Puget Sound Ethics Bowl Team Competes at …

The Puget Sound Ethics Bowl team competed at the Northwest Regional Ethics Bowl on November 18th, 2023 at Pacific Lutheran University here in Tacoma. This year’s team included Mei Pacheco-Leong ’23, Alysiana Sar ’24, Natalie Worthy ’25, and Holland Hauskins ’27 and was coached by Professor Tubert.

Alysiana Sar ’24, Natalie Worthy ’25, Holland Hauskins ’27, Mei Pacheco-Leong ’23, Prof. Ariela Tubert

With mostly a new team, the Fall 2023 ethics bowl students had to work extra hard to get ready for the competition. Mei Pacheco-Leong, the veteran team member, did an awesome job taking the lead and helping the rest of the team prepare. Prof. Tubert said, “I am incredibly proud of the work the team did this semester! Their presentations improved each round with each of the members of the team going well out of their comfort zone during the competition. It was so fun to watch them and be part of their process, I know this group has a bright future ahead!”

The cases for Fall 2023 involved the ethics of banning some books from schools, balancing posthumously the wishes of art collectors and accessibility to the works of art, ethical engagement with governments with a record of human rights abuses, the ethics of using artificial intelligence for approving and denying health insurance claims, and more.

Some of the students reflected on their work during the fall semester and being part of the competition:

Alysiana Sar ’24: Being part of Ethics Bowl ‘23, for the first time, has definitely been an experience. Though there were 4 of us, I could proudly tell others like ‘yeah, I was one of the four!’ It was hard because of external factors that were out of our control, but it didn’t stop us from continuing forward. I’ve learned so much as a participant, a team member and a student. I learned how to cooperate with my team in ways that were different from just inside the classroom. I learned how to present information and apply my knowledge to real life scenarios and being able to discuss it through a lens of deeper understanding. Alongside, I’ve gained the skills that Ethics Bowl provided me and friends!!! I would recommend E.B for the experience because reflecting (now that it’s over) I am so happy that I took it because I ended the semester with fun memories, new friends, and more knowledge!!!!!

Mei Pacheco-Leong ’23: It was only a couple of years ago that I joined Ethics Bowl for the first time, outwardly quiet, internally anxious but opinionated, especially ethically. My first competition, I tried to squirrel out of competing, citing performance anxiety  and performance-based forgetfulness (I did not, at that point, even contribute to class discussions, even when cold-called). I loved the prep work and I loved the discussions and debates between our team, but I was terrified of giving arguments in front of an audience– even my peers. Unfortunately for me, my team saw me with kinder eyes than I saw myself and supported me through the anxieties of public speaking. That first bowl, I performed timidly but I did perform, introducing the moral considerations of our cases and our ethical framework in as few words as I could get away with. 

This last bowl has been my third and final year on Ethics Bowl and I would like to say I’ve grown since that initial competition. Though between now and then, I have also taken more philosophy classes and completed a philosophy capstone course, it’s Ethics Bowl in particular where I really developed confidence both in my ideas and in sharing them. Talking through ethical considerations and intuitions with a team is such a fun way of applying philosophy to real-world events. We learn to think about how to balance what is ethical with what is practical, how to think through complicated ethical issues, and how to further the discussion without attacking people’s views. I have been delighted to watch my teammates grow as philosophers and as people, developing skills like public speaking, getting better at breaking down and talking through arguments, and learning how to support each other even when we disagree. This year, I took on the role of giving our main argument, the role I watched all the seniors before me perform so well thinking I would never do that. Just as the years before, we lost, but I am so proud of our team and I can’t wait to see how they grow as/(if) they continue onwards.

Natalie Worthy ’25: This was my first year in Ethics Bowl and coming into it with no philosophy experience was challenging, but so fulfilling. As a Vocal Performance Major, I didn’t feel very prepared to take on ethical debates, but I really wanted to experience something new while utilizing my public speaking skills. After competing with this team, I can confidently say that my time in Ethics Bowl has been so valuable. I gained great experiences, ethical knowledge, and lovely friendships throughout the semester!

