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Ethics and the Community

UNF Ethics Academy
First Coast High School Ethics Bowl

UNF Ethics Academy

Stay tuned for camp dates and more information about UNF Ethics Academy July 2025!

The Ethics Academy is run by UNF faculty with help from UNF students and community leaders. Each day consists in activities, academic workshops, lunch, and discussion groups. Daily activities—like a campus scavenger hunt, UNF’s ropes course, and hiking on the nature trails—will familiarize participants with some of what UNF has to offer, as well as providing team building opportunities. In academic workshops, students will hear from UNF faculty and community leaders about the nature of ethics and how ethical decision-making factors into the workplace. In addition, UNF students will guide participants through challenging ethical case studies, helping them to think both critically and collaboratively about contemporary moral issues while paying attention to differences in value and alternative perspectives. The academy will culminate in a mini ethics bowl competition, where groups of students will discuss the cases that they have developed over the course of the summer camp.

Who should participate? Local high school students who love to think and talk about ethics!

Two campers giving thumbs up

Cost: $TBA. Scholarships are available.

Includes: Day camp, lunch + snacks, T-shirt, notebook + supplies, insurance, all on-campus activities, and Florida Blue Center for Ethics Junior Scholar Certificate. Not included: Transportation.

Questions? For more information, contact Dr. Jon Matheson j.matheson@unf.edu or Dr. Sarah Mattice s.mattice@unf.edu

Group photo of campers and judges in front of the lake

The UNF Ethics Academy is made possible with generous support from:

the local community
the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies
the Florida Blue Center for Ethics
Intern Valerie Joly Chock
and from a grant provided by:

First Coast High School Ethics Bowl

Promoting ethical reasoning for local high school students

"In the typical moral problem, the ethically relevant features are tricky to specify and extremely difficult to weigh with respect to one another. Moreover, there is no given short-list of possible actions to be decided upon; instead there looms before the person deciding what do to an open field of infinitely diverse actions, shading into one another in countless, different ways. To be or not to be is hardly ever the moral question, but rather when, where, how, for whom, how much, and in what respect to be or not to be. A moral problem calls not for a mechanical response, but rather for a creative act." (Robert Burch "Are There Moral Experts?" 1974: 655)

About:

The National High School Ethics Bowl (NHSEB) promotes ethical awareness and collaborative critical thinking in a competitive environment. Students get the opportunity to research and analyze contemporary real world ethical issues, which culminates with present their findings and critically engaging with other teams and judges. Teams win by demonstrating that they have thought rigorously and systematically about the cases, and engaged respectfully and supportively with all participants. The NHSEB fosters constructive dialogue about complex moral issues and furthers the next generation's ability to make sound ethical decisions and engage in civil dialogue. This is a great opportunity for students and it is also a lot of fun!

Timeline:

Early September: Cases released

January 10th: Registration

1st Sat. in February: First Coast Ethics Bowl @ UNF

Early April: National Ethics Bowl

Registration:

First Coast High School Bowl Registration

Our regional bowl is capped at 20 teams. Unless there are 20 different schools competing, schools will be permitted to send more than one team. Each school must be registered through the region above, and pay $50 per team with a maximum of 4 teams from any one school (No guarantees after your first two teams).

Each school must also register through the National High School Ethics Bowl:

National Team Registration

Registration through nationals comes with a $175 fee (before 11/01). Whether paying by check or credit card, schools must complete the online registration form. Step-by-step directions on how to complete NHSEB registration are found on the above page.

The sooner you register the better as it will enhance our opportunity to get an automatic bid to the national competition (registration closes January 10th).