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

Paralympic Pay Parity

At the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, U.S. Paralympic athletes received the same monetary prizes for medaling as their Olympic counterparts. However, many nations still have a large gap in the prizes for Olympians and Paralympians, such as Canada, who doesn’t pay Paralympians for medaling, and Japan, who pays them less. Proponents of this pay gap argue that the Olympics are much more popular, and therefore more profitable.

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2020-2021 National Case Set Katie Leonard 2020-2021 National Case Set Katie Leonard

Do You See What I See?

The release of Bird Box immediately had people comparing the story where people had to go blind to survive to how blindness, and disability as a whole, is perceived in society. Bird Box's actors and actresses are not blind, and can easily misrepresent what living with blindness is really like. Many people see an issue with casting an actor who does not belong to the group that the main character of the story belongs to. It also sparked a challenge where people wore blindfolds to do everyday things, which was interpreted as lowering blindness to a game. Others see no issue with it, as acting is the ability to portray something that you are not.

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

Bodily Identity Integrity Disorder

Jewel Shuping has BIID and has always wanted to be blind. BIID is a rare condition characterized by a conflict between a person's actual, physical body and their idea of how their body should be. Is it in the interest of someone with BIID to give them the body modification they want? If they are at serious risk of harming themselves, should doctors perform these modifications? Do BIID patients harm themselves by going through these modifications?

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2016-2017 National Case Set Katie Leonard 2016-2017 National Case Set Katie Leonard

Stuck in Love

Sarah and Chris were happily married until Chris became a paraplegic after a tragic climbing accident. Since then, their interests have diverged and Sarah no longer feels happy. Is there something morally bad about leaving your partner as a result of this kind of development? Is Sarah blameworthy for feeling unfulfilled?

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2016-2017 Regional Case Set Katie Leonard 2016-2017 Regional Case Set Katie Leonard

Suffering Cat

Sydney wants to own a Munchkin cat, a cat with dwarfism. Munchkin cats can experience a lot of pain and suffering. She tries for two years to adopt an existing Munchkin cat and eventually considers buying from a breeder. Is it morally permissible to breed, sell, or purchase Munchkin cats? Is it morally permissible to post pictures of the cat online if it motivates others to buy Munchkin cats as well?

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2014-2015 National Case Set Katie Leonard 2014-2015 National Case Set Katie Leonard

Cheerleading and Disability

Callie joined the high school cheerleading team despite being confined to a wheelchair due to her cerebral palsy. However, the school urged her mother to sign agreement restricting her to the sidelines due to safety concerns. Is this discrimination? Do safety concerns outweigh Callie's wishes to join the cheerleading squad?

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