
no Focus Week will spend an inordinate amount of time on any one topic.

If I attend a Focus Week, will I leave camp with anything concrete to apply during the upcoming debate season?
Yes, every student will leave the Focus Week with round-ready briefs on relevant topics in their subject area.

Is it really imperative that I spend a week studying one subject?
That depends on your own personal goals for your upcoming season and for your development as a debater. It is impossible to become an expert in any of these subjects just by attending a two-week camp
session, and attending any one of the Focus Weeks will make you significantly better at that skill set.

What if I can’t decide which one to choose?
If possible, you should do more than one Focus Week. The curriculum for each Focus Week will be completely and entirely distinct from the curricula of the other Focus Weeks. We have intentionally designed the Focus Weeks so that a highly motivated debater could attend up to three different Focus Weeks and enter the 2010-2011 debate season an expert in multiple fields.

Will going to only one Focus Week make me a one-dimensional debater?
No, students will be encouraged to build on a well-rounded foundation gained during their two-week camp experience. Even if you cannot attend another camp for its two-week main camp session, attending one Focus Week just leaves you that much better at that skill set; the curriculum will not be taught at the expense of a student’s understanding of other elements in debate.

Will there be any interaction among the Focus Week tracks?
Yes, but this interaction will be limited. Social functions will include the student bodies of multiple Focus Week tracks, and there will be opportunities for students to see small snapshots of what
other programs are doing. However, each Focus Week curriculum will be distinct, and students will not have the opportunity to split their time between two programs during the same Focus Week.

Will there be labs in the Focus Weeks?
Yes, but labs will not be a significant element of the Focus Week experience. They will be used to maintain excellent faculty-to-student ratios and ensure small-group discussion and practice times, but
students of every level will be exposed to one another. Notably, the faculty of each Focus Week will teach every student, so students are guaranteed access to every instructor during their week.

Can I repeat the same Focus Week this summer?
No, we do not recommend repeating the same Focus Week. You should use that time to attend another Focus Week.

I’m having trouble visualizing what a Focus Week will look like during the summer – can you help me?
I think the best analogy for imagining a Focus Week is imagining a college-level seminar. You will have a small group of students taught by a faculty that specializes in that subject area. Students will be able to attend detail-oriented lectures on the material, they will have the opportunity to discuss these ideas in close contact with others that are also interested in the subject area, and they will have the freedom to pursue reading and file work that is not covered during a typical “course” (think two-week camp).

I am really worried about “burning out” if I do multiple Focus Weeks in addition to a main two-week camp. Should I still sign up?
Yes! We are sensitive to the fact that some students will be tired from previous camp experiences, and we are ensuring that the formal instruction during each day of a Focus Week will end by 8:00 p.m.
Students will be given ample time to do file work during down time, and students will also have the opportunity to go to sleep early if they so choose. We expect intensity during the hours of formal instruction, but the atmosphere once that instruction ends each day will be relaxed. Additionally, students will not have to worry about the type of assignments that crop up during the typical two-week camp
experience (e.g., cases, case revisions, etc.).

Where can I find out more about the staff for the Focus Weeks?
We will be making additional announcements about staff on VBD, but you can also check out our comprehensive list of staff bios on the VBI 2010 website.