In March, several members of Carleton’s Philosophy Department volunteered to serve as judges in the 2022 edition of the Ontario High School Ethics Bowl. This is a wonderful opportunity to help youth discover philosophy in an entertaining yet very serious way!
These volunteers include Professors Andrew Brook, Melissa Frankel, Christine Koggel, and Myrto Mylopoulos, as well as EPAF student Ann Cronin-Cossette. We asked them about their decision to participate and invited them to share their impressions of this experience.
Here is what they had to say!
“It was super interesting to be part of an event that had very smart and impressive high school students present arguments for and against a particular moral issue in such complex and sophisticated ways.”
– Professor Christine Koggel
“Why did I get involved? Because it is fun to work with young people on moral issues of real practical importance. Philosophy is seldom taught in high school so when high school students discover it, I want to encourage them in any way that I can.”
– Professor Andrew Brook
“I volunteered to serve as a judge for the event mainly because Professor Frankel said to — this reliably provides a good reason to do something. This year was my first time participating, so I didn’t really know what to expect. I was genuinely impressed by the performances of the students and their enthusiasm for the competition. I especially liked that students were encouraged not to just offer rebuttals or to ‘score points’ against their opponents, but to be constructive and engage with their arguments in good faith. And the cases/topics presented were timely and interesting. I’d happily do it again.”
– Professor Myrto Mylopoulos
To help put Professor Mylopoulos’ comments in context, Professor Frankel, who has served as the department’s undergraduate supervisor for many years, often encourages colleagues to participate in engaging initiatives!
This was my second time participating in the Ontario High School Ethics Bowl as a judge, and each time I have been impressed by the high school students’ willingness to engage deeply with difficult ethical cases, to take intellectual risks, and to discuss philosophical issues collaboratively and cooperatively. The Ethics Bowl is a great initiative, and I encourage folks to either participate or just to tune in to watch! Congratulations to “Team Northern Mandibles,” who won this year’s Ontario Ethics Bowl, and who will be going on to participate in the Canadian Ethics Bowl later this year.
– Professor Melissa Frankel
“The Ontario Ethics Bowl was a fascinating, fun and well-organized event. Students from across Ontario showed they could argue complex ethical cases convincingly, with both passion and respect for the views of others. Being a judge was a great experience and I would happily do it again.”
– EPAF student Ann Cronin-Cossette
If you or anyone you know would like to help with the Ethics Bowl in the future, see the Ethics Bowl website for more information. We encourage all members of the Carleton philosophy community to engage with the Ethics Bowl and with other public philosophy initiatives!