A regional competition or regional bowl is registered with the NHSEB, and the winner of the competition has an opportunity to attend the Nationals in April. Some regional organizers also host practice ethics bowls before or after the regional competition. 

A regional organizer(s) is a person or group of people who coordinate all logistics in order to successfully run and host a regional competition. A regional organizer is the main contact for a high school ethics bowl in a particular area. This person ensures the competition follows the mission and regulations set by the NHSEB. You can read more about organizing a regional bowl here, or check out our Preparation Resources for some helpful guides. 

Yes, high school teacher can organize a regional competition. Although not ideal, the NHSEB will support a teacher-organizer if they ensure that they themselves will not match teams, select cases, or keep score. It is important the teacher-organizer disclose whether they are coaching a team in the competition.

The NHSEB prefers a University and/or College to host and organize regional competitions. Such a structure will help to remove any biases when selecting judges and scoring the competition. A teacher with the help of a University can also co-organize a competition, and we are very interested in developing these partnerships. Feel free to contact us for more information! 

Awesome! The first step is to send an email with your name, location, and affiliation to ethicsbowl@unc.edu. From there, our director can ensure you have access to all the resources you’ll need, and advise you on building your regional. 

Yes. A complete list of our participating regionals can be found here.

High school students between 9th and 12th grade—whether in public, private, charter, magnet, independent, dual enrollment, or home schools—can join a team for a high school ethics bowl. Teams are composed of three to seven students with three to five students seated on a team in any one match. High school teachers usually serve as the coach or team advisor. It is permissible for parents to coach a team if approved by the high school administration. Other participants include judges, moderators, and general event volunteers. These roles can be fulfilled by community members, local professionals, and faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students from a nearby University, College, or Community College.

No. It is not required for judges to have a degree or training in philosophy. The NHSEB recommends judges come from diverse backgrounds. Some of our judges are philosophers or professional ethicists; others come from a range of fields such as business, education, medicine, journalism; many are fans of ethics bowls.

A regional competition can cost between $500 to $3,000. The cost of the competition depends on the number of teams, inclusion of  different event components, catering, and awards and memorabilia. The cost of administrative, venue rental, and copying/printing services are other expenditures to keep in mind. 

The NHSEB season begins in early September with the release of the regional case set and concludes in early February. Many regional competitions occur between December and February.  We advise regional organizers to provide teams with at least two months of preparation time. Additionally, when scheduling a regional competition, please be aware of other high school academic events: ACT, SAT, speech and debate tournaments, Winter breaks, and exam days.

A regional competition is an all-day event held on either a Saturday or Sunday. The event can last between 8 to 10 hours. The length depends on a variety of factors: number of teams, number of preliminary rounds, breakfast and lunch, including a plenary session, awards ceremony, and judges’ and moderators’ training, etc. A high school ethics bowl competition is divided into rounds: preliminary rounds, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals. Each round is typically scheduled for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

A match features two teams meeting face-to-face. Multiple matches can take place within a round. A regional competition includes three to four preliminary rounds, quarterfinals/semifinals, and finals.

A University/College campus is an ideal location for a regional competition. A regional can also take place at a high school, community center, library, conference center, etc. When choosing a venue, consider several possible accommodations: access to several rooms (depending on number of matches) and lecture hall/small auditorium, AV equipment, permitted food and drink, accessible facilities, and possible distractions.

The NHSEB requires all high schools competing in a regional competition to register at least four weeks before their competition. The registration fee is $125 per school. In the event of economic hardship or other extenuating circumstances, a school should contact the NHSEB Director for scholarship opportunities. Additionally, the NHSEB will waive registration fees for an entire regional competition if all schools fall under the registration exemptions. You may register your school with the NHSEB here. 

Yes. A regional competition may charge an additional registration fee for participating schools in order to help cover event expenses. The NHSEB recommends that this registration fee be no higher than $50 per school.

Currently, the NHSEB is unable to provide regional competitions with financial support. The NHSEB will provide assistance to organizers with grants and fundraising tasks such as reviewing proposals or writing letters of support. In the future, we hope to distribute small stipends to regionals in need of financial assistance.

Yes. The NHSEB provides a travel stipend to teams traveling to Nationals. In order to qualify for a travel stipend, teams must complete a travel stipend application. Teams will receive the travel stipend as a reimbursement check after the Nationals have concluded. In the event of an economic hardship, the NHSEB will sponsor a team to compete at the Nationals.

At the Nationals, the top four ranking teams (2 finalists and 2 semifinalists) receive trophies and the Marc Sanders Prize. One team will also receive the Bob Ladenson Spirit of the Ethics Bowl Award, which is given to the team that best embodies the spirt and ideals of the ethics bowl program as voted on by their peers and competitors.

All official rules and regulations are available in our Rules, Procedures, and Guidelines. This document is updated seasonally, and available here. Regional competitions are encouraged to use the NHSEB Rules, Guidelines, and Procedures when planning their own events. 

Experimentation with the NHSEB format is welcomed, with approval by the NHSEB Director and Executive Committee. Regional organizers should notify the NHSEB Director about any modifications and report the effects of these changes after the competition.

A high school ethics bowl gives students the opportunity to learn about applied ethics through the analysis, research, and critical discussion of case studies that incorporate real world ethical conflicts from politics, business, international affairs, popular culture, and their personal lives. Previous topics have included: breastfeeding in public, using photoshop in advertising, dating a friend’s ex, ecotourism, criminal background checks, and reporting in a school newspaper.

No. The NHSEB releases a regional case set and supplemental moderator questions in early September for regional organizers to use for their competition.

Teams do not need to reference specific ethicists or ethical theories: doing so is not a requirement of a good answer, nor is it indicative of a poor answer. The argument is what matters; it is not necessary to name a philosopher associated with the argument. Keep in mind that a team is speaking to a broad audience: some judges might have no formal background in philosophy or ethics, and may not understand a student’s reference to, say, “Kantianism.” A good strategy is to explain ethical reasoning in terms everyone can understand. Philosophical name-dropping is not a substitute for presenting a sound argument.

No. Students should dress in a way that makes them feel comfortable.

Regional competitions are recognized as large or small depending on the number of reported participating schools (not teams) to the NHSEB. Large regionals have the most number of schools in the regional competition field. The winning school of a large regional will automatically advance to the Nationals. Small regionals have the lowest number of competing schools. The winning school of a small regional will compete in a virtual playoff against the winner of another small regional. The winner of the virtual playoff will advance to the Nationals. The NHSEB will communicate regional sizing classifications to each organizer. 

The winning schools of small regional bowls will compete in a virtual bowl playoff to qualify for the Nationals. This playoff will consist of a single match between two teams using Google Hangouts. Small regional playoffs will be matched according to time zone region and/or on a rolling basis (e.g., if two small regionals take place on the same weekend). When the NHSEB season concludes in early February, there is a two week period for playoffs. The winner of the virtual bowl playoff will qualify for the Nationals.

The Nationals take place each April on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, home and headquarters of the NHSEB program.

If you have additional, please consult our many compiled resources, or send an email to the NHSEB Director at ethicsbowl@unc.edu.