The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Department of Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Studies will host more than 100 high school students from across the state of Arkansas on Saturday, Feb. 2, for the seventh annual Arkansas High School Ethics Bowl. 

The event will begin at 8 a.m. in the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Business and Economic Development with matches beginning at 9:20 a.m. The keynote address with guest speaker Tim Jackson of Fried Green Media will begin at 2:15 p.m. followed by the awards ceremony at 3 p.m.

Differing from typical debate competitions, the Ethics Bowl encourages collaborative engagement about serious moral topics. Teams consider and discuss cases drawn from current events, which range from social and political issues, environmental concerns, and issues in the workplace and classroom. Teams receive a list of competition topics in advance to prepare for the event, but they are unaware of which one they will be assigned until they face off against a competing team.

Winners of the competition will be determined by the scores of three judges who were recruited from UA Little Rock and local community. Judging will be based on student’s abilities to reason and engage in civil, rational discourse.

More than 20 teams from 15 schools have registered for the competition this year, each one hoping to win and advance to the National High School Ethics Bowl, which is set to take place April 5-7 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  

For more information, contact Ethics Bowl organizers and professors in the Department of Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Studies, Dr. Michael Norton at mbnorton@ualr.edu, or Dr. Jana McAuliffe at jxmcauliffe@ualr.edu.