Ethics Bowl
Ethics Bowl

Ethics Bowl

Always wanted to go to the Super Bowl but no talent for playing American football? Now is your chance! Join the Ethics Bowl with American students and debate international ethical issues. Together with your Radboud team of fellow students, you will learn to argue and speak on complex moral issues. The goal is to compete in an online Ethics Bowl and win the trophy (and improve your debating and public speaking skills).

    General

    For whom? 

    B2, B3 and (pre-)Master’s students in the academic year 2025-2026. 15 places available. Minimum number of students is 8.  

    What are you going to do?  

    You are going to join a team of Radboud students and debate international ethical issues with students from an American college (St. Anselm College, New Hampshire, U.S.). In the first meeting you will get acquainted with the competition format of a so-called ‘Ethics Bowl’. You will learn about the rules and regulations, how to prepare cases and learn about useful ethical notions in a lecture on Ethical Theories. In the second meeting you will learn more about debating strategies, rhetoric and public speaking and will be coached in how to make these tools your own. You will use the third meeting to prepare cases together with your team and participate in a staged ‘Ethics Bowl’. This is followed by three online meetings with the team from St. Anselm in which the Ethics Bowl will take place. Topics that will be discussed include the relationship between politics and religion, and the freedom of speech; topics that are subject to differing views on both sides of the Atlantic. The course will be concluded with a symposium together with students from the Nijmegen Student Debating Society Trivium Nijmegen where you will present the concept of an Ethics Bowl to those present.  

    What’s in it for you? 

    • You will learn how to analyze a complex ethical case
    • You will learn how to formulate a strong argument
    • You will learn to develop alternative viewpoints
    • You will improve your presenting and public speaking skills
    • You will get into contact with American students, and learn about their (ethical) way of thinking 

    Program

    The program consists of 6 meetings and a closing symposium. The meetings take place at the university and are scheduled on Wednesday evenings from 18.30-21.00. We will start on 15th of October and the closing symposium is on December 3rd at the Latijnse School in the city centre of Nijmegen.  

    Starting date

    To be announced
    Costs
    Free
    Main Language
    English

    Factsheet

    Type of education
    Course

    Contact information

    Do you want to know more about the Honours Labs or do you have any questions? Please get in touch with the programme director: 

    Esther Fluijt
    honours [at] ru.nl (honours[at]ru[dot]nl) 

    Program

    The program consists of 6 meetings and a closing symposium. The meetings take place at the university and are scheduled on Wednesday evenings from 18.30-21.00. We will start on 15th of October and the closing symposium is on December 3rd at the Latijnse School in the city centre of Nijmegen.  

    Meetings 

    Meeting 1: October 15th  

    Introductory meeting and Kick-off: what is an Ethics Bowl? Who are the opponents of St. Anselm? What Ethical Theories are useful?  

    • Lecture on Ethical Theories
    • Training in Cases (How to prepare a case?)  

    Meeting 2: October 22th 

    Public Speaking: how to speak in public? How to use (non-)verbal communication strategies? How to make your argument? 

    • Lecture Rhetoric and Debate
    • Training Public Speaking  

    Meeting 3: October 29th  

    • Prepping Case Studies
    • Mock Ethics Bowl 

    Meeting 4: November 5th  

    St Anselm Ethics Bowl: round 1 

    Meeting 5: November 12th  

    St Anselm Ethics Bowl: round 2 

    Meeting 6: November 19th  

    St Anselm Ethics Bowl: round 3 

    Meeting 7: December 3rd  

    Symposium with the Nijmegen Student Debating Society Trivium (requested) at De Latijnse School