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
Trolling for a Refund
Linda is planning to get married on a budget so she decides to do her own planning, including picking the photographer. Turns out, the photographer that was sent to take the photos the day of was a completely different photographer than the one she met with, and the pictures he took a bit short of ordinary quality. Linda tries multiple times to contact the company for a refund, but each time was met with no response. Linda's reaction was to notify everyone who attended the wedding to blast the company with bad reviews, but Linda's best friend, Viola, has always been against trolling. This hesitation is causing conflict in the relationship. Should Viola give into what her friend wants for the sake of the relationship?
Plantation Wedding
Mallory and Ross want to have a beautiful wedding like any other couple. They both grew up in the South and their families heritage traces back to pre civil-war days and slavery. Their families want them to get married on a plantation that has a good chance of being connected to slavery, and offered to fund every dime being spent. The couple thinks the plantation is the most beatiful of option, and not having to pay helps as well. On the other hand, the couple doesn't want their marriage to begin on the backbone of something resembling such a hateful and harmful period of time. Should Mallory and Ross choose to have their dream wedding paid for, or choose a less wanted and more expensive option in avoidance of what the plantation symbolizes.
Friendship and the Wedding Industrial Complex
Jo’s childhood best friend Teddy is engaged to be married and has asked Jo to be in the wedding party, to which Jo agrees. Other members of the wedding party keep asking Jo to split the costs of things related to the wedding shower and the bachelorette weekend. However, Jo feels conflicted as the time and money involved in these events begins to add up.
Dry Wedding
Aparna is attending Mary's wedding. No alcohol is being served so Aparna has brought a flask. The day before the wedding, Aparna discovered that Mary struggles with substance abuse. When Mary sees the flask and grabs it from Aparna, asking for a sip, Aparna does not know what to do.