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

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

The Case of the Missing Serial Number

Cora was excited about the new bike she found on Craig's List for a great price, but six months after purchasing it a bike mechanic points out that the serial number has been scraped off. Cora worries that this means the bike is probably stolen, and she no longer has information about the Craig's List seller. Should she report the bike to the police and potentially lose it if someone has reported it stolen? Did she do anything wrong? What should Cora do?

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2015-2016 National Case Set Katie Leonard 2015-2016 National Case Set Katie Leonard

Unpaid Item

Jake, a busy college student, realizes at home that the grocery store forgot to charge him for a 24-case of bottled water. Given that it was the grocer's mistake, is Jake morally obligated to go back and pay for the item? How would the case be different at a small independent store versus a big chain store? What if the item cost several hundred dollars?

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Katie Leonard Katie Leonard

Eating for Free

Milan is fired from her restaurant job for making herself free food when the restaurant closes at night. She did so because her manager and close friend Kai sometimes gave her permission to do so and she knew the leftover food was thrown away. What constitutes stealing? What moral obligations do managers have to subordinates who are also their friends?

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