Ethics Bowl team reaches the semi-finals at the Northwest Regionals

The Puget Sound Ethics Bowl team participated at the 2022 Northwest Regional Ethics Bowl that took place at PLU on November 19th. The team included Jules Obbard ’23, Mei Pacheco-Leong ’23, Ember Reed ’23, J.J. Alvarez ’23, Lauren Rice ’23, Elizabeth Matsumoto ’25, and Katerina Wearn ’25 and was coached by Prof. Tubert.

The group spent the fall semester hard at work preparing the 12 cases for the competition — the cases involved ethical issues related to non-human animals, the environment, technology and social media, litigation financing, mental health and health care more generally, and sports. Most students in the group had competed in the National Bioethics Bowl in the spring so they hit the ground running at the start of the fall, meeting additional time in small groups or taking advantage of Prof. Tubert’s office hours as the competition approached — they took their research and preparation seriously and kept digging on the relevant ethical issues. This showed in the quality of the team’s presentations and in the great conversations throughout the semester.

The competition started with a disappointing loss in the first round, one of those where the team won in the overall number of points but loss two out of three judges (winning a round depends first on number of judges, then on points.) The team continued on with their good work and ended up being one of four teams reaching the semi-final round. During the semi-finals, they lost against the team that went on to win the whole competition but they held their own and got the fourth place spot.

This team has several graduating seniors who, together with the rest of the group, made ethics bowl a great success. What a great group with lots of enthusiasm, talent, thoughtfulness, and commitment! We will miss those of you who are graduating!

Some of the students reflected on their work during the fall semester and being part of the competition:

Elizabeth Matsumoto ”25: This season, the cases were harder, the research was longer and there were more frameworks to learn. However, the team was incredible. As a non-philosophy major, I learned a lot and stretched my brain beyond just classroom applications of philosophy. Learning about Korsgaard to for argue animal rights, or Mill’s harm principle to argue the limits of free speech was complex and exciting. As I competed with the team last semester, we all worked really well together it was really fun continuing our discussions on ethics. Professor Tubert was such an amazing coach, and we couldn’t have made it to semi-finals without her!

Mei Pacheco-Leong ’23: Skills I have built in ethics bowl over the past couple of years: Confidence. Specifically confidence in speaking in front of others, confidence in sharing ideas, confidence in offering critiques of ideas, confidence in offering critiques of ideas in good faith. I’ve learned to distinguish the practical from the ethical, learned how to problem solve, ethically, learned how to resolve disputes within a team and present as though we are unified, learned how to resolve disputes within a team and present as though we are unified, despite having a resident utilitarian on the team who always disagreed with the rest of us.

Consequences of these skills:: I went from never speaking in class to participating more confidently in class discussions and debates. In a way, I argued my way into a job; I offered criticism of the current way things were running, and offered solutions to the problems I had identified. Lo and behold, I was offered a job! When my friends have moral dilemmas I am able to apply frameworks and weigh competing values and offer them advice. (Unfortunately most normal people do not apply moral frameworks to real life and rarely take my advice.)

Overall, ethics bowl has been such a special opportunity and I’m grateful to both my team and coach for pushing me and helping me build these skills!

Lauren Rice ’23: My experience with ethics bowl was full of learning and was extremely positive. I was new to ethics bowl this year, and was unsure exactly how it would go; I have struggled with public speaking in the past. However, I gained so much confidence throughout the semester in how to speak without relying on notes, a skill that I think is very valuable. I also learned a lot about researching the cases and making sure that the research is reliable and accurate. This was one of the parts of ethics bowl that I became very excited about as the semester went on. Our team became a lot closer as we neared the competition date, and we learned a lot about how to work together on differing opinions and ideas. Our coach, Professor Tubert, taught us so much about how to present our arguments, and the flaws that we may originally have with what position we want to take. I wish that I was here next year again solely to be able to participate in the ethics bowl competition again. I learned so much about structuring, researching, and presenting arguments, and it was one of my favorite parts of the semester this year. A large thank you to Professor Tubert for allowing me the opportunity to join the team and supporting me in learning how to be a part of ethics bowl, as well as supporting my overall learning about ethical arguments and presentations.

