The Research Tri­an­gle Foren­sics Insti­tute Pub­lic Forum Debate Camp is for any stu­dent who has com­peted in Pub­lic Forum Debate or would like to try the event next year. Instruc­tion will be indi­vid­u­al­ized based on each student’s cur­rent level of expe­ri­ence and cur­rent skills. Focus­ing on the pri­mary mis­sion of the event, the camp will stress strong ora­tor­i­cal deliv­ery with solid research and analy­sis. As Pub­lic Forum is a debate event, part of the week will involve case writ­ing, argu­men­ta­tion struc­ture, and topic analy­sis. We will also spend much time on refu­ta­tion style and word­ing. Stu­dents will par­tic­i­pate in sev­eral grand and indi­vid­ual cross­fire ses­sions with indi­vid­ual analy­sis by pro­gram instruc­tors. The week will cul­mi­nate in a mini “chal­lenge tour­na­ment” among par­tic­i­pants. This is a day camp, tak­ing place on the NC State cam­pus in Raleigh, North Car­olina, which has computer-equipped class­rooms for research. The course runs from 8:30am until 5pm, July 17 – 21.

The Research Tri­an­gle Foren­sics Insti­tute Pub­lic Forum Debate Camp will be taught and directed by Jason Kline. Jason is cur­rently a coach at Myers Park High School in Char­lotte, NC and serves on the NFL Pub­lic Forum Debate Res­o­lu­tion Word­ing Com­mit­tee. He has coached stu­dents to NFL Nation­als in PFD every year it has been an event, with his team plac­ing 8th in 2005. Addi­tion­ally, he has had many teams break and place in PFD at var­i­ous national tour­na­ments, includ­ing Wake For­est, The Glen­brooks, Lex­ing­ton, and Emory. The Insti­tute also offers camps for Lincoln-Douglas Debate (taught by Jason Bald­win) Extem­po­ra­ne­ous Speak­ing (Steve Conaway) and Stu­dent Con­gress (Jonathan Peele) Con­tact Car­ole Hamil­ton, Insti­tute Direc­tor, for more information.