Two teams representing Utah Valley University stood undefeated at the 2021 Wasatch Mountain Ethics Bowl on Nov. 13, earning themselves spots in the upcoming national competition.

The competition, organized by the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, consisted of 16 student teams that represented well-known universities like Harvard University and Colorado State University, as well as fellow Utah institutions like the University of Utah and Westminster College. A team from Westminster College also will move on to compete at the national level.

Six weeks before the competition, the 16 teams were assigned cases based on real-life ethical dilemmas, which they then had to conduct an ethical analysis of. Some of these cases involved rock climbing on public land, U.S. Senate filibusters, vaccine patents and mandates, and ransomware attacks.

The winning team had to conduct the best and most sophisticated ethical analysis of the cases they were presented, then present and defend solutions for their analysis in front of a panel of three judges.

Students also were awarded points for stopping to listen to their opponents, as well as acknowledging the strong points within their opponent’s argument. Overwhelming the other team is not the goal, as can happen during traditional debate events.

“One of the concerns educators and citizens have is the tension and the polarization in our society. People can’t talk to each other,” said Karen Mizell, UVU faculty member and co-founder of the Wasatch Regional Ethics Bowl, in a press release. “The Ethics Bowl is golden for having students sit down and talk about issues in a healthy, rational way, and to listen to each other.”

The UVU students who participated in the Wasatch Mountain Ethics Bowl were all enrolled in the Moral Reasoning Through Case Studies Ethics Bowl course, taught by Jeffrey Nielsen, senior lecturer in the UVU Department of Humanities and Philosophy. The course helps students learn about moral theory and prepare for the competition.

“This course is probably the most beneficial and helpful for my students in their university education and in their future careers,” Nielsen said in the release. “I’ve had students who’ve been on the team, and then years later they’ll let me know that in their jobs and their careers, the Ethics Bowl experience is what has given them the most help. They gain the ability to analyze a case and present a coherent argument about the right thing to do.”

UVU’s Ethics Bowl teams will compete alongside 34 other teams in the APPE Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl national competition, which will be held in Cincinnati, Ohio, in February.

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