Jules Obbard ’23: This year’s ethics bowl team was a great group of people, and I had a great experience competing with them. We worked hard and had tough conversations about a variety of topics. We learned a lot about different issues that we wouldn’t have been taught in other classes and interrogated them from multiple perspectives. The dynamic of the team was really good because a lot of us were returning to the club. We had an amazing time at the tournament and even got to semi finals. I would recommend ethics bowl to anyone who wants to be a part of a fun learning experience and meet like minded individuals. Thank you Professor Tubert for organizing ethics bowl again and coaching us! I’ll miss ethics bowl after I graduate.

Katerina Wearn ’25: Ethics Bowl has been something that pushed me from the moment I joined. Last year was my first year on the team and I spent most of my time just trying to find my footing. This year, however, I felt more confident in my position within the team. I was more willing to push my ideas forward and really get into the details of the complicated cases we were given. The progress of that alone makes me recognize just how incredible Ethics Bowlas been in getting me outside of my comfort zone and showing me what I am capable of. On top of that, the team this year was fantastic and supportive all around. Spending time on our cases and doing practice rounds, was genuinely so much fun it felt just like hanging out with friends.

Lauren Rice ’23, J.J. Alvarez ’23, Elizabeth Matsumoto ’23, Katerina Wearn ’25, Mei Pacheco-Leong ’23, Ember Reed ’23, Jules Obbard ’23

Prof. Ariela Tubert, Lauren Rice ’23, J.J. Alvarez ’23, Elizabeth Matsumoto ’23, Katerina Wearn ’25, Mei Pacheco-Leong ’23, Ember Reed ’23, Jules Obbard ’23

Puget Sound competes in the 2022 National Bioethics Bowl

The Puget Sound Ethics Bowl team together with Prof. Tubert, the coach for the team, travelled to Salt Lake City to compete in the 2022 National Bioethics Bowl taking place on April 9th, at the Westminster College campus.

The team for this year consisted of J.J. Alvarez ’23, Logan Canada-Johnson ’22, Ismael Gutierrez ’23, Mae Lovett ’23, Jules Obbard ’23, Elizabeth Matsumoto ’25, Nathan Sansone ’24, Ember Reed ’23, and Katerina Wearn ’25. For the first time in a while, the team only had one returning ethics bowl member, with everyone competing in person for the first time, and students ranging from first year to graduating.

The ethics bowl team — which included several philosophy majors and all had taken or were taking relevant philosophy courses such as moral philosophy or bioethics — met every week and even on weekends to discuss the difficult ethical dilemmas in preparation for the competition. The twelve cases dealt with timely and controversial issues in bioethics, asking students to weigh different sorts of considerations and ethical theories to provide unified recommendations in response to a series of questions. The cases dealt with issues involving non-human animals (such as the possibility of genetically engineering animals to suffer less pain, vegetarianism and veganism, xenotransplantation), pandemics (such as state obligations to incarcerated people during pandemics or the use of tracking technology for public health reasons), medical ethics (such as differing views on death is or uncertainty on patients’ wishes regarding life-saving treatment), and emerging technologies (such as the use of “carebots” or the production of mini-brains). The plane rides, meals, and free time in Salt Lake City provided additional occasions for philosophical discussion and preparation.

Students reflected on the value of participating in ethics bowl this semester and competing in the National Bioethics Bowl:

Logan Canada-Johnson ’22: It seems trivial to say now but at the beginning of this semester, I was concerned about being the only seasoned member of the Ethics Bowl team. Ethics Bowl has always been something I enjoyed but did not view myself as especially good at, so I wondered how our team would do if I was the ‘senior’ member. Well, it’s trivial in my mind because this has been the most fun and intellectually challenging semester of Ethics Bowl that I have ever done. It is not hyperbole to say that every member of our team was remarkably passionate and thoughtful, bringing ideas to each case that enhanced our arguments for the tournament. That this was a rebuilding year for our team is already a testament to how far we’ll see this team go next year, and my only regret is that I won’t be able to join them for it. Thank you to all the team members I’ve worked with in the past three years and a special thank you to Ariela Tubert, whose enthusiasm brought this program to our school and keep it thriving throughout the years!

