S.C. Ethics Bowl comes to Wofford
January 16, 2019
Ten high schools from around the state will compete Saturday, Jan. 26, in the inaugural South Carolina Regional High School Ethics Bowl at Wofford College, hosted by the Department of Philosophy. The competition will be held in the Rosalind Sallenger Richardson Center for the Arts.
The event is free and open to the public.
Fourteen teams of up to seven members each will compete in the daylong event in which students work in a collaborative environment to create and present a clear understanding and analysis of the ethics of a scenario given from a range of topics. After taking a stance on the issue and providing their supporting evidence and reasoning, each team is evaluated on a variety of factors, including clarity, consistency and the awareness of multiple perspectives.
“Ethics Bowl is a collaborative effort, and it teaches ethical reasoning skills that students typically don’t learn in high school,” says Dr. Stephen Michelman, chair of Wofford’s philosophy department and organizer of the event. “Students must learn to think on their feet and to justify their opinions. It helps prepare them for life in a complex, changing world.
“Being able to discuss and analyze ethical issues is an essential skill for citizens in a 21st-century democracy,” says Michelman, adding that the competition includes discussions of ethical issues ranging from liver transplants to gerrymandering and from “fake followers” on social media to the use of elephant ivory.
The event at Wofford makes South Carolina the 25th state to host the competition.
“South Carolina High School Ethics Bowl will continue to grow as the word spreads across the state,” Michelman says. “This year, we have a team from West Ashley High School in Charleston. Next year we hope to expand into the Midlands and Columbia areas as well as up and down the coast.”
Wofford students will serve as volunteer moderators for the competition, and philosophy majors have visited local high schools to help coach and prepare the competing teams. Faculty will participate as judges along with faculty members from other colleges and members of the community.
“I am proud that the Wofford philosophy department is taking the lead in this,” Michelman says. “Ethics Bowl brings together high school students and advisers with college students and faculty and members of the community. It really is a group effort.”
Competing in the Wofford event will be teams from Spartanburg High School, Dorman High School, Spartanburg Day School, Byrnes High School, Broome High School and Chapman High School in the Spartanburg area; J.L. Mann High School, Christ Church Episcopal School and Riverside High School in the Greenville area; and West Ashley High School in the Charleston area.
For more information, go to www.wofford.edu/philosophy/ethicsbowl2019/.
Wofford College, established in 1854, is a four-year, residential liberal arts college located
in Spartanburg, S.C. It offers 26 major fields of study to a student body of 1,690 undergraduates. Nationally known for its strong academic program, outstanding faculty, study abroad participation
and successful graduates, Wofford is recognized consistently as a “best value college” and is among
the New York Times’ “Top Colleges Doing the Most for the American Dream,” a ranking
based on accessibility for low- and middle-income students. The college community enjoys
Greek Life as well as 19 NCAA Division I athletics teams.
