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
Penniless Portraiture
Arists Sophie Calle and Vito Acconci and the galleries, collectors, and museums buying their work profit from photographs of people in public spaces. However, the subjects neither have knowledge of their being photographed nor received compensation for the sales. Relatedly, subjects in commercials are used to sell products, whereas background individuals in for-profit news channels are not; in the former, lack of compensation would be considered theft, but the strategy in the latter is typically accepted. Art is often considered distinct from the aforementioned media. Is it ethical for artists and art institutions to profit from work depicting uncompensated subjects?
Banking on Cash
At the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic, many stores stopped accepting cash, and are still rejecting the payment method. This is because of the inefficiencies when dealing with cash, such as slow lines, counterfit bills, and the time it takes to process the money. However, by excluding cash payments, a business may be unintentionally discriminatory towards people unable to open a bank account.
Picnic Nit-Pick?
Some neighborhood kids are crowded around Lisa, age seven, who is easily beating one second-grader after another in chess. Immediately, Randy sees that Lisa is cheating, subtly moving pieces when the others arenât looking, and making up rules that suit her as the games progress.
Science Unfair
Valentina and Gerald are paired up for a science project, but Gerald is uninterested and unprepared. Valentina does not want to jeopardize her grade so she asks Gerald not to contribute anything significant to the project and he consents. Is academic laziness ethically problematic? What if Gerald wants to contribute to the project? Should the teacher know about this agreement?
Copying Homework
Vivian asks her friend Gabriella if she can copy a worksheet for a homework assignment she forgot to do. On the one hand, the worksheet is just busy work and Gabriella wants to help her friend. On the other hand, she could get in trouble and it seems unfair to all of the students who did the homework on their own.
Title IX and Female Athletes
Title IX has allowed females to be on their school's baseball, football, and wrestling teams. Due to religious principles, a Catholic high school forfeited a championship game rather than face a team with a female athlete. Is it okay to ignore a group's religious beliefs in order to promote equality?