Commitment

We are thoroughly committed to creating high-quality, competitive, and dedicated educational opportunities for our students. We're not-for-profit, which is an expression of our core values.

Competition

We believe in doing as much as possible to make your experience at camp a chance for you to learn, and help build your skills as a competitor. We hope to impart the skills necessary to competitive success, as well as the knowledge required to help your teammates when you get back home.

Community

We're serious about building a strong, vibrant, and engaged community. We work to build that sense of community at camp, as well as working to improve the forensics community as a whole. We believe that community is what makes this activity, and our camp work so well.

Dates and Location

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SWSDI 2019 is July 5th – July 19th

Registration is now open!

Our curriculum is an intensive 9AM – 9PM series of classes, practice rounds, and coaching each day. We provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner to our students, and we set aside some time for recreation during camp to avoid burnout.

SWSD@ASU is located at Barrett: The Honors College at Arizona State University in downtown Tempe, Arizona. Barrett is a state-of-the-art facility that features comfortable dormitories, high-tech classroom facilities, and extraordinary security measures to guarantee the comfort and safety of our students.

Cost of Attendance

SWSD@ASU offers some of the best, most competitive pricing in the industry. We believe everybody should be able to get the experience of debate camp, no matter what their economic situation might be. We are a not-for-profit camp, and we do our best to provide financial aid to those who might need it.

  • Two-week Camps
  • $1245 (resident)
  • $930 (commuter)
  • SWSD@ASU offers two-week intensive instruction in these events.
  • Lincoln-Douglas Debate
  • Policy Debate
  • Pick one event from session A, and one from session B
  • One-week Camps
  • $880 (resident)
  • $660 (commuter)
  • SWSD@ASU offers one week workshops in these events.
  • Public Forum (Session A)
  • Original Oratory (Session A)
  • Congressional Debate (Session B)
  • Interp Events (Session B)
  • Extemporaneous Speaking (Session B)

Our Curriculum

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We pride ourselves on our curriculum because we believe in adapting it each year based on the needs of the circuit, novice and returning campers, and the feedback we receive at the end of each camp.

Our curricula are designed to be intense, practice-driven investigations of the events that we offer. Our expert staff works tirelessly to create lectures, drills, activities, and exercises that hone skills, and build knowledge.

Learn More

Frequently Asked Questions

How are you connected to ASU?
ASU Forensics in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication has assumed management of Southwest Speech and Debate. The ASU Forensics team has a long history of excellence, and is striving to improve the community by continuing to offer a top-quality camp experience that is affordable and accessible.
Can I do one week of a two-week event?
Our curriculum is carefully planned to use every minute of camp for something productive, with each lesson and activity leading into the next skill. Regardless whether the student is a novice or advanced, the student will miss important parts of the camp experience.
How are students supervised?
Students spend the majority of their time 9 am to 9 pm with their coaches in lab, and eat meals together in the dining hall or on ASU’s campus. After 9 pm, once students are all back inside the Barrett gates and the commuters have gone home, they are supervised by the resident coaches who all stay on the same floors with our students.
What happens if I can’t stay the whole time?
Occasionally we do have students who need to come late or leave early. We can prorate the expenses for rooms and meals if we have the information in advance.
What is the schedule every day?
We have breakfast at 8, begin labs at 9, and have lectures and activities until 9 pm each evening. Bed check is at 11 pm.
I am a coach, is there any way for me to come learn about these events?
We do a multitude of coaching scholarships each year. Please contact the camp director for more information.
Aren’t they ever going to have any fun?
We think speech and debate IS fun. This is an academic, competitive camp for students who have competed or want to compete in Speech and Debate. Students will be busy doing something they love, but we won’t be spending hours and hours off task – even our games are designed to help students become better speakers, listeners, and thinkers.

More FAQ’s

Contact Us

Our Address

Southwest Speech and Debate @ASU
P.O. Box 25404
Tempe, AZ 85282-5404
info@swsdi.org

Contacting SWSD@ASU

If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to send us an email using our email address printed to the left, or the contact form on the right. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

Use this form to contact SWSD@ASU with any questions or concerns.