The Cincinnati Ethics Center sponsors the University of Cincinnati undergraduate Ethics Bowl team, established in 2020. In their inaugural competition the team won the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl (IEB) National Championship! You can read about their victory in the News Record and UC News.

IEB is an academic, tiered competition sponsored by the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE). Teams are given a set of ethics cases to study and research in advance. During the tournament, teams compete to give the most compelling analysis of each case and must respond to questions from an opposing team and a panel of judges. Teams compete in their regional tournaments each fall. The qualifying teams from each region then compete in the national tournament in spring.

UC’s team is drawn from students taking the course PHIL 3015: Ethics Bowl, offered by the Philosophy department in the College of Arts & Sciences. In this course students learn the main concepts and tools of ethical reasoning and how to apply these skills to analyze real-life cases. Students practice articulating their reasoning about cases, both verbally and in writing. They learn to work cooperatively in a team, to appreciate different points of view, and to think on your feet under pressure.  PHIL 3015 is typically offered each fall and again in spring if the team qualifies for the national championship.  Students with sophomore status or higher from any college or major can enroll in this 3 credit hour course; no prior experience with ethics is required. If you are interested in taking the course or have questions about joining the team, you can contact the team’s faculty advisor, Prof. Vanessa Carbonell, or the course instructor and team coach, philosophy doctoral student Vincent del Prado.

Course Description for PHIL 3015: Ethics Bowl