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
Tips for Good Living
Ronald and Tina have co-owned a beloved café for 10 years. Their current payment system for their workers has baseline hourly pay, which is almost three times as much as the federally required minimum, and is then combined with income from tips. Local activists in the area sparked a debate in which they argue for a "living wage" model. This model operates on the idea that tipping is discriminatory. Ronald and Tina have worries that they would not be able to sustain the proposed model, and that it may actually result in a pay cut for their workers.
Teacher Strikes
In multiple states teachers held a strike to garner attention towards their low wages. Students depend on their teachers to give quality lessons in order to learn material and it is unlikely this will happen if the teacher is stressed out with their low wage. On the other hand, teachers going on strikes causes students to miss these lessons completely, as well as cause headache for some families that depend on their children going to school. Does this violate a teacher's duty? Should states be more appealing towards their teachers?