The NHSEB Case Competition is an opportunity for high school students all across the country to write cases for the National High School Ethics Bowl. All cases submitted by eligible students will be considered for publication and competitive use in NHSEB’s Regional and National Case Sets.

2024-2025 Submission Deadline: February 28, 2025

COMPETITION RULES

The National High School Ethics Bowl invites case submissions from high school students at participating schools. The NHSEB Case Competition is a great way to develop research and writing skills, learn to analyze ethical dilemmas, and craft compelling narratives that challenge your peers to think deeply about important ethical issues. All students who are enrolled at a U.S. high school with a team which participates in the National High School Ethics Bowl program are eligible to enter submissions for competition. 

The 2024-2025 Case Competition will open for student submissions on September 30th, 2024, and submissions for the season will be accepted until February 28, 2025. At the time they are received, submissions will be reviewed by the NHSEB Executive Committee and Parr Center Ethics Fellows. Entries will be evaluated based on their consistency with the aims of the NHSEB program, the interest and rendering of the moral issue presented, the quality of the composition, and the case’s suitability for use in an NHSEB competition or related context. Because of the volume of submissions, our reviewers are unfortunately unable to offer detailed feedback on each submission. One winning case and two honorable mentions from among the submissions will be announced at the 2024 NHSEB National Championship on April 13, 2025. The winner of the NHSEB Case Competition will receive a prize of $500, and each honorable mention will receive a prize of $250.

Students may work together in teams to co-author cases, and collaborative cases should be attributed to all contributing authors. If any student submits more than one case, only one of the cases submitted under that student’s name will be eligible to win a prize. Regardless of authorship, competitive submissions must be made by a single party, who will agree to take responsibility for the distribution of any prizes won and any accompanying tax liability.

All submissions must be original materials, although appropriately cited excerpts may be used (a quote from a news source, for example). After submission, all cases become the intellectual property of the Parr Center for Ethics, and may be edited after submission if selected for publication in an NHSEB Case Set. Submitted cases may not be published or under review in other venues at the time of submission. This regulation includes other writing competitions, academic publications, etc. Cases completed for class assignments are exempted from this requirement.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Submissions should follow the general format for Ethics Bowl cases: a scenario, between 500 and 700 words long, which highlights a clear moral issue; is appropriate for high school students; and is written in a way that encourages reasonable disagreement. The scenario should be framed so the central issue is clearly moral and not simply or primarily legal or professional. You can review NHSEB’s Case Writing Guidelines here, and check out the NHSEB Case Library for examples of past cases. To enter, please use the form below to upload your submission, along with your identifying and contact information. Microsoft Word (.docx) and PDF files are accepted. Please email ethicsbowl@unc.edu with any questions or concerns.