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LATEST NEWS
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 Coaching Staff
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The Directors | Assistant Coaches | Coaching Alumni
A successful collegiate debate program requires hard-working students and committed coaches. USC has been directed by outstanding directors since Alan Nichols, who directed the program from 1921 to 1956. Through support from the Annenberg School for Communication, the Trojan coaching staff now includes:
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David Damus, Esq.
Director of Forensics (1994-present), University of Southern California
BA, USC; MBA, USC; JD, Vanderbilt University.
David debated for USC from 1983 to 1987, and is a four-time participant at the National Debate Tournament. After leaving forensics to practice law, David returned in 1994 to direct the Trojan Debate Squad. Since his return, USC has returned to national prominence, qualifying 21 teams to the National Debate Tournament in 9 years (including 5 At Large Bids to the National Debate Tournament), and has had six teams reach the elimination rounds at the NDT in the past seven years.
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(David and his wife Edie) |
| David has taught at the USC, University of Louisville and Loyola Marymount University Debate Institutes. In addition to his duties at USC, David is a practicing attorney in California. |
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Gordon Stables, Ph.D.
Director of Debate (2002 to present)
Gordon is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day coaching of the TDS. Gordon works with students to determine argument strategies, research priorities, and skills needs of the TDS. A very active coach, Gordon represented the TDS at fourteen tournaments in 2002-2003 and judged the final round of the 2003 National Debate Tournament. Gordon finished his 9th year coaching college debate in 2003, having previously coached at the University of Georgia, George Mason University and James Madison University. As a debater for George Mason University, Gordon earned two top 10 First-Round at Large bids to the NDT.
A full-time member of the Annenberg School faculty, Gordon earned his doctorate in 2002 from the University of Georgia.
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| In addition to teaching a variety of courses, Gordon pursues a research program that examines representations of military conflicts in the media and public diplomacy. |
(Gordon and his wife Jennifer. Jennifer joins the Annenberg faculty in 2006 as a Senior Lecturer). |
| A recent example of Gordon's research can be found in the March 2003 issue of Critical Studies in Media Communication, titled "Justifying Kosovo: Representations of Gendered Violence and U.S. Military Intervention." |
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| Gordon is also experienced instructor at high school and college debate workshops. He has served as the Institute Manager for both the Capitol Classic Debate Institute and the Kentucky Debate Institute and was a faculty member at the Michigan Classic Debate Institute and the George Mason 'Patriot' Debate Workshop. |
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Julie Carver, J.D.
Assistant Director of Forensics and Public Debate (2005 to present)
Julie Carver is the Assistant Director of Forensics for the Trojan Debate Squad. In addition to teaching in the Annenberg School of Communication, Ms. Carver will focus on restoring the prominence and vitality of Public Debate at USC.
Carver brings to this position extensive public relations experience having held the positions of Account Executive, Strategic Business Manager and Director of Operations and Production. During her undergraduate years she competed in forensics, winning numerous speech and debate awards and serving as Debate Team President. While in graduate school, she was the graduate assistant for the team, which received its first top ten national ranking.
In her capacity as an adjunct instructor at Pepperdine, Carver taught Public Speaking as well as Communication Research Methods. Her primary area of research interest is juror decision making. While in graduate school, she served as research assistant to the trial consultant for the Gainesville serial killer. Out of this research, Carver developed her Master's thesis investigating the impact of community fear and pretrial publicity on fair trial rights. Her thesis has been entered into the appellate record.
She was also a freelance researcher and reporter for USA Today on the O.J. Simpson trial, providing social science research and co-authoring articles on juror attitudes and the death penalty. Carver received a liberal arts education at Pepperdine University's undergraduate and graduate School of Communication. She received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Notre Dame. |
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| Full-time Assistant Coach |
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Brian McBride - Assistant Debate Coach
Brian joined the TDS in 2006 and made an immediate impact on the TDS. A former debater at the University of Texas (Austin) who enjoyed a great deal of success, including a Quarterfinalist finish at the 1993 NDT, Brian has emerged as one of the nation's finest coaches. Brian has played important roles with many successful teams, including Northwestern's 2003 NDT Champion and the 2004 Redlands NDT Quarterfinalist team.
