Shawn has been involved with competitive speech & debate since 1990 and is an ardent believer in the educational merits of interscholastic forensics. to that effect, he authored the article “Forensics Education: Enhancing Civic Literacy and Democracy” for Principal Leadership in May 2009. He believes the activity promotes authentic learning of concepts at the heart of the standard curriculum, while doing so in a unique environment that is competitive, cooperative, social, and extremely fun!
He has coached and taught at both the high school and the collegiate levels, and he has been heavily involved in promoting debate and coaching development in Alaska, Missouri, and China. His philosophy that the activity should primarily be about promoting growth and education, while secondarily being a fun activity for students has proven competitively successful for students. Over the years, he has coached multiple students to team and individual state championships in policy debate, Lincoln Douglas Debate, congressional debate, and extemporaneous speaking. His debaters have earned speaker awards and/or advanced to elimination rounds at the National Speech & Debate Association’s national championship tournament, the National Association for Urban Debate League’s urban debate championship, the Tournament of Champions hosted by the University of Kentucky, the National Catholic Forensic League’s grand national tournament, the United States Universities Debating Championships, and the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC). He was also the assistant coach at the University of Alaska Anchorage during the team’s rise to a #9 world ranking, which was achieved while advancing three teams to elimination rounds at the WUDC in 2011 & 2012.
Shawn has a B.S. in Political Science from the United States Air Force Academy, an M.A. in Intercultural Communication, Politics, & Area Studies from the University of Oklahoma, and an M.A. in Teaching (social studies) from the University of Alaska Anchorage.
Shawn has published three books, including Policy Debate: A Guide for High School and College Debaters for Southern Illinois University Press. He served as lead author and editor for the anthology, Why Debate: Transformed by Academic Discourse, which received accolades from the National Speech & Debate Association, Foreword Clarion Reviews (“5 Stars”), the U.S. Review of Books (“RECOMMENDED”), and Readers’ Favorite (“5 Stars”). He also served as the lead author and editor of the Companion Guide for Speech & Debate Coaches, which has been lauded as an excellent resource for teachers and coaches across the country. All three books are available on Amazon, as well as through other book retailers.
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