World Scholar's Cup（WSC） - ASDAN CHINA 阿思丹学院

Letter from the Founder

The artist Austin Kleon once advised his students, "Draw the art you want to see, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use."

In designing the World Scholar's Cup, my team and I have always kept something similar in mind: to design a program we wish we could have attended when we were students.

That's why the World Scholar's Cup may look like a competition, but isn't one at all. It's a celebration of learning. (Just ask the "ninjas" who raided the Taiwan Round in 2012 to demand more guides to study.) It brings together many subjects, because before we can begin to specialize, we need to see the big picture. It challenges teams to work together, because there's nothing harder or more inspiring than knowing that someone else depends on you. And it deals with serious global issues without taking itself too seriously, because I'm convinced that before we can fall in love with learning, we have to find the fun in learning.

Whether you join us just for just a regional round or continue with us all the way to the Tournament of Champions at Yale University, you're becoming part of a community of scholars and leaders that will last a lifetime.

Daniel Berdichevsky

Founder and Alpaca-in-Chief

Mr. Daniel Berdichevsky

Daniel Berdichevsky is the program's founder and alpaca-in-chief. In high school, he stood out from quite a few well-known academic challenges in the United States and was considered a professional nerd ever since. For Daniel, these challenges were lifechanging: they introduced him to the joy of teamwork, inspired him to overcome his fear of public speaking, and launched him into college with new confidence. It was after studying science, technology, and society and public policy at Stanford and then public policy at Harvard that Daniel had three realizations: first, that there were very few opportunities like the ones he had been given for students around the world; second, that such a global program could be for students in the 21st century what those academic challenges had been for him in the 20th; and, third, that he had just discovered his life’s work. Daniel has also led strategic innovation for CASIO, worked (with great non-success) in venture capital, and attempted (with even greater non-success) to write musicals. Daniel loves little more (except maybe the song Havana) than meeting and learning from students around the world.

Regional Round

Language

English

Locations

Partner schools

Qualification

Junior Division: born after January 1, 2005

Senior Division: born before January 1, 2005

Scale

100-300 students/round

Regional Round

Global Round

Language

English

Location

Beijing, Astana
Hague-Amsterdam
Sydney, Manila, Durban

Qualification

Automatic Invitation

Scale

2500-4500 students/ round

Global Round

Tournament of Champions

Language

English

Location/Official Supporter

Yale University

Qualification

Top performing teams
from the Global Round
are invited

Scale

2500 students

Tournament of Champions

Science: Enabling Technologies

Social Studies：On The Edges of Society

History: Neglected Histories

Art&Music：Louder than Words

Literature：Voices from the Margins

Special Area：Unsolved Mysteries

Team Debate

Debate is a chance for participants to apply everything they have learned as a team to make the most persuasive case possible. Each team debates three times against teams from three other schools or countries. The format is meant to challenge new and experienced debaters alike. Two-thirds of participants are first-time debaters.
Motions come from all the subject areas; participants may be debating questions of global policy or the meaning of a poem. After each round, teams give one another constructive feedback. Winning teams then go on to face other winners and non-winning teams go on to face other non-winners.

Scholar's Challenge

The Scholar's Challenge isn't a test of what the participants remember: it's a test of what they understand. It looks like any other multiple-choice test, but with an alpaca-powered twist: you can mark more than one answer per question. The fewer you mark, the more points you can earn. While the event may not be fun, its outcome is: apply your knowledge of the six subjects successfully and you'll win prizes like a gold medal in art, or a silver in science—or both. Neck braces available at check-in.

Regional Round Agenda

DAY 1	8:00-9:00	Sign in and register
	9:00-10:30	Opening ceremony
	10:30-13:30	Team Debate
	13:30-14:30	Lunch
	14:30-16:30	Collaborative Writing
	16:30-17:45	Scholar's Challenge
DAY 2	8:00-8:30	Arrive
	8:30-11:30	Scholar's Bowl
	11:45-12:45	Lunch
	12:45-14:00	Debate Showcase
	14:00-15:00	Scholar's Show*
	15:00-16:30	Awarding Ceremony

*The Scholar's Show is an optional talent show, a chance for students to share something with the audience, even if they are not experienced performers. (Whether it's a student from Singapore pretending to be Obama, or a Bulgarian team introducing us to a traditional dance, every single performance is unique.) At each round, a Debate Showcase is also hosted— when top individual debaters from different schools, as nominated by the judges, are put together to debate on the stage in front of the entire audience, concluding with a community discussion within the whole crowd.

Note:
The agenda might be adjusted according to the actual circumstance；
Each student can only participate once a year in the regional round.

You'll discover our annual Tournament of Champions, hosted by the Yale International Relations Association at Yale University. The Tournament of Champions is more than just another Global Round. You'll have the chance to interact with and learn directly from Yale students and faculty. You'll attend a special panel on college life and on how to leverage your World Scholar's Cup experience as part of your admissions portfolio. You'll meet our keynote speakers, including a Yale University professor. And you'll come away knowing what it's like to be a student at one of the world's greatest universities.

Instead of focusing on memorizing facts, WSC is all about applying them and relating them to the world around us. You don't need to know that Victor Hugo was a realist; you need to know what artwork might have interested him the most. Whatever you do, you're celebrating learning, even if you don't think you like learning.Is it challenging? Yes. Can it be frightening? Yes.Will it be fun? Absolutely. Welcome to the World Scholar's Cup; welcome to the greatest festival of learning in the world.

Terran Kroft

New Zealand

Thank you for giving me motivation not just to gain more knowledge, but also to share that knowledge with others.

Thiri Tun

Singapore

Scholar's Cup made me a more active person with wonderful new memories and friends. I became more passionate about the arts and I really started appreciating innovative ideas.

Valida Pantsulaia

America

Not only were the topics extremely engaging and unique, the whole idea of the program was thrilling: debating with other international delegates, furiously scribbling essays on various subjects (like the Psychology of War!), clenching the clicker tightly and getting all ready to press the buttons...

Nicole Tan

America