About This Journal
The National Developmental Conference on Individual Events (NDC-IE) meets periodically to discuss forensics pedagogy and philosophy, objectives, and national tournament structure. This collection contains published conference proceedings from 1988, 1990, 1997, 2000, 2008, and 2010.
The First NDC-IE conference was held in Denver, Colorado in the summer of 1988. A total of 81 participants met for 3 days to regroup, reflect, and plan the future of forensics. By breaking into panel sessions for presentations and discussions the participants collaborated to reach consensus on guidelines for the future of the activity. The first NDC-IE included papers written on topics ranging from judge training to the role of graduate assistants to fostering better connections with high school programs to ethics in forensics. The conference concluded with a general business meeting where participants proposed resolutions for the forensics community and the governing organizations to consider.
The Second NDC-IE conference occurred two years later in Mankato, Minnesota in the summer of 1990. A total of 81 participants met to discuss topics such as new coaches, judge training, recruitment, community college programs, the AFA-NIET qualification process and ethical uses of evidence.
The Third NDC-IE conference occurred seven years later in Houston, Texas. It was hosted by Rice University and Tyler Junior College in the summer of 1997. A total of 40 participants met and addressed key issues such as judge training and tournament management. In addition, this NDC-IE was also marked by timely discussion of NPDA and NFA-LD.
The Fourth NDC-IE conference occurred eleven years later in Peoria, Illinois. It was hosted by Bradley University in the summer of 2008. This NDC-IE included the largest attendance ever with a total of 93 participants. The topics discussed included: research, the role of a DOF, growth of programs, ethics in forensics, tournament administration, education/competitive duality, growth of the activity and debate and IE relationships.
The Fifth NDC-IE was hosted two years later in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the summer of 2010. A total of 90 participants presented papers discussing public speaking events, limited preparation events, oral interpretation events, forensic leadership issues, forensics and service learning and tournament assessment.