September/OctoberInternational Relations
NSDA by season
Public Forum
Two-on-two debate on a current-events resolution that changes every month or two. Each speech is short and the round is meant to be followed by any listener. How Public Forum works
NovemberCrime and Justice
Resolved: The benefits of domestic surveillance by the National Security Agency outweigh the harms.
DecemberInternational Relations
Resolved: Immigration reform should include a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States.
JanuaryInternational Relations
Resolved: Development assistance should be prioritized over military aid in the Sahel region of Africa.
FebruaryCrime and Justice
Resolved: The Supreme Court rightly decided that Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act violated the Constitution.
MarchEducation
Resolved: Single-gender classrooms would improve the quality of education in American public schools.
AprilHealth and Medicine
Resolved: Prioritizing economic development over environmental protection is in the best interest of the people of India.
NationalsInternational Relations
Resolved: NATO should strengthen its relationship with Ukraine in order to deter further Russian aggression.
Lincoln-Douglas
One-on-one debate built around values: each side defends a value and a criterion for weighing it. The resolution changes every two months. How Lincoln-Douglas works
September/OctoberPolitics and Government
Resolved: In a democracy, voting ought to be compulsory.
November/DecemberCrime and Justice
Resolved: In the United States criminal justice system, truth-seeking ought to take precedence over attorney-client privilege.
January/FebruaryHealth and Medicine
Resolved: Developing countries should prioritize environmental protection over resource extraction when the two are in conflict.
March/AprilInternational Relations
Resolved: Placing political conditions on humanitarian aid to foreign countries is unjust.
NationalsScience and Technology
Resolved: The United States ought to prioritize the pursuit of national security objectives above the digital privacy of its citizens.
Policy
Two-on-two debate on one resolution for the whole season. The affirmative proposes a plan and both sides use a lot of evidence. How Policy works
Whole seasonInternational Relations
Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its economic engagement toward Cuba, Mexico...
Shortened here. The full wording is on NSDA's topic page.
About NSDA topics
The National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) is the largest high school speech and debate organization in the United States. It publishes the resolutions that US tournaments use each season: a new Public Forum topic every month or two, a Lincoln-Douglas topic every two months, and one Policy topic for the whole year. Its National Tournament in June has its own topics.
Resolutions from NSDA's topic page, credited to the National Speech & Debate Association. NCFL Nationals topics are from the National Catholic Forensic League tournament, as listed by NSDA.