NCA – CIDD Virtual Debate

The Committee for International Discussion and Debate (CIDD), in partnership with NCA, presents an International Public Debate Demonstration on Jan. 16, 2026 from 4-6pm, EST. This debate will feature four teams of student debaters representing the U.S., Japan, Slovenia, and Tanzania. This fully online event highlights the power of dialogue across borders and the generative possibilities of deliberation in motion.

Modeled on British Parliamentary debate, but adapted for the session’s interactive, public-facing format, the demonstration emphasizes stylistic diversity, contrasting argument traditions, and the rich communicative practices that emerge when students from different cultural, linguistic, and educational contexts engage one another. Though competitive in structure, the event is friendly and celebratory, focusing on the values of collaboration, listening, and global connection.

The event draws on NCA’s 2026 Convention theme of MOVE/MENTS as a condition of human experience in the 21st century that is capable of both bringing together and disrupting ideas, technologies, bodies, disciplines, and politics. Movement is critical to the meaning-making communication scholars and students bring across society, cultures, and fields.

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