PHOTO: SAID presentation at the conference.

Our correspondent Loke Wing Fatt (lokewf@singnet.com.sg) reports on this event. See the website on the Society for Associated Intertertiary Debaters at http://said.d2dsg.com/view.php?sub=main&page=index .

"THINKING AND SPEAKING A BETTER WORLD": International Conference on Argumentation, Rhetoric, Debate and the Pedagogy of Empowerment, Koper, Slovenia ( 24th to 26th Nov)

Jointly organised by Dr Igor Zagar, Educational Research Institute & University of Primorska, Slovenia, Ms Bojana Skrt, Za In Proti, Za Kulturo Dialoga, Slovenia, and Dr Alfred Charles "Tuna" Snider, World Debate Institute, USA, this academic Conference was held over 3 days at the picturesque coastal town of Koper in Slovenia.  Over 120 professors, teachers, students and education officials from around the globe attended this event, which was packed solid with 80 papers presented on theme of "Thinking and Speaking a Better World".

Two papers entitled, "The Asians Debate Format: An Introduction & Evaluation" and "The Role of SAID in Debate Education in Asia" were jointly presented by 3 SAID members, Cheong Eng Min, Hewlens Wong and Loke Wing Fatt on 24th and 26th Nov, respectively.

The Conference was an invaluable opportunity for us to learn and share in an environment of collegiality and camaraderie.  For that, we wish to thank Dr Igor and our genial friends, Tuna and Bojana.