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The growth of Ethics Bowls: a pedagogical tool to develop moral reasoning in a complex world

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Abstract

The first Ethics Bowl competition was established in the 1990s by Dr. Robert Ladenson of the Illinois Institute of Technology to help students reason through ethical challenges they will face in their personal and professional lives, and help them develop responsibilities as citizens of a democracy. Since then, the Ethics Bowl format and its pedagogical goals have been adapted to many other academic disciplines and a variety of student and professional populations. Our aim was to quantify the growth of the Ethics Bowl concept by enumerating and describing extant Ethics Bowl programs, outlining both pedagogical goals and operational aspects. Using respondent-driven sampling, we identified 20 Ethics Bowl programs across the globe, reaching tens of thousands of participants annually, and an additional two programs preparing to launch in the near future. We conclude by making recommendations for pedagogical and operational dimensions of the programs.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks members of the 2019-2020 APPE Board of Directors and the APPE IEB® Council for their contributions to the list of Ethics Bowl programs. The author expresses deep gratitude to Bob Ladenson for his indelible mark on the field of ethics pedagogy.

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  1. Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    Lisa M. Lee

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  1. Lisa M. Lee
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Correspondence to Lisa M. Lee.

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Lee, L.M. The growth of Ethics Bowls: a pedagogical tool to develop moral reasoning in a complex world. International Journal of Ethics Education 6, 141–148 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40889-020-00111-1

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