2022 Tertiary Ethics Olympiad

Please register a team (or teams) at the bottom of this page.

This event started as a university-based US initiative in 1993. The “Ethics Bowl” continues to be a popular competition today culminating in the annual National US Ethics Bowl. The Ethics Olympiad was created in 2013 for gifted High School students in order to promote the study of Philosophy in Australasia. It has a proven track record of providing educators with a creative vehicle for developing skills in communication, critical thinking and respectful discourse while dealing with important ethical issues.

This year for the first time ever we will be hosting an Ethics Olympiad for Australasian Tertiary institutions. The event will be held via Zoom on the 4th of October 2022. Graduate and Undergraduate University students are invited to enter teams to represent their tertiary institution. Any tertiary institution can participate but there is a maximum of two teams from each institution allowed to enter. During the day all will be involved in a series of three heats where they will be scored according to set criteria that rewards, clear, concise, respectful discourse around interesting ethical cases. Gold, Silver and Bronze medals will be awarded to the top three teams. Please fill in the form at the bottom of this page to enter a team or teams.

" One of the things I like best about the way Ethics Olympiad is set up is the fact that it is precisely NOT debating. Since teams are encouraged to acknowledge good arguments and to contribute collaboratively to the resolution of the question, the activity embodies the value of truth-seeking – not a sophistic defence of a position that you yourself might not think is true. To their credit, I think the participants really get this. At a time when civil discourse in so many places has become so acrimonious, this is an important value for young people to absorb. In my limited experience, many of them are truly better in this regard than the so-called grown-ups in our societies."!"

AAP President Professor Dirk Baltzy

Great day and invaluable experience for our students. Thank you so very much!"

Anonymous Victorian Teacher

"Thank you! We got a lot out of it. My girls are going to train the new younger girls using ideas from the presentations. Also, the fact that they are speaking with University Doctors of Philosophy is very impressive and encouraging them to seek out universities that offer Philosophy as courses!"

Baradene College NZ

"Excellent day"

South Australian Coach

"Congratulations Matthew and the team. I thought this was a highly successful event and a rich learning experience for the students. Thank you very much for all your efforts."

Judith VrachnasSCEGGS Darlinghurst Sydney

"Really enjoyed it and looking forward to internationals. Thank you for this opportunity, it has piqued my interest for ethics."

Hiya SharNSW Ethlete

The nature of this event being collaborative yet competitive is wonderful and so needed in our increasingly polarised world with algorithm-driven news feeds, where discourse is lacking. It was wonderful to have the expertise of skilled, highly qualified thinkers as moderators. ....Overall, a wonderful event.

Glenda McCarthyCentralian Senior College N.T

Date of the 2022 Tertiary Ethics Olympiad

Tuesday, October 4th 2022

Start and Finish Times:

Start times:
• 8 am – Western Australia, Singapore & Hong Kong
• 9.30 am – South Australia & Northern Territory
• 10 am – ACT, N.S.W, Qld, Tas & Victoria
• 12 pm – New Zealand

Finish times:
12.30 pm – Western Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong
2 pm – South Australia and Northern Territory
2.30 pm – ACT, N.S.W, Qld, Tasmania & Victoria
4.30 pm – New Zealand

Program for the Day:
Note: As we are all in different time zones we are not going to refer to times of the day.
– Welcome & Preparation – 20 minutes – Main Zoom Foyer
– Heat One – 1 ¼ hours Breakout Rooms
– Break – 15 minutes
– Heat Two – 1 ¼ hours Breakout Rooms
– Break – 15 minutes
– Heat Three – 1 ¼ hours Breakout Room

Registration Fee
Once registered we will send you the cases, training resource kits and an invoice. The registration fee is $45-$50 (AUS) per student, $225-$250 AUS per team. There is a reduced rate for early bird bookings. (Valid up until 18/5/22). Universities can enter one or two teams. Please note there are a limited number of teams that can participate.

Format, Rules & Scoring
The heats use the same format as the Ethics Bowl in the US. The main difference is that all teams will be participating online in zoom breakout rooms. There will be a round-robin format with different teams from throughout Australasia participating against each other. Scores will be private on the day, but we will email the final results to each coach following the event. University-based philosophers from throughout the world judge the heats throughout the day.

Coaches Training Kit- Included in the kit will be the eight ethical cases, score sheets, criteria, format details and other useful information. Students kits will also be available.

Click here for a printable flyer about the event.

Eligible participants

Students must be currently enrolled as a student in a tertiary institution in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore or Hong Kong. Each team must include a team coach.

REGISTRATION

Please enter your details below in order to enter a team or teams.

Terms and Conditions

Coaches Name *

First

Last

Tertiary Institution

Coaches Email Address *

Please include the coaches email address here.

Address *

Please provide a physical address for the invoice. As well as an invoice for the registration fee we will also send you a credit card link in case you want to pay with a credit card.

Number of teams *

One Team
Two Teams

(Each team has a minimum of four students and a max of five students. Tertiary Institutions can enter a max of two teams)

Registration Fee *

Please note that we cannot invoice individual team members. The Early Bird rate is valid up until 18/5/22 (Please choose one of these options)

Mobile Phone number *

We will only use this to contact you on the day if there is a problem

Other contacts associated with this registration.

If you already the names of team members please include them here. Please include anyone related to this registration e.g Team Manager/Team members.

Other Relevant Email addresses *

If you have other email addresses related to this registration please include them here. Otherwise we will expect the coach to pass on relevant information to team members.