Brian is currently completing his doctoral dissertation from Northwestern University. During the summer he directs the University of Texas' summer debate workshop. |
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Graduate Assistant Coaches |
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Omri Ceren - Assistant Debate Coach & Doctoral Student
Omri joined the TDS in 2003 after attending the University of Pittsburgh from 1998 to 2003, graduating with BAs in Communication, Philosophy, and Political Science and BSs in Computer Science and Economics. He qualified for the NDT four times and participated in elimination rounds there and at other national tournaments. Omri has previously coached at Dartmouth College, and he teaches high school students at the Dartmouth Debate Institute every summer. He is now pursuing a PhD in Communication USC. |
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Shawn Powers - Assistant Debate Coach & Doctoral Student
Shawn is a Ph.D. student at Annenberg who joined the TDS after a year as the recipient of the William J. Taylor internship at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Shawn is a graduate of the University of Georgia ('03), where he was a very successful debater whose career included the impressive feat of going undefeated in the preliminary rounds of the 2003 National Debate Tournament. Shawn is actively involved with the USC Annenberg Center on Public Diplomacy. |
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Stephen Robertson - Assistant Debate Coach & Doctoral Student
Stephen joined the TDS in 2003 after earning his Masters of Arts in Speech Communication from CSU-Fullerton in 2002. Prior to that Stephen earned a BA in communication studies from UNLV in 1998. He debated for Riverside community College from 1993-1995, and for UNLV from 1995-1997. Stephen is the only 2-time recipient of UNLV's V.R. Hicks outstanding forensics competitor award. He qualifies for the NDT three times. Stephen recently coached at Orange Coast College for 3 years, winning both the state and national tournament. He has also coached at the Debate and I.E. Forum and Southern California Debate Institute. |
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Adam Symonds - Assistant Debate Coach & Doctoral Student
Adam joined the TDS and the USC PhD program in Communication in 2004 after receiving a B. A. in politics from Whitman College and M. A. in Speech Communication from CSU Fullerton. His previous coaching stops include the University of Puget Sound, Puyallup High School, and CSU Fullerton. Adam plans to pursue a directorship in forensics once his degree is complete. |
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| Associate Coaches |
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| The TDS, like any successful forensics program, receives assistance from alums and students long past their formal commitments and obligations. Our squad is fortunate to have the perspectives of the following volunteers. |
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Melissa Franke - Annenberg Doctoral Student
A former parliamentary debater and coach for Willamette University, Melissa is a tireless worker who regularly makes valuable contributions to the TDS. As a doctoral student, Melissa explores a variety of research interests, including the importance of gender in collegiate debate. She is also the assistant to the editor of Argumentation and Advocacy. |
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Craig Hayden - Annenberg Doctoral Student
Craig has been an important contributor to the TDS parliamentary debate program over the past few seasons. As a doctoral student, Craig keeps busy with research in the areas of public diplomacy and globalization. He also works as a researcher for the Metamorphosis project. |
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John Kephart - Annenberg Doctoral Student
John is currently a Ph.D. student. A Trojan alum himself ('02), John's insights and commitment are a valuable asset to the program. As a doctoral student, John has a variety of research interests, including rhetorical studies. |
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| The program is also fortunate to have several former coaches on the Annenberg faculty. |
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Thomas Hollihan, Ph.D. is an Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor in the Annenberg School, served as the USC Director of Forensics from 1980 to 1990. He publishes in the areas of argumentation, political campaign communication, contemporary rhetorical criticism, and organizational advocacy. His most recent book, Uncivil Wars: Political Campaigns in a Media Age, was published by St. Martin's Press in 2001. He co-authored (with Kevin Baaske) Arguments and Arguing: The Products and Process of Human Decision Making. He also edited the volume Argument at Century's End: Reflecting on the Past and Envisioning the Future. |
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(Tom and Eph Konesberg) |
| In addition, Hollihan has published in the Quarterly Journal of Speech, Argumentation and Advocacy, Communication Quarterly, Western Journal of Communication, Southern Speech Communication Journal, Speaker and Gavel, and Debate Issues. |
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| Hollihan just completed a term on the Board of Trustees of the National Debate Tournament. He is a former President of the American Forensic Association, a former President of the Western Forensic Association, former chair of the National Communication Association's Committee on International Discussion and Debate, and a former chair of the National Debate Tournament Committee. |
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Randy Lake, Ph.D. served as the USC Director of Debate from 1981 to 1990 and as the Director of Forensics from 1990 to 1994. Randy is a Professor and has served as the Director of Doctoral Studies for the Annenberg School. He publishes and teaches primarily in the areas of rhetorical theory and criticism, argumentation, minority discourse, social movements, and symbolic processes of social change. His work on Native American protest is particularly well-known.
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(Colleen Keough, Randy Lake, Lynn Goodnight and David Damus) |
| His research has appeared in national and international journals including the Quarterly Journal of Speech, Communication Monographs, Argumentation, Argumentation and Advocacy: The Journal of the American Forensic Association and Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. |
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| Lake has received the National Communication Association's Golden Anniversary Monograph Award, for the most outstanding article in the discipline, and the American Forensic Association's Daniel Rohrer Research Award, for the most outstanding essay in argumentation studies. He was associate editor of Argument and the Post-Modern Challenge and book review editor of Argumentation and Advocacy. Currently he serves on the editorial boards of the Quarterly Journal of Speech Communication Theory and Argumentation and Advocacy where he also will assume the duties of editor for 2004-06. Lake has chaired the National Communication Association's Committee on International Discussion and Debate and the American Forensic Association's Publications Committee. He is a former President of the Western Forensic Association. |
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Patricia Riley, Ph.D. completed her term as the Director of the Annenberg School of Communication in 2003. An Associate Professor, she also served as an Assistant Coach for the TDS. She is a specialist in organizational communication and internationally known for her work on institutional politics and organizational culture change. Her most recent research focuses on the role of communication infrastructure in knowledge management processes and on the role of communication and information technologies in organizational change and transformation. She has a new grant funded by the DOD to help develop and evaluate virtual training. |
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| Her work has appeared in such books as Organizational Communication and Change, Organizational Culture, Advances in Leadership Research and the Handbook of Organizational Communication, and in journals such as Administrative Science Quarterly, Communication Quarterly, Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, Journal of Management, Argument and Advocacy, New Management and Communication Reports. |
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G. Thomas Goodnight, Ph.D. joined the Annenberg faculty in 2003 after an incredibly distinguished twenty-eight year career as a faculty member at Northwestern University. The author of numerous award-wining books and articles, the American Forensics Association recognized him as one of the five top scholars in argumentation of the last 50 years. |
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(Adam Symonds and Tom Goodnight) |
| As the Director of Debate at Northwestern, his teams twice won the National Debate Tournament (1978 & 1980). He is also currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Debate Tournament. |
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Copyright 2006 Trojan Debate Squad
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