James Allan is an experienced and hard-working member of the policy debate community, taking part as a competitor, coach, and judge for the past nine years. He attended Lakeland High School in New York where he focused mostly on ‘traditional’ policy debate argumentation, ultimately earning one bid to the Tournament of Champions and finishing sixth overall at the NSDA Championships. In college, James pivoted towards the critical side of the argumentative spectrum at Binghamton University where he spent his time researching critical disability studies, Marxism, critical race theory and Foucaultian criticisms. He was the first team from Binghamton University to ever receive a First Round At Large Bid to the National Debate Tournament, an award that recognizes the top 16 policy debate partnerships in the country. He consistently qualified for late elimination rounds at major national tournaments including reaching semifinals of the 2019 CEDA National Championship. Currently, James is pursuing his master’s degree in communication at Baylor University where he is an assistant debate coach. In his free time, James likes to follow politics, draw with oil pastels, read, and watch Netflix.
James is available to teach Lincoln Douglas and Policy Debate arguments.