University students debated their way to national recognition and are preparing to represent the University at the 17th Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl in Cincinnati this spring.
The competition takes place March 3 and features the top 32 teams from the 10 regional Ethics Bowls, including one team from the University.
“In the last 20 years or so the competition has really blossomed into a large, nationwide event,” said Coach Ian Young, a philosophy professor. “This is big news. It might get a bit more intense now, but everyone is enjoying it and is keen to come back for more at nationals.”
Seven University students were divided into two teams for the Nov. 1 Upper Midwest regional competition.
One team consisted of Tom Cunningham, Scott Hites, Nicole Lepore and Matthew Shadrake and placed second out of 16 teams, qualifying for nationals.
The other team consisted of Chelsea Fuller, Courtney Hutton and Courtney Steinman and placed fifth overall in the competition, but did not qualify.
In the Ethics Bowl competition, a moderator poses questions concerning a variety of ethical problems, according to Ethic Bowl’s website. Teams then answer and debate the topics before being evaluated by a panel of judges.
Debate topics have ranged from dam construction in the Amazon to child pornography in the animated Internet world of Second Life and usually correspond to “real life ethical problems,” Young said.
“Although winning is nice, I really enjoy getting people thinking about the ethical issues behind a lot of questions and think with more depth,” he said. “One thing I really like is seeing students sitting about, passionately discussing ethical issues, even if they’re not in an actual debate competition.”
Although the Ethics Bowl began at the University last fall, all University competitors participated for the first time this year.
Hites, a sophomore philosophy major, said he heard about the Ethics Bowl in his modern political ideologies class with Young and decided to join the team to be more involved.
“I’ve really enjoyed it and made really good friends throughout the process,” Hites said. “I enjoy debating and things like that, and my teammates and I work really well together.”
By qualifying for nationals, Hites said he thinks the team exceeded expectations, but still has room for improvement as excitement sets in.
“Honestly I don’t think we expected to make it to nationals in our first year,” he said. “There’s a lot going through my mind now. We did really well, but there were some things we weren’t 100 percent on at regionals that we need to work on, like our fundamental ethical principles.”
Hutton, a sophomore film production and Spanish major, said although her team didn’t qualify for nationals, there is still a possibility she may compete with the qualifying team.
“You’re allowed to have six people on a team for nationals, so we still need to talk about it, but I would definitely go if I was asked,” Hutton said. “It was a new experience for me because I’ve been good at academic and logical argument but I had never tried an out loud, debate setup. It was a challenge … but the coaches were so supportive and made it a great experience.”
Young said he hopes his team’s presence in Cincinnati will stimulate student interest in the Ethics Bowl. The team is financially sponsored by the University’s philosophy department and BGeX and is open to students of any major.
“The whole idea for the national competition was actually dreamt up by a man who taught engineering students,” he said. “Although a department member pushed for the Ethics Bowl at BGSU, it’s open to anyone who is interested.”
Philosophy professor George Agich, former director of BGeX, said his push for a University Ethics Bowl team was inspired by the University’s nationally recognized department of applied philosophy, the focus of the competition.
“When I came in 2005, I wondered why we weren’t already doing this because we have such strength in applied social and political ethics at BGSU,” he said. “We discussed this for a long time and decided to recruit students from all colleges and get support.”
Since its implementation in fall 2009, Agich said the program has grown and he is pleased to see its participants enjoy themselves as they showcase the fundamental values of BGeX.
“While talking to them, I could see they were so pumped up and excited because it was so much fun,” he said. “They’re not only performing, but doing something that’s intellectually interesting to them and meeting students from other campuses who enjoy it, too.”
