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Each year members of the Villanova undergraduate
community participate in a national intercollegiate ethics competition involving
36 colleges and universities. Beginning in the Spring of 2000 Villanova has
sent teams of four and/or five students to represent the University. We have
done quite well each time we have gone.
The Ethics Bowl centers around 15 cases that are distributed to the teams six
weeks prior to the competition. There are two levels of competition: the regional
level and then the national level. The latter is held either the last week of February
or the first week of March, in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Association
for Practical and Professional Ethics. There is a morning series of
rounds in which each team competes against three other teams. The points
accumulated during the morning round are computed, with the top eight teams left
to compete in a "sudden death" series of rounds in the evening.
The Ethics Program hosts the northeast regional
Ethics Bowl competition on Saturday, November 15, 2008
Colleges and universities across the United States and throughout the world
are invited to enter teams of undergraduate students in the Intercollegiate
Ethics Bowl which is overseen by the Association for Practical and Professional
Ethics (APPE).
Villanova's teams is sponsored by Dr. Mark Doorley, Director of the Ethics Program,
but it is coached by Dr. Doorley as well as several other ethics faculty including
Dr. Sarah-Vaughan Brakman, Dr. Darlene Weaver, Dr. Brett Wilmot, and Dr. Mark Wilson.
Villanova Team (Requirements & Instructions)
Requirements
The Villanova team is composed of four or five students who emerge from a selection
process that begins with an open call for participation to all first year students as
well as nominations from the University Faculty, in all the colleges.
An information meeting is held early in the fall semester each year. Interested students then go through
an interview process with the coaches. This process provides the coaches with
the ability to put together a team that is balanced in terms of its strengths
and weaknesses. Not everyone on the team needs to be a debate star, but
everyone must be able to bring to the table what is needed to prepare and
compete, namely:
- Initiative
- Creativity
- Intelligence
- A team attitude
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- The
ability to think on one's feet
- Analytical tools
- Solid public speaking skills
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Instructions
The cases arrive for the regional competition near the middle of September, and
for the national competition, near the middle of January.
- The coaches and the team members begin regular meetings immediately.
This typically means two 90 minute sessions a week until the competition.
- The
cases are divided up among the team members according to interest.
- Each team
member becomes the point person for several cases. This means he or she will be
the primary person presenting the case at the competition, and he or she is the
primary person to prepare the case, however, each case preparation benefits from
the entire team.
We go through each case, brainstorming ideas and arguments.
We then go back through each case, with a dry run at the argument by the point
person for the case. This gives the team the opportunity to make suggestions,
imagine counter-arguments, and become familiar with the outline of the argument.
When appropriate, we call on the expertise of
Villanova faculty to understand the scientific, legal and/or political
dimensions of particular case. Each time a request for help has been made the
particular faculty member has been gracious in providing us with what we need.
Our gratitude for the responsiveness of the faculty is deep.
We leave for the regionals the Friday before the competition, unless Villanova
is the host. For the nationals we leave the Wednesday before the competition.
View past teams.
Coaches:
For more information
on the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl.
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