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

Drawing the Line on Gerrymandering

A longstanding complaint about gerrymandering is that the politicians in office during the redistricting process frequently engage in drawing maps that help themselves and their political allies retain seats or gain additional power. Some argue that critics underestimate the force of larger cultural and demographic trends in driving politically lopsided districts and thus gerrymandering isn’t a problem. What interests do citizens have in fair electoral maps? Are there any interests that all citizens have in maintaining fair electoral maps?

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

Liver Allocation

Given that donated organs have a limited time frame for their viability, the U.S. is divided into 11 geographic areas for liver-donation purposes. A new policy change will work to mitigate this geographic disparity. Is it fair to distribute organs by geographic availability? What should we use as the primary criteria for determining how to distribute livers and other vital organs?

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

Appearance at the Office

Maria's parents think that she would be more respected and appreciated at her new job if she bought new clothes and spent more time and money on her appearance. Maria has little interest in and money for this. She also resents the gender roles that govern workplace politics and expectations. But she does want recognition for her work. Should Maria follow her parent's advice? How far is it appropriate for an individual to go when modifying their behavior to follow norms they consider unjust?

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