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

Gun Control

In the wake of many recent mass shootings, gun control has taken center stage in public debate in the United States. Those who advocate much stricter gun control point to the bad effects of the continued availability of so many guns in the U.S. Opponents of gun control often appeal to the right to self-defense to argue for their position. How should a society balance the individual rights of its members to protect themselves with its responsibility to promote public safety, more generally?

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

Online Privacy

CISPA and CISA are laws that call for government agencies and businesses to share information about cybersecurity threats with one another and provide liability protection to private companies that share cyber threat indicators with the government. When is it morally acceptable for companies to share user information? When can the government infringe online privacy rights?

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2013-2014 Regional Case Set Katie Leonard 2013-2014 Regional Case Set Katie Leonard

Security Versus Privacy

Edward Snowden was called a hero by some and a traitor by others for revealing that the NSA was collecting private communications from unsuspecting US citizens. Is it ethical for the government to collect private communication records between U.S. citizens? Is it ethical for government employees to reveal classified information entrusted to them?

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