Spartan Debate Institute

05/15/2026

This lecture series from Maggie Berthiaume, Director of Debate at Woodward Academy, covers some key concepts within in the 2026-2027 policy debate topic abou...

06/03/2025

Parts two and three of the FREE Arctic topic introduction lectures are up now!

This lecture series from Maggie Berthiaume, Director of Debate at Woodward Academy, covers some key concepts within in the 2025-2026 high school policy debat...

05/27/2025

Free lectures on the upcoming high school Arctic topic are out now!

This lecture series from Maggie Berthiaume, Director of Debate at Woodward Academy, covers some key concepts within in the 2025-2026 high school policy debat...

07/20/2023

We put together a blog post (with evidence!) about the upcoming high school topic based on reading a taxes aff on last year's college topic. You can read it here: https://bit.ly/MMTBlogPost

Kevin McCaffrey, MSU Debate Assistant Coach, has put together a blog series about the upcoming high school topic based on experience from reading a tax affirmative on last year's college topic.

Today's post is about “fiscal redistribution” and “tax and transfer” schemes in the context of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and Pigouvian taxes.

👉 https://bit.ly/MMTBlogPost

06/21/2023

Wondering what to expect on the upcoming economic inequality topic for high school? We put together a lecture series with Maggie Berthiaume, Director of Debate at Woodward Academy, to introduce the topic. Please share with any interested debaters or coaches!

Topic Lecture Part 1 --- https://bit.ly/23TopicLecturePart1
Topic Lecture Part 2 --- https://bit.ly/23TopicLecturePart2
Student Notes Outline --- https://bit.ly/23TopicStudentNotes

Part 1 PowerPoint --- https://bit.ly/23TopicPP1
Part 2 PowerPoint --- https://bit.ly/23TopicPP2

12/22/2022

MSU Debate will not be hosting a summer camp in 2023. Experimenting with different modes of engagement and sources of sustainable funding over the last few years has us excited to instead use this summer to reimagine how we can best serve our students and the debate community. We will miss seeing you in East Lansing – but we promise not to be strangers. 💚

10/17/2022

Are you a prospective debater looking to compare college programs or a high school coach looking for college resources for your debaters? We're getting together a shared resource answering common questions about different college programs.
👉https://bit.ly/CollegeDebateListings

07/18/2022

The SDI demonstration debate is posted! It features several staff members debating the upcoming policy topic about emerging technology in NATO.

Demonstration debate at the 2022 Spartan Debate Institute (SDI) about the 2022-2023 policy debate topic - NATO emerging technology.1A - Joanna Gusis, MSU2A -...

07/11/2022

We've posted two videos from Maggie Berthiaume, SDI instructor, introducing the history of NATO for coaches and students preparing for next year's high school policy topic.
👉https://youtu.be/0CF4inZJVjo
👉https://youtu.be/E4dXuQlZv44

This lecture from Maggie Berthiaume at the Spartan Debate Institute (SDI) will introduce NATO in preparation for the 2022-2023 high school debate topic.

07/07/2022

We'll be sharing some of the online lectures from the SDI this summer for students and coaches preparing for the upcoming season. Up first? Introduction to the NATO topic terms from MSU Debate Coach Bruce Najor

This lecture from Bruce Najor at the Spartan Debate Institute (SDI) will introduce terms in the NATO topic for 2022-2023 high school policy debate.

05/16/2022

We still have a few slots available for the 2022 SDI! There are three sessions offered to fit students at all levels of experience.
Apply here 👉 https://bit.ly/applySDI