Elizabeth Matsumoto ’25: Ethics bowl, as a freshman, stretched me beyond the regular classroom experience. Once a week, I had the privilege to meet with eight brilliant students to debate a variety of bioethical dilemmas like, “Is it ethical to produce brains from donated brain materials,” and “What are the ethical implications of genetically modifying animals to not feel pain” using frameworks from care ethics and philosophers like Korsgaard and Rawls. This application of philosophy was both relevant and interesting in ways that nurtured a genuine care and interest in bioethics and philosophical arguments. Although I am not a philosophy major, I thoroughly enjoyed this experience and look forward to participating again next semester.

J.J. Alvarez ’23: When I first decided to be on the ethics bowl team, I was unsure of what the experience would be like. I knew that there would be a competition that the team would be going to, but I didn’t know what our team dynamics would be like. I am so happy to say that by the end of our preparation for the national bioethics bowl competition, we were not just teammates, but really good friends. One of things that I remember most about ethics bowl is anytime all of us went out for dinner or lunch, we debated things such as the metaphysics of sandwiches. Or the ethics of Twilight. In addition to this, the experience that I have gotten from analyzing arguments, formulating counter arguments, and exploring different ethical frameworks has been invaluable. I have taken much of what I learned from this experience and began applying it to not only my other classes, but discussions I have outside of classes as well. I am so glad that I decided to join the ethics bowl team this semester. Not only have I learned a lot from the experience, but I have also found a strong community of people that I am excited to continue doing ethics bowl with in the fall.​

Jules Obbard ’23: My experience with ethics bowl was a very positive one. We learned a lot of specifics about topics that we otherwise wouldn’t have, and got to discuss multiple perspectives on complex issues. Not only that, but getting to attend the tournament made our group a lot closer and we started to work really well together. It was all of our first years and we all want to do it again next year because it was such a worthwhile investment. Our coach also managed the team really well and optimized our time so we could do better during the competition. Thank you Professor Tubert for taking care of our trip planning and providing our team with great objections! I look forward to participating in ethics bowl with the rest of the team next year.

Ismael Gutierrez ’23: During my time in ethics bowl I was really able to develop my understanding about various topics and reflect on very hard topics that I felt passionate about. I truly enjoyed my time in ethics bowl. All the people on the team are amazing. It is my favorite class this semester. The application of concepts which we established in the beginning of the semester and from other classes made these concepts more relevant. Unfortunately I was unable to go to compete on the bowl but I was there every step of the way to help prepare our team to do the best we can.

Nathan Sansone ’24: Not only was this my first semester in Ethics Bowl—it was my first semester even in a philosophy class. I left the first several meetings of the term confused, tired, and feeling outright in over my head. But week by week, bit by bit, I began to develop a genuine appreciation for the program and the ethical theories so central to it. I learned the basics of utilitarianism, Kantian ethics, Rawl’s theory of justice, and the bioethical principles; but more importantly, I began to develop an understanding of when these theories were relevant, of their benefits and drawbacks, and how to (at least start to) find consensus when confronted with two seemingly irreconcilable stances. Not to mention, the whole thing is just really, really fun. I’m very grateful to everyone on the team this semester and to Professor Tubert for her work in making this whole thing possible.

Ember Reed ’23: I was excited to have the opportunity to compete with other teams at the bioethics bowl. Seeing how philosophical argument occurs in time restricted environments increased my breath of understanding the discipline. It was also a good opportunity to practice public speaking.

Katerina Wearn ’25: I think ethics bowl was the thing that pushed me the most academically this year (in a good way). Having only taken one philosophy class, my main goal going in was just… keep up. And not only do I think I was able to do that, I feel like I learned a lot in the process. Just being able to participate and contribute to the conversations gave me a huge confidence boost, and hopefully in the future I will be brave enough to compete.

