Welcome to the Premier DC website, the homepage for all content and information relating to Premier Debate’s 2017 Lincoln-Douglas debate camp in Washington, D.C. Click the links above or scroll to learn more!
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Curriculum
Three Week Session July 16 (Sunday) – August 5 (Saturday). The camp will start off with an introduction to the topic and a chance to get to know those around you. After students have had a chance to get a tour of campus, get set up with their labs, and get comfortable, we will settle in to the following routine:
1) Morning lab – throughout the three week session, students will spend time with their lab, a class grouped by skill level and interests with about a dozen students and three faculty. Premier will maintain a balance between senior staff with experience teaching and recently graduated students. Lab content is guided but ultimately up to the discretion of the lab leaders based on their assessment of the students’ skills. In the morning session, lab leaders will likely review assignments and run a few drills to get students prepared and ready for the day.
2) Core lecture and core drills – students will attend lectures on the camp core that will be tailored to their skill level. E.g. novices or debaters with only one year of experience may take Intro to Kantianism while the most experienced debaters will take an advanced lecture on contemporary disagreements within Kantianism, different metaethical approaches employed by Kantians, and their responses to critics.
3) Lunch provided by Premier– Students will have access to dining facilities at GWU.
4) Afternoon lab – up to the discretion of the lab leaders. This may include practice debates, drills, or supplementary lecture material. In the second week, practice debates will be a daily feature of all labs.
5) Elective lecture – students will have the option to attend lectures on subjects of their choosing. No elective lectures will be recycled from previous years’ teaching; all lecturers are required to write new material from scratch.
6) Dinner provided by Premier.
7) Evening scheduling will vary – this period may include office hours where students get 1-on-1 instructional time with faculty of their choosing, special demonstrations such as debates among the top students (or staff), and guest lectures.
In the final stretch of camp we will provide a full tournament experience to get students ready for the year. We will also have two free days interspersed throughout camp and an opportunity to see all of the historic sites and monuments that DC has to offer.
Travel
Three Week Washington D.C. Session
What are the travel dates for my session?
Arrival: July 16th
Departure: August 5th
On arrival day we are able to accommodate a wide range of arrival times so that people traveling from out of state can have more flexibility when booking flights. Early afternoon arrival (~2PM) is best. On departure day students need to be out of the facilities by noon.
What airport should I fly in to?
Students are responsible for making travel arrangements from their home to the campus. For those traveling from out of town, three major airports serve the DC area: Ronald Reagan (DCA), Dulles (IAD), and Baltimore (BWI). Ronald Reagan is twenty minutes from campus, Dulles is forty minutes, and Baltimore is one hour.
Is transportation from the airport provided?
Yes. Students flying in to Ronald Reagan will be met at the airport by one of our staff in a bright Premier Debate t-shirt. They’ll then be brought to GWU for on-campus registration. Because of the size of the city and amount of airports, we will not be able to provide transportation to students traveling in from those other airports.
What if my child is flying to camp but is under the age of 15?
You will either need to accompany them to registration or have them fly as an unaccompanied minor. Different airlines have slightly different policies, but in general you will need to notify us in advance if you would like to take this option. We’ll give you the name of a staff member that you provide to the airline and they will meet them at the gate and bring them to on-campus registration.
Are there any other camp costs besides the listed tuition?
No. All major costs including food and lodging are provided for in the cost of tuition. We do recommend that students bring a little bit of spending money to be able to purchase something they forgot to pack, laundry if needed, or the occasional snack. It’s also a camp tradition to have dinner at the end of the session with the student’s lab group at one of the casual dining restaurants nearby, so we ask that the parents provide some cash to cover this one meal out.
What should I pack?
- Clothes/Toiletries
Students should pack sufficient clothes and toiletries for three weeks. Students will have access to a paid laundry in the dorms (they are operated using cash rather than coins). The rooms have towels, washcloths, sheets, pillows, etc. in them already.
- Technology
We highly recommend the use of a laptop computer for research and writing purposes. If a student does not have a laptop to use for camp, there is a computer lab, but this means a student won’t be able to take notes on a laptop in lecture or collaborate as easy with lab-mates. Make sure that the laptop is in good working condition since we’ll dive into the topic as soon as possible at camp. Getting a laptop back up and running is not something you want to be doing while everyone else is working on the topic.
- Debate Materials
Please bring pens and paper for flowing. We recommend loose-leaf printer paper rather than a notebook or legal pad. If you have old flows of previous debate rounds from this season, please bring those with you, as they will be helpful for doing drills at camp.
- Spending Money
All major costs including food and lodging are provided for, but we do recommend that students bring a little bit of spending money to be able to purchase something they forgot to pack, laundry if needed, or the occasional snack. It’s also a camp tradition to have dinner at the end of the session with the student’s lab group at one of the casual dining restaurants nearby, so we ask that the parents provide some cash to cover this one meal out.
- Games / Books
There are scheduled activities every day, but as this is an overnight camp, there is some down time, especially in the evenings. Having some light reading or a board game is a good way to relax after a long day of debating!
Location
Premier DC will be located on the Mount Vernon Campus of George Washington University.
“The Vern,” as it’s affectionately known, provides open green spaces and access to athletic facilities including a gym, tennis courts, soccer/lacrosse and softball fields and even an outdoor pool. The campus is home to other amenities including Eckles Library, a black box theater and classroom and laboratory spaces.
Students and staff will live in the residence halls, work in the lounges, and attend debate lab in classrooms across the quad.