Society
The Utrecht Debating Society (UDS) is an inclusive student debating society where students come together to debate different current topics. Due to our openness to all students in Utrecht, UDS has a diverse group of students who will never shy away from an interesting conversation.
At UDS, members can be as active as they want to be. Different people join us for various reasons. Some members like us most because of our exciting talks when enjoying a beer in the bar. Others join us mainly to improve their debating skills; some are always excited to join our monthly social events. UDS is a small, tight society, ensuring everybody knows each other. Even though debates can get very heated, UDS is known for its easygoing atmosphere outside the debate.
Our society has committees, dinner clubs and fun activities. We go on weekend trips, dine together, organise events for our members and participate in inter(national) debating tournaments. In short: at UDS, fun and debating are all around.
Evenings
Wednesday night is UDS night! Every Wednesday at 19:30, we meet in the Locke building on the UCU campus. We debate in Dutch and English about various topics, ranging from economics to politics and from philosophy to religion. We improve our members’ skills in argumentation, presentation and public speaking. We debate in a format named British Parliamentary Debating (BP-debating). In this format, you debate in teams of two, and everyone gets individual speaker time to discuss the subject they are given. Furthermore, we regularly provide workshops – which are provided by the best (inter)national speakers.
This means you don’t have to be scared you’re not capable of out-screaming the people in front of you. In the end, a judging panel decides who wins based on how convincing your arguments are. You can read more about BP-debating by clicking here.
We end the evening in our favourite bar: ‘t Pandje! We enjoy the best side of Utrecht’s student nightlife with the other UDS members in this beautiful place.