Current events

Many tournaments feature questions on current events (also abbreviated CE), usually political or socially-relevant news of the past year or few years. They are notably a considerable part of the NAQT distribution at all levels. By contrast, ACF and other non-NAQT events often lump a small amount of CE in with geography or trash or general knowledge.

Within the broader current events category for NAQT, there are subcategories for the United States and the World, each of which are divided into Political, Social, and "Any" subdivisions. There are also a few questions on Business and Science CEs in each NAQT set.

The exact dividing line between recent history and CE in quizbowl is somewhat hazy, though most CE questions draw on events within the previous year before the tournament is held (and occasionally up to a few days before the tournament starts). Given that CEs are often written about developing situations, it is important for editors of tournaments that will have mirrors over a long period of time to update CE questions (e.g. CE questions written before elections may require modification after said elections are held).

One traditional way of studying for CEs in quizbowl was reading The Economist, though this by itself is probably not sufficient.

A thread on advice for studying CEs from 2019

A spirited discussion of the merits of CE questions from 2008