Ethics Bowl 2015
Mondays: 5pm-6:45pm AL Small Conference room
Wednesdays: 7pm-8:30pm AL 422
Occasional Saturdays and Sundays
Instructor:
Office:
Email:
Alison M. Brown, Ph.D., Esq.
AL 440
AlisonMarieBrown@gmail.com
Office Hours: After class and by appointment.
Phone:
(650) 906-9914
Required Text:
 The 12 Cases from the 2015-2016 Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl – I’ll email these to you
 Research needed to aid in forming your arguments and defense of your positions – You’ll have to find this
Travel Requirement: If you want to compete, you’ll need to be available all day on Dec. 4 through Dec. 6.
 The Philosophy Department will pay for: the van and gas to get us to San Jose and back, 2 nights of
hotel in San Jose, competition fees, and team uniforms (probably polo shirts).
 The University will reimburse you for your meals for the entire weekend up to the amounts specified –
Kim will provide this information prior to the trip.
Course Description:
Participate in the 2015-2016 Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl California Regional Competition. The class will focus
on 12 cases disseminated by the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl Competitions, focusing on ethics, public policy,
and debate. The team will meet about twice per week to analyze the cases, plan strategy, and mock debate.
Course Goals and Objectives:
The goals of this course are to prepare for vigorous oral, ethical debate and to compete in the 2014 California
Regional Ethics Bowl Competition. At the end of the course, students will be able to:
1. Identify (and avoid making) fallacious arguments
2. Identify and analyze various moral theories as applied to specific ethical issues;
3. Construct arguments in a legal context and critique counter arguments;
4. Identify and reconstruct arguments in a legal context;
5. Evaluate/analyze legal arguments; and
6. Demonstrate analytic oral argument skills.
Expectations I have of you:
Students are expected to have read and thought about the assigned text and to arrive on time. In addition to
expecting you to meaningfully contribute to class, I also ask that you do everything to foster a professional and
positive learning environment. While I strongly encourage vigorous debate, I expect that everyone will treat
others respectfully at all times. I also ask that you do nothing to distract me or classmates during class. In
particular, please only use laptops or other electronic devices in class to take notes and access course-related
materials. Also, I beg of you to curb electronic distractions: turn cell phones off, refrain from playing computer
games, abstain from using all communication tools such as email, IM, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest,
Chatroulette, or webcams during class. Also, please disable/pause your Shake Weight screensaver or otherwise
distracting graphics, and YouTube how-to videos.
Course Assignments:
 Class Attendance – Attend as many class/practice meetings as possible
 Writing Assignment – Turn in a case outline for each of your cases
 Mock Competitions – Argue your Ethics Bowl 2015 cases before 4 panels of Mock Judges
 Competition – Attend and participate in the 2015 California Regional Ethics Bowl Competition
Grading:
 Class Participation:
 Writing assignments:
 Mock Competition 1:
 Mock Competition 2:
 Mock Competition 3:
 Mock Competition 4:
 Competition:
30%
30%
10%
10%
10%
10%
0%
A 93-100
A- 90-92
B+ 87-89
B 83-86
B- 80-82
C+ 77-79
C 73-76
C- 70-72
D+ 67-69
D 63-66
D- 60-62
F 0-59
Academic Honor Policy:
Center for Student Rights and Responsibilities: http://csrr.sdsu.edu/index.html. Plagiarism
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism) or cheating may result in a grade of “F” for the course.
Americans with Disabilities Act:
University policies regarding ADA-compliant accommodations and procedures to receive accommodations:
http://oerc.sdsu.edu/disabled-student.html
Students who need accommodation of their disabilities should contact me privately, to discuss specific
accommodations for which they have received authorization. If you need accommodation due to a disability,
but you have not registered with Student Disability Services at (619) 594-6473 (Calpulli Center, Suite 3101),
please do so before making an appointment to see me.
Student Privacy and Intellectual Property:
I will protect your privacy by not distributing or posting grades in a way that allows anyone other than the
individual student to access them. In addition, San Diego State University policy grants to students intellectual
property rights to work products they create as part of a course unless they are formally notified otherwise.
Furthermore, I expect each of you to abide by these policies in your dealings with fellow students.
Mondays: 5-7 in AL small conference room; Wednesdays: 7-8:30 in AL 422; Weekends: 2-4 in AL 422
Date
Wednesday
26 August
Wednesday
2 September
Wednesday
9 September
Wednesday
16 September
Monday
21 September
Topic
Intro, continued try-outs, structure basics
Class Assignments
Intro assignment – emailed to you
No Class
No Class
Discuss the 15 cases for 2015 competition
- select 3 that we do not like
Discuss cases
Please read all 15 cases and identify the basic
moral issues in each
Team building
Discuss cases
Wednesday
23 September
Monday
28 September
Wednesday
30 September
Discuss cases
Start your research BEFORE today:
- read the articles cited in your cases
- find other articles that relate to your cases
Focus on structure
Wrap up research
Think about structure
Monday
Practice giving arguments
Start practicing giving arguments
Practice giving arguments
Turn in an argument sheet for each of your cases –
this should be a bullet-point skeleton outline of
your standpoints/arguments
- should be no more than 1 page per case
5 October
Wednesday
7 October
Saturday
10 October
Monday
12 October
Wednesday
14 October
Monday
19 October
Wednesday
21 October
Sunday
25 October
Monday
26 October
Wednesday
28 October
Saturday
31 October
Monday
2 October
Wednesday
4 November
Monday
9 November
Wednesday
11 November
Saturday
14 November
Monday
16 November
Wednesday
18 November
Monday
23 November
Wednesday
25 November
Friday
4 December
Saturday
5 December
Sunday
6 December
Practice
All argument sheets due – for real – by this day
Give Arguments to Mock Judges
2 pm
Give Arguments to Mock Judges
Practice
Give Arguments to Mock Judges
Practice
Give Arguments to Mock Judges
2 pm
Give Arguments to Mock Judges
Practice
Practice
Give Arguments to Mock Judges
2pm
Give Arguments to Mock Judges
Practice
Give Arguments to Mock Judges
Veterans’ Day – No Classes – We can still
meet if you want to (TBD)
Give Arguments to Mock Judges
We can meet off campus if you’d like. We can
meet at any time.
Give Arguments to Mock Judges
Practice
Give Arguments to Mock Judges
No meeting – Pre-Thanksgiving
Drive in the van to San Jose
Eat nice dinner together, go to sleep early
COMPETITION!
Drive back to San Diego
Discuss you cases with your families – practice
giving your arguments, ask for counter arguments
*** You’ll need to take this day off school/work –
I can write you a note if necessary excusing you
from school/work***