Two Harvard Students are celebrating after they were announced winners at a world debate forum held in India in early January.
Ben D. Sprung-Keyser, an economics concentrator said he recently researched Indian labor markets, while Joshua P. Zoffer is studying economic history. They won the coveted crown at a debating competition called “Worlds,”.
It was the 34th World Universities Debating Championship and the pair became the first Harvard team to win it in over years, The Harvard Crimson said.
Harvard said the team won after debating the adoption of “radical free-market policies” in the final round of the contest, held between Dec. 28, 2013 to Jan. 3, 2014 in Chennai, India.
The competition had Students from over 300 universities competing in the prestigious international tournament, hosted annually by the World Universities Debating Council.
The discussed labor market reforms, foreign direct investment, and the privatization of state-owned enterprises, and talked of their delight at talking about a topic they felt passionate about.
According to The Harvard Crimson, the pair began preparing for the tournament last year "by reading about current events, watching videos of past debates, and competing in tournaments at Yale University, the University of Toronto, and the University of Cambridge."
Tournament participants competed using the British parliamentary debate format, which, for the winners is different from formats popular in the United States, but had to work hard to overcome any huddles.
And Julia L. Fetherston, their coach said preparing them for the competition was like trying to help an NFL player switch to soccer (football) or rugby - within six months.
She said the contestants were assigned topics fifteen minutes before each debate begins and the tournament featured topics that ranged from cosmetic surgery to drug policy.
The diversity of possible topics, the coach said, demanded “a wide general knowledge that makes the format particularly challenging—and the wonderful performances even more impressive.”
Image Credit: Ben D. Sprung-Keyser/The Harvard Crimson.
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