Prof. Tubert also reflected on the ethics bowl experience this semester:

I was excited to see this mostly new ethics bowl team come together as the semester went on and at the competition. It was really fun to see students get comfortable and excited to keep talking to each other about controversial and timely ethical issues. There is an intensity to the experience of preparing the cases over several months and then travelling together that is hard to replicate in other contexts, the students this semester really stepped up to the challenge and I am excited to work with many of them again in the fall.

the team with Prof. Tubert at Westminster College

J.J., Nate, Ember, Elizabeth, Logan, and Jules during one of the rounds

the team at Westminster College, ready to start the day

Jules, Nate, Mae, J.J., Ember, and Logan, about to start the first round of the day

in Salt Lake City, the team was having a hard time agreeing on a couple of cases but were having fun nonetheless

the full Spring 2022 Ethics Bowl team, on campus

Puget Sound Competes in 2021 National Bioethics Bowl

On April 10, 2021, the team from University of Puget Sound competed in the 2021 National Bioethics Bowl, hosted by Oklahoma State University and conducted online.

This is what a virtual bioethics bowl looks like!

Bioethics bowl is an argumentative reasoning and public speaking competition, in which teams from different schools discuss timely and timeless ethical issues related to medicine and technology. For each round, two teams take turns to tackle an ethical dilemma, present the reasons behind their ethical judgment, and respond to questions from the other team and from the judges. Even before the competition day, every team spends significant time throughout the semester to thoroughly discuss the varied ethical dimensions of every case. This year’s case packet includes ten cases, with three questions each, that range from the fair distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to the morality of artificial wombs.

The Puget Sound team for this year’s National Bioethics Bowl consists of Logan Canada-Johnson ’22, Grace Osborne-Neukirch ’21, Guillermo Ruiz ’21, Ben Sovocool ’21, and Elizabeth White ’23. This group of students, most of whom are philosophy majors and all had taken courses in moral philosophy and bioethics, met every week to discuss the difficult ethical dilemmas to prepare for the competition. (And really, the weekly discussions are the best aspect of the process!) This year’s team is co-coached by professor Sam Liao and alum Colleen Hanson ’19, who competed on ethics bowl and bioethics bowl teams while at Puget Sound and is now a philosophy PhD student at UCLA. In the end, Puget Sound narrowly lost to University of Maryland—Baltimore County in the first round, in a split decision; lost to San Jose State University in the second round; and narrowly won against University of Lynchburg in the third round.

A nail-biter victory against University of Lynchburg!

Students reflected on the value of participating in the ethics bowl activity course:

Elizabeth White ’23: “It was a lot of preparation but it was cool to discuss and learn about what each other think about ethics cases and work together to develop our stances and presentation. Even though we didn’t do very well in the competition, it was fun and entertaining.”

Logan Canada-Johnson ’22: “Although I began doing Ethics Bowl last year, the 2021 National Bioethics Bowl was my first opportunity to actually get in the ring and discuss bioethical issues with other schools. No, we didn’t win any awards, but I can say with complete conviction that there wasn’t a team in this tournament having more fun than ours!​ Ethics Bowl has been my favorite activity this semester and a great reprieve from the heaviness of living in the midst of a pandemic. Talking about bioethics on a Wednesday night became my favorite activity of the week, especially with all the other brilliant minds who made this team what it was. Thank you so much to Professor Liao and Colleen Hanson for the lengths they went to in order to give us this opportunity and support us until the very end. It’s with tears that this fantastic experience comes to its conclusion.”

Guillermo Ruiz ’21: “For me my favorite part about Ethics Bowl is that you don’t actually need to disagree with the team you are arguing with. This is what differentiates Ethics Bowl from a debate. This is rewarding because it doesn’t divide the two teams into right and wrong; rather it’s two group of people grappling with extremely challenging ethical dilemmas in an effort to get closer to the truth. The team and I spent months studying the cases and at a certain point we thought we had figured everything and knew all the relevant dimensions to the cases. We were wrong. Many times we found interesting and challenging points being made by the opposing team which forced us to reexamine our own beliefs and understanding of the ethical dilemma. Ultimately the most rewarding aspect of the experience was being able to see just how many people there were across the country who enjoy talking about ethics and try to get closer to the truth.”

