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
REGIONAL CASE SETS
2023-2024 | 2022-2023 | 2021-2022 | 2020-2021 | 2019-2020 | 2018-2019
2017-2018 | 2016-2017 | 2015-2016 | 2014-2015 | 2013-2014 | 2012-2013
National CASE SETS
2023-2024 | 2022-2023 | 2021-2022 | 2020-2021 | 2019-2020 | 2018-2019
2017-2018 | 2016-2017 | 2015-2016 | 2014-2015 | 2013-2014 | 2012-2013
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
Do Innocents Pay the Price?
On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. In response, Western nations have implemented an aggressive series of escalating sanctions against the Russian state and individual powerful oligarchs. One such example is the Wimbledon tennis tournament's ban of Russian and Belarusian athletes, impacting a handful of top players including Danill Medvedev and Aryna Sabalenka, the second and fourth best men's and women's players, respectively. To what extent, if any, are individuals responsible for the actions of their governments?
Drone Strikes
Are drone strikes ethical, given that they save the lives of American soldiers, but can also make military personnel too cavalier about taking life. Is it morally better or worse to engage in violence remotely rather than in person?
Repatriating War Spoils and Cultural Artifacts
There have been many examples of looted art in recent decades. Who has claim to cultural artifacts: researchers from all over the world, war conquerors, their original owners? Should a collector who unknowingly bought looted art return the items?
Unmanned Drone Attacks
After the Obama Administration was criticized for use of unmanned drone strikes that killed 3 US citizens in Yemen, they argued that when a high-level official decides a citizen poses an imminent threat of violence, the US may legally kill the citizen without any trial. Opponents argue this violates the right to due process.
Red Cross and the Taliban
The Red Cross was criticized for providing medical aid to Taliban fighters, but responded by stressing the importance of their neutrality. Should the Red Cross be allowed to provide first aid training to armed insurgents? Is neutrality in conflicts always a morally permissible option?