World Scholar's Cup
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A Celebration of Learning
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For scholars of all ages
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Teams of Three
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No limit on teams per school
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Lead your team to Yale university
Qualify for our annual finale, hosted by the Yale International Relations Association
Qualify for our annual finale
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Four Events
1. Team Debate
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Four Events
2. Scholar's Bowl
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Four Events
3. Collarborative writing
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Four Events
4. Scholar's Challenge
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Team & Individual Achievement
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Attend a regional round near you
Or apply to host your own
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Share your thoughts
Community Discussions
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Share your traditions
Cultural Fair
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Share your talents - and untalents
Scholar's Show
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Dance free
Scholar's Ball
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2019 global theme
A World On the Margins
WSC Regional Round
Rounds
- September 2020 - May 2021
Notes: Choose only one round.
Team Requirements
- Form a team of three yourself. All students are welcome.
Scoring and Advancement
- Scoring: Collective score in Collaborative Speech amounts to the total of individual scores and that in Scholar's Bowl will be based on the accumulation of right answers.
- 25%: Each part takes up 50% of the overall collective score.
- 50%: Those whose overall collective performance are ranked top 50% in
each division will be quali ed for the 2020 WSC Global Round.
3 Highlights
Form a Team
Form a Team
Play as a 3-member team and be better prepared for the Global Round
Meet Team Challenges
Meet Team Challenges
Compete with the ablest in Collaborative Speech, Scholar's Bowl and Debate Showcase
Have Fun
Have Fun
Make your vows to adopt a Jerry and show your talents and untalents
Welcome Letter
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.World Scholar's Cup spreads over 70 countries，140+cities
Advancement
Weekends, two days
Regional Round
Senior Division: born before January 1, 2006
July 2021, 4 Days
National Round
November 2021, 8 Days
Tournament of Champions
from the Global Round
are invited
Subjects
Each year, all teams explore and debate a current global theme, exploring subjects that range from Science to Literature to Social Studies—and more.
Theme 2020:
A World Renewed
Science & Technology: To Edit a Planet
Social Studies: Out with the Old
History: The History of Succession
Art & Music: Second Chances, Second Glances
Literature & Media: Reboots, Sequels, and Reconsiderations
Special Area: Mistakes & Recoveries
Team Events
Scholar's Bowl
Collaborative Writing
Debate with the power of your pen. You'll be given six statements, each from a different subject area, and asked to choose one to argue for or against. You'll first have 25 minutes to prepare with your teammates, then an 45= by yourself to compose the most persuasive essay possible, then 15 more minutes to work together at the end. Here's the catch: each member of your team has to choose a different topic.
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.
