AUK Students to Represent Kurdistan at Iraq Universities Debate Championship in Qatar

On February 25, 2024, The University of Kurdistan Hewlêr (UKH) hosted the Kurdistan Region-Iraq Universities Debate Championship (KRIUDC), which was organized by The Rwanga Foundation and The International Academy for Leadership & Development (IALD). Students from the American University of Kurdistan (AUK) emerged victorious and will represent Kurdistan in the national debate competition in Qatar. The winner of that event will represent Iraq in a competition against other Arabic-speaking nations.

Each of the four universities represented at the competition—AUK, the University of Zakho (UoZ), Cihan University-Erbil, and Charmo University—sent a team of four students to debate in Arabic on a variety of subjects. Students were required to prepare for both arguments since they were not informed as to their assigned position. During the initial round, the AUK team, comprised of Dalal Bashar, Zahraa Mohammed, Maram Riadth, and Aesha Taha, presented counterarguments from Zakho University regarding the subject of patient-psychiatrist confidentiality. In the championship round facing Cihan University-Erbil, the AUK team argued on the principle of reward and punishment in the workplace.

“Debate is a way to exercise and stimulate all your skills, making you feel the need to invoke all the mental abilities you possess,” AUK sophomore architecture students said, adding: “A main factor in our win today was the fact that at AUK students get to practice these types of skills through workshops and student club engagement.”

As exemplified by the University’s theme of February, “Achieving a Sustainable World,” AUK promotes worldwide interconnectedness through academic achievement as a component of its tenth anniversary initiative. The institution is honored to host a diverse cohort of students hailing from different ethnic, cultural, and religious heritages, who serve as representatives of the University on an international stage while concurrently highlighting the impact our students, faculty, and staff have on the constructive transformations taking place in Kurdistan and beyond.

Victorious AUK Students Will Compete in a Nationwide Debate Tournament on behalf of Duhok