Research and Programming Intern

The Washington Urban Debate League (WUDL) is making transformative opportunities available for under-served students in the D.C. area. Peer-reviewed research shows that debate is one of the best things a student can do with their out of school time, building life-long and career oriented skills that can’t be automated or outsourced. Sadly, debate is often only found at elite private and suburban schools. WUDL trains middle and high school students attending public schools (especially Title 1 Schools) to advocate for themselves and provides a pathway to college and career readiness that compliments traditional instruction. 

In the first 5 years, we’ve served thousands of students from more than 50 public schools in D.C. and the surrounding counties (we’re following the gentrification patterns to ensure we work with the students who need us the most). D.C. is rapidly gentrifying and its lower-income residents need irreplaceable life and career skills to be competitive in a cut-throat market.

To expand our programming and hopefully prepare for the return of in-person competition in 2021-22, we need to expand our capacity. WUDL staff can only be so many places at once, and interns can help! We offer mostly flexible hours and the ability to work 100% remotely.

Those interested must:

·       Have a background in high school or college competitive debate, preferably policy debate

·       be a self-starter who can work independently and juggle multiple priorities

·       be able to arrange/provide their own transit to and from events

Duties:

·       Provide tournament support for local competitions and WUDL Travel Team tournaments. Schedules available on our website;

·       Conduct independent policy debate research as directed by WUDL staff, likely on the 2021-22 debate topic;

·       Organize and process previous research and evidence into usable, searchable database;

·       Work with program staff to on feedback and ballot analysis project to better support coaches ·       Judge practice debates, visit practices, and other as needed instructional support;

·       Identify new ways to reach out to potential volunteers, and assist with volunteer training;

·       Work with WUDL staff to support internal research and program evaluation efforts.

Interested students should submit a resume, cover letter, and two references to david.trigaux@urbandebate.org

*Stipend is for the semester, but handshake doesn't have an option for that.