# Bioethics Bowl

The Bioethics Bowl is an intercollegiate, academic competition among undergraduate students at accredited four-year institutions of higher education. It takes place each April on a college campus. Unlike the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl, which debates cases across the curriculum from agricultural and engineering ethics to issues of grade inflation and communications, the Bioethics Bowl focuses exclusively on ethical issues in the health and biological sciences.

## Format

In late January or early February, the competing teams, judges, and moderators receive 15 case studies which represent controversial bioethical issues. The goals for each team is both to do research on the cases and to formulate well-structured, logical analyses pertaining to 3 questions posed (in advance) about each case.
In each round, the first team gets one of the 12-15 cases randomly assigned plus one of the 3 questions from the moderator. The first team then has 10 minutes to present: (1) the central moral issues of the cases, and (2) alternative points of view. The responding team then comments for 5 minutes on the first team's analysis, and the first team then responds for 5 more minutes to these comments. Finally, a panel of 3 judges asks questions for 10 minutes to the presenting team. The judges then pause to evaluate the first teams' response and the second team's comments. The round then repeats this format with the second team receiving a question about a different case.

## History

It began in 2008 at Union College in Schenectady, New York in connection with the 11th National Undergraduate Bioethics Conference, (which consisted of outside speakers for students’ and poster presentations by students).
Michael Mathias, who coached Union’s Ethics Bowl team from 2003 to 2007, organized the first Bioethics Bowl at Union College, with the help of Bob Baker. It had 11 cases and six teams. Bob Ladenson and Patrick Croskery, founders of the Ethics Bowl, enthusiastically supported this new Bowl.
The following year, Harvard University hosted in Cambridge, MA. Bioethicist Peter Singer then gave the keynote address and 12 teams participated.
By 2017, the burden of supporting NUBC as a conference organized by undergraduates grew too much, when the Bioethics Bowl also almost collapsed.
In 2017, to keep something going, Richard Greene and Rachel Robinson of Weber State University in Ogden, UT, agreed to keep the Bioethics Bowl alone going. Fifteen teams participated that year. Ann Jeffrey of the University of South Alabama then stepped forward and kept the Bowl going for two more years there.
Since 2017, the Bioethics Bowl has existed on its own and is governed by a small executive committee. In 2019, the Prindle Institute for Ethics in Greencastle, IN became an official sponsor of the Bioethics Bowl, hosting its web site, registration and other administrative details.

## History of Competitions

| Year | Host City | Host School | Champions | Runners-up |
| 2008 | Schenectady, New York | Union College | National Hispanic University | University of Miami |
| 2009 | Cambridge, Massachusetts | Harvard University | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | University of Miami |
| 2010 | Tacoma, Washington | University of Puget Sound | University of Denver | University of Miami |
| 2011 | Durham, North Carolina | Duke University | University of Alabama at Birmingham | Georgetown University |
| 2012 | Denver, Colorado | University of Denver | DePauw University | Georgetown University |
| 2013 | Washington, D.C. | Georgetown University | Georgetown University | University of Denver |
| 2014 | Chicago, Illinois | Loyola University Chicago | Loyola University Chicago | Georgetown University |
| 2015 | Tallahassee, Florida | Florida State University | University of Alabama at Birmingham | Samford University |
| 2016 | Cleveland, Ohio | Case Western Reserve University | Loyola University Chicago | Georgetown University |
| 2017 | Ogden, Utah | Weber State University | University of Portland | Georgetown University |
| 2018 | Mobile, Alabama | University of South Alabama | University of Portland | DePauw University |
| 2019 | Mobile, Alabama | University of South Alabama | University of Alabama at Birmingham | Georgetown University |
| 2020 | Boston, Massachusetts | Northeastern University | Canceled due to COVID-19 Pandemic | Canceled due to COVID-19 Pandemic |
| 2021 | Held virtually | Oklahoma State University | Macalester College | San Jose State University University of Alabama at Birmingham (tied) |
| 2022 | Salt Lake City, Utah | Westminster University | Loyola University Chicago | Northeastern University |
| 2023 | Boston, Massachusetts | Northeastern University | Georgetown University | University of Maryland, Baltimore County |
| 2024 | Waco, Texas | Baylor University | Stanford University | Georgetown University |
| 2025 | Salt Lake City, Utah | Westminster University | | |