Damani,+Farhan

Farhan Damani Greenhill School ‘12 Johns Hopkins University ‘16

I debated for four years at Greenhill School in Dallas, Texas. I coach LD debate at Loyola Blakefield in Baltimore, Maryland.

I debated primarily on the national circuit and have a pretty good understanding of the “technical” parts of debate.

Here are a few important things to note:

1) I like to see topic specific debates where both sides have well researched positions and are prepared to defend their advocacy. 2) I enjoy //good// theory debates that are contextualized to the topic although this does not mean that you should sacrifice topic specific debate for a theory debate. I default to viewing theory as an issue of competing interpretations, but I am persuaded by reasonability arguments so long as you outline a set criterion for what is reasonable. This does NOT mean I won’t discount absurd theory arguments. I also default to dropping the argument not the debater. Please spend time explaining the violation. If you don’t, I will be persuaded by “I meet” arguments. Impacting theory to other things besides general appeals to fairness and education (like advocacy skills, critical thinking, information processing, or even a specific type of fairness/education) will not only get you high speaker points, but will make your theory arguments way more persuasive. Please don’t read long “theory shells.” Make the argument on the flow and efficiently. Weighing is critical in later speeches. 3) Topicality – I enjoy good topicality debates where debaters clearly explain the types of AFFs that are topical and why this AFF is excluded. Reading good evidence from the literature is key. 4) I don’t think cases require a standard/value criterion. So long as you impact your arguments well and explain //why// I should care about an argument, you’re fine. 5) I like philosophy and policy debates equally. 6) Evidence ethics – don’t read miscut evidence in front of me, or I will drop you. If you do not have a citation for a piece of evidence, I will not evaluate it. 7) My threshold for case extensions is lower than LD community norms. So long as the argument was explained clearly the first time, please don’t waste your time reiterating the argument. Spend that valuable time impacting and weighing against your opponent’s arguments. I’m probably more lenient on 2NR/2AR weighing than most, so definitely do it! 8) Speed is fine. Clarity is key.

Feel free to ask me questions before the round and please be respectful to your opponent. Good luck!