The Utah Difference

Unique Approach to Learning

The Beehive Forensics Institute (BFI) at the University of Utah offers an unforgettable one week summer learning experience in forensics that is sure to help its participants become better debaters, critical thinkers, and members of a global community. Each part of the BFI’s curriculum is carefully designed around teaching and learning methods developed by leading forensics educators and communication scholars. Our goal is to provide students with learning and critical thinking strategies that will prepare them for success, not only in debate, but also in their high-school and college careers.

The BFI curriculum achieves these goals by creating a college-like environment in which students work with institute staff to create a program that teaches students the foundations for success in their event. This college-style approach exposes students to the research and argument skills that connect all types of forensic competition and offers participants innovative courses that keep them ahead of the learning curve.

College Credit

Students who attend and complete the curriculum at the BFI may elect to receive three (3) hours of  college credit from the University of Utah. Students who elect to receive college credit will be required to pay an additional fee. Transcripts can be obtained from the University of Utah following the BFI.

The credit offered by the BFI is provided through the Department of Communication at the University of Utah. Because credit offered by the BFI is college credit, students will be required to submit documentation during on-site registration necessary to enrollment with the University Registrar. Likewise, the credit awarded by the BFI is made available on a graded basis, not pass-fail. This means that students should remember that their performance at camp will result in an actual grade on an actual college transcript. We are excited to offer this exceptional value to students attending the BFI.

Please note: The BFI and University of Utah can make no assurances about the transferability of college credit to specific institutions or degree programs. Credit transfer is determined by institutions accepting the credit.

Computer Access

Technological innovations have drastically changed the face of forensics research and competition. To equip students to respond to changing technological innovations in debate, we introduce every participant to digital forms of research, evidence production, and “paperless debating.” The BFI teaches students with both basic and advanced computing skills how to most effectively make use of the various programs available for electronic extemp filing, paperless debating, and electronic research organization. For those who do not use digital research or filing, our instruction also teaches pen-and-paper debaters how to use electronic resources and how to effectively deal with “paperless” debate teams in competitive rounds.

BFI participants will have access to over 1,000 computers in labs across the University of Utah’s campus. In addition, students have access to over 8 million documents through the University of Utah’s electronic collections. Students receive lectures from both Marriott Library and BFI staff on the ins-and-outs of electronic research, including directed “hands-on” research times in which students work with BFI instructional staff to learn how to effectively make use of the massive volume of electronic resources available to today’s speech and debate students.

Library Resources

Students at the Beehive Forensics Institute will have access to the University of Utah’s J. Willard Marriott Library, which holds over three million volumes and hosts more than 100 digital collections. In addition to the Marriott, students will also have access to the S.J. Quinney Law Library and the nationally-renowned Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library, all of which combine to create one of the nation’s leading system of research libraries.

BFI students will be provided top-notch education in both library and electronic research. The BFI recognizes that both formats of research are vital to success in contemporary speech and debate. To that end, BFI students are given research lectures both from BFI’s instructional staff, and from the research librarians at the University of Utah.