In essence, ethics bowl is a competitive discussion. Teams compete to give the most accurate, comprehensive, clear, and complete answer to the match question. Each two-match round involves:
- presenting an initial take on the question at hand (10 mins.)
- defending it against the opposing team’s critique (5 mins.)
- responding to questions from a three-judge panel composed of academic and non-academic professionals (10 mins.)
The questions focus on one or more aspects of a case drawn from a set of fifteen cases that teams have worked with for roughly two months prior to competition.
Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl (IEB) is the arm of the Association of Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) responsible for organizing regional and national competition each year. Regionals are held around the U.S., and colleges and universities self-select which regional they’ll participate in. If a school wins a bid to nationals due to their regional performance, they head to the annual APPE conference/workshop to compete with other bid winners. The University of Nebraska has sent teams to national competition twice since the inception of the UNL Ethics Bowl Team in 2011.
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Of course, as the saying goes, ‘Winning isn’t everything.’ That certainly rings true in the case of participating in ethics bowl. Preparing for competition significantly develops critical and moral reasoning skills as well as their abilities to speak and reason publicly with an interested community.
Members:
- sharpen their intellect
- develop their interrogative and contrarian dispositions,
- deepen their interest in exploring and analyzing complex situations and concepts as well as their ability to do so
- cultivate the virtue of epistemic humility
Hence, win or lose in competition participants efforts are meaningfully rewarded.
We can always use more Husker excellence!
Are you or someone you know ready to represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln as a member of the UNL Ethics Bowl Team? Please contact assistant director Adam R. Thompson.
Roster
Mary-kate Boyle
Major: Philosophy
Ethan Clinchard
Majors: Philosophy, political science
Minor: Criminal Justice
Will Cook
Majors: Journalism, philosophy
Minor: Math
Kalvin Larson
Major: Accounting
Areas of Interest: Normative ethics
Dakota Nichols
Major: Theater Design/Technical Production
Areas of Interest: Metaphysics and ethics
Izzy Stone
Major: Psychology
Areas of Interest: Ethics and political philosophy
Dennis Startsev
Major: Mathematics
Minors: Biological sciences, Russian
Areas of interest: Ethics and logic, metaphysics
Sam Spencer
Major: Entomology
Minor: Biological sciences
Areas of interest: Materialism/physicalism
Staff
Adam R. Thompson
Executive coach
Jabran Amanat-Lee
Head coach
Swarnima Kain
Head coach
Stories
UNL Ethics Bowl Team Outranks Duke, Villanova, Gonzaga, and Wake Forrest in Nation Competition
In their first appearance at the Nation Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl Competition, UNL placed 14th out of 32. We're very proud of the team's performance. Not only did we outrank some of the top ranked schools in the nation, Head Coach Clare LaFrance, reported that the team received numerous compliments throughout the competition. The team looks forward to returning to nationals next year after another successful trip to regionals this coming fall.
UNL Ethics Bowl Team Wins A Bid to National Competition Again!!
For the second time in four years of competing, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Ethics Bowl Team won a bid to Nationals after an excellent showing at Regionals in Boulder, CO. On their way, they had the opportunity to compete and win against Colorado State University, Air Force, and The Colorado School of Mines. The team is resting in preparation for another run at Nationals in Costa Mesa, CA in February.
NET Covers Ethics Bowl Team as They Prepare for National Competition
NET, Nebraska's local NPR station, dropped by to catch a glimpse of the Ethics Bowl team in action as they prepared for their run at the National Intercollegiate Competition.
UNL Ethics Bowl team wins its 1st regional competition
For the first time in three years of competing, one of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Ethics Bowl teams won the Ethics Bowl regional competition in Boulder, Colo., last Saturday. Seven teams total competed with UNL sending two. The winning UNL team defeated University of Colorado at Boulder to become one of 10 teams to compete in the 18th national Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl Championship in February.
Sponsors
For over a decade the Department of Philosophy has generously made room for the Kutak Ethics Center's main office and has financially supported the UNL Ethics Bowl Team and the Ethics and Broader Considerations of Technology Bazaar as well as other ventures. We're lucky to be surrounded by good company and extra lucky to be housed in the home of ethics proper.
Once home of the Kutak Ethics Center (now Ethics Center), the College of Law is a continuing supporter of the center.
The Jan Eric Pusch Charitable Foundation generously added the UNL Ethics Bowl Team to their extensive list of excellent causes that they current fund and/or oversee. We couldn't make it to regional competition without them. Thank you!