CASE Library

Explore The Issues that Matter.

We excitedly invite you to browse, search, and explore our newly redesigned library of over 300 case studies which render some of the most complex and controversial moral and political issues of our time. These cases were formerly used for official NHSEB competitions at the Regional, Divisional, and National Championship levels. They are freely available for public use under Creative Commons licenses.

The NHSEB Case Library is an excellent tool for competitive preparation, internal or intramural competition, or beyond the context of the Ethics Bowl activity completely—as a classroom resource for Grades 9-12 and beyond.

Featured Cases

NAVIGATING THE LIBRARY

NHSEB’s Case Library is now fully browsable by individual case, or by Case Set—using the filters below. Or, if you already know a bit about what you’re looking for, the entire library of over 300 Ethics Bowl cases is newly indexed, referenced, and searchable by title, topic, keyword, year, and category. Each individual case entry contains the full text of the case and discussion questions as they originally appeared for competitive use, all references assembled in hyperlinked footnotes, and additional contextual resources curated by NHSEB HQ.

CASE SET COLLECTION

FIND AN ETHICS BOWL CASE

ATTRIBUTION AND CITATION

All National High School Ethics Bowl cases are the intellectual property of the Parr Center for Ethics, and all are freely available for public use under Creative Commons licenses once retired from use in NHSEB competitions. This library represents thousands of hours of work from our Contributing Authors, Editors, and others. Please do not reproduce NHSEB cases or sets—in part or in whole—without attribution, or modify the text of individual cases or sets. If you reproduce or make reference to NHSEB cases from this library (e.g., in classroom materials, academic papers, etc.), please attribute and/or cite those materials:

National High School Ethics Bowl (Ed.), <YEAR>. “<Case Title>.” National High School Ethics Bowl Case Library. UNC Parr Center for Ethics: Chapel Hill, NC. http://nhseb.org/case-library

Browse The Library

2018-2019 National Case Set Katie Leonard 2018-2019 National Case Set Katie Leonard

Believing in Others

Tamir and Sharon have been friends since their first year of high school. Sharon went on to school for arts and dreams of starring on Broadway. Tamir went on to school for philosophy and dreams of becoming a professor. After Sharon gets turned down for a role in a local production she begins to question whether she should move to NY and asks Tamir what they think. Tamir is unsure that Sharon will be successful in NY and wants to be supportive, but also doesn’t want to lie to Sharon. What does it mean to believe in someone? Does it mean believing that they will achieve their goals, even when the evidence says that they won’t?

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2018-2019 National Case Set Katie Leonard 2018-2019 National Case Set Katie Leonard

Deception in Dementia Care

Amara works in a dementia care home, where the patients are in various degrees of physical and cognitive decline. Barry suffers from dementia and can’t remember his wife died years ago. Amara wonders whether she should lie to him. Some think that lying to patients with dementia is inappropriate, but others defend lying in dementia care by saying that the diminished mental capacity of dementia patients justifies it. Are there circumstances in which we are morally required to lie to dementia patients?

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2018-2019 Regional Case Set Katie Leonard 2018-2019 Regional Case Set Katie Leonard

Company Woman

Ravi and Amaia work as data analysts for a large tech company. Given his dissatisfaction with the job, Ravi has decided to quit and go back to school but asks Amaia not to tell. Has Ravi acted unethically? Was Amaia right to tell Ed of Ravi’s decision to go back to school?

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2017-2018 Regional Case Set Katie Leonard 2017-2018 Regional Case Set Katie Leonard

Best Man or Worst Man?

Bijan's best friend Mike is getting married. Bijan does not like his friend's fiancé and is unsure whether he should tell Mike about these feelings. If Bijan doesn't confront Mike, is he to blame for anything? What is the morally best way for Bijan to confront Mike if he chooses to? If Bijan shares his feelings, how should or could Mike feel about them?

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