Ben Sovocool ’21: “For me, the greatest value of Bioethics Bowl was in the examination of my own judgements and beliefs. Why do we have certain intuitions on a subject? Can they be defended, or should we reject them? The process of examining and developing one’s moral intuitions in practically-relevant cases is valuable for philosophy students, but also for all other students interested in thinking critically about ethical quandaries. The competitive environment of a Bioethics Bowl encourages a level of rigor in this process which otherwise may be avoided. I have found that the process of reading cases, understanding my beliefs on the subject, and expressing them clearly has been a huge aid both in my writing and my ability to communicate more broadly. I would highly encourage any student with even a passing interest in ethical issues to consider taking Bioethics Bowl.​”

Grace Osborne-Neukirch ’21: “Ethics Bowl meetings are an ideal place to practice sharing ‘rough drafts’ of ideas, to practice presenting verbal ethical arguments, and explore topics that you might not come across in casual conversation. The most valuable component of this experience was the opportunity to do pointed research on a topic that interests me: the social model of disability. The cases I chose to focus on were concerned with doctors’ decision making with disabled patients. Apart from being a fruitful intellectual space, having an hour every week to reconnect with my peers during a pandemic was relief when we still marooned in our respective COVID-bubbles. I’d recommend it for anyone interested in the tough questions, in particular for students who are interested in philosophy but are looking for a more casual, but still structured, discussion space. My only regret is not joining sooner!!”

And from the other side:

Colleen Hanson ’19, co-coach: “It was such a pleasure to be involved with the UPS Bioethics Bowl team this year. I have so many fond memories from when I was on the Ethics/Bioethics Bowl team as an undergraduate, and being back as a co-coach was just as special. I loved seeing the students’ diligence throughout the quarter transform into their final presentations; they are all careful listeners, astute thinkers, and articulate speakers. Thank you to Professor Liao for your invaluable guidance and knock-down objections, to the students for your fantastic efforts and positive spirits, and to the UPS Philosophy Department for inviting me back to be part of this.”

Thanks to Guillermo Ruiz for assistance with this post.

UPS Ethics Bowl Team Competes in First Ever Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl at the Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW)

The Puget Sound Ethics Bowl team competed in the first ever Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl at the Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) on April 14, 2019. The University of Puget Sound and the the Freedom Education Project Puget Sound (FEPPS) teams debated questions such as: Should we bring back species that have been driven to extinction? Are laws allowing terminally ill children to choose euthanasia morally defensible? Is China’s social credit system, which assigns a social credit score based on behavior, morally justified? Do wealthy nations owe a climate debt obligation toward less-wealthy nations? 

FEPPS describes their mission as being:

A rigorous college program for incarcerated women, trans-identified and gender nonconforming people in Washington and creates pathways to higher education after students are released from prison. Our goals are to increase FEPPS students’ economic and personal empowerment, contribute to family stability and reduce recidivism through college education.

The event was sponsored by Freedom Education Project Puget Sound and the University of Washington, Philosophy Department.

This event was also made possible by Paul Tubig, a Philosophy PhD candidate at University of Washington. In addition to coaching the FEPPS team, Paul established ethics bowl at WCCW and organized the event.

Visit the FEPPS Facebook page to read more about the event.

Left table: FEPPS ethics bowl team

Middle table: Puget Sound Ethics Bowl team

Right table: Judges and moderator

Paul Tubig

Puget Sound Students Competed in 2019 National Bioethics Bowl

On April 5–6, students on the Puget Sound Ethics Bowl and their coach, Prof. Tubert, traveled to Mobile, AL to compete in the National Bioethics Bowl at University of South Alabama.

The National Bioethics Bowl is a college-level collaborative presentation and debate about pressing ethical issues in biomedicine and technology. Months prior to the competition, each team receives a case packet containing 15 cases about bioethical dilemmas. Each team conducts research relevant to the individual cases and defend a position using ethical reasoning and argumentation. The bowl entails several rounds of debate. In each round, two teams are given time to present their position and argument for a given case they prepared. Following each presentation, teams have the opportunity to hear and respond to replies from the opposing team. Finally, the teams engage in a Q&A session with judges who included professionals in healthcare, government, and philosophy.

