Intercollegiate Ethics Debate: Speaking Out Against Not Speaking Out

Date/Time
Date(s) - 09/25/2024
10:30 am - 11:30 am

The Parr Center for Ethics sponsors the UNC-Chapel Hill Ethics Bowl team that competes in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Ethics Bowl each November. The Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl Competition (IEB) is part of a larger ethics bowl initiative by the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics.

Join undergraduates active in UNC’s National Champion IEB team as they debate and discuss Ethics Bowl cases that focus on First Amendment issues. Ethics Bowl cases are real-world ethical scenarios, and students work to debate approaches to addressing them.  This year’s topic is “Speaking Out Against Not Speaking Out,” focusing on whether a romantic partner must comply with the terms of a non-disclosure agreement signed at the onset of the relationship. This debate topic raises both legal and moral questions. The legal challenge to such an NDA arises from a piece of federal legislation, the Speak Out Act, which went into effect in December 2022. The Act rendered unenforceable NDAs agreements regarding sexual assault and abuse that were entered into before the allegation was made. In short, this means that a person cannot be compelled in advance to remain silent about any sexual assault or misconduct that might occur while involved with the party with whom they have entered into the agreement. This topic also raises moral questions about NDAs in general and NDAs that apply to sexual assault and misconduct specifically.

The UNC-Chapel Hill Ethics Bowl team provides students with an opportunity to practice applying moral theories and principles of argument that they learn in their ethics classes in the interactive format of the Ethics Bowl. Competition preparation involves significant research, writing, understanding ethical theories, and oral presentation. The provided case studies involve ethical issues in practical contexts, including engineering, law, medicine, personal relationships, education, and domestic and international politics. Specific questions may concern a wide range of ethically salient topics, including but not limited to plagiarism, dating and friendship, gun control, environmental policy, civilian casualties, and globalization.

This event will showcase the current UNC IEB team, as they present an abridged and interactive version of a regular competition round. The round will include information about a selected case study, a presentation by one team, comments from the opposing team, a response from the presenting team, and a Q&A period with the audience.

This event is open to the public and does not require registration. Students can earn Campus Life Experience (CLE) credit.

Video of the event:

This is just one of many events we are hosting on First Amendment Day!