Some of the cases the Puget Sound team presented on were about unrepresented patients, CRISPR babies, and therapeutic misconception.

Students reflected on the value of participating in this bowl:

Liam Grantham ’20: “Debating our positions against another team made us stronger public speakers and improved our ability to act professionally (even when we strongly believe our opponents’ position is flawed)…I would definitely recommend the ethics bowl club to other people who are genuinely interested in ethics as much as we are. It sometimes takes a lot to come to a consensus on some of the cases we were given, but if you are passionate about ethics (doing the right thing), then it is absolutely worth it.” 

Colleen Hanson ’19: “Bioethics bowl is … a necessary space to discuss pressing ethical dilemmas in medicine and biotechnology. There will always be a need for people to critically reflect and make decisions on these issues. Bioethics bowl integrates students and experts from various disciplines and backgrounds, providing a robust and diverse pool of perspectives. As such, I think bioethics bowl is an essential activity not only in the types of skills it develops in students, but in the purpose it serves for the greater bioethics field.”

Simone Moore ’20: “…this experience not only helped us strengthen our rhetorical skills, but challenged us to interrogate and apply the foundational philosophical information that we have gathered through our time at UPS thus far. I feel fortunate that I was able to participate in an event such as this, and I hope that I will be able to do it again…”

Holden Chen ’20: “The event was certainly competitive, but at the same time, it was one that prompted a deliberative process that goes beyond itself. We now have familiarity with these timely ethical issues and have acquired the skills and knowledge to develop strong positions, but it doesn’t just stop there for us. The very fact that we were challenged at the competition shows that there’s always more to engage with and consider. The ethical discussions don’t stop, and we as ethicist of the now and of the future have come away from the experience with more appreciation for the process.”

August Malueg ’20: “Ethics bowl has helped me develop strong public speaking skills and has made me more confident in my ability to relate my thoughts to others… In Mobile I had the opportunity to meet students from various universities that traveled to the competition (such as Depauw and Loyola Chicago), as well as locals, who were overwhelmingly hospitable and welcoming. I think it is important to keep ethics bowl active at the university and to continue offering students the chance to travel to compete because it not only helps them in the professional and social sense, but also because they have the opportunity to continue to have novel experiences abroad.” 

Top: Holden Chen ’20, Simone Moore ’20, Professor Ariela Tubert, August Malueg ’20, Liam Grantham ’20 / Bottom: Colleen Hanson ’19

2018 Northwest Regional Ethics Bowl Competition

On November 10, 2018, Puget Sound’s fall Ethics Bowl team (Liam Grantham ’20, Colleen Hanson ’19, Brian Kim ’21, August Malueg ’20, and Sam Place ’19) coached by Professor Tubert, competed in the 2018 Northwest Regional Ethics Bowl at Pacific Lutheran University. Among the many topics they argued were: the moral grounds to use genealogy websites to aid in criminal investigation, religious exemptions to modern medical birthing practices, and the disablement of comment sections on major news websites.

Fall 2016 Ethics Bowl Competition

On November 12th, Puget Sound’s fall Ethics Bowl team (Finn Dobkin, Colleen Hanson, Eileen Mapes-Riordan, Rae Nathan, Conor O’Keefe, and Zoe Ozdemir) coached by Professor Tubert, competed in the 2016 Northwest Regional Ethics Bowl at Pacific Lutheran University. Among the many topics they argued were: climate change refugees, exceptions to uniforms for religious purposes, and implementing taxes on red meat.

 

Ethics Bowl Competition at UPS

On Friday, April 22, our campus will be hosting the Independent Colleges of Washington Ethics Bowl Competition. An Ethics Bowl is a collaborative yet competitive event in which teams analyze a series of wide-ranging ethical dilemmas.  Each of the rounds is open to the public.

For more information about this event, see the attached poster or go the ICW Website for the event.  For more information about Ethics Bowl at Puget Sound, check the Puget Sound Ethics Bowl Program page.