Involuntary Commitment & Housing First
Students debated mental health and substance use treatment approaches, touching on three main topics: the merits of stage-wise versus abstinence-based treatments for substance use disorders, the efficacy of Housing First compared to transitional housing models, and the ethics of involuntary commitment in mental health care.
View Full Report
Moral Agency, Heroism & Purpose in Classical Texts
Students explored and debated philosophical, literary, and ethical questions. They engaged in guided conversations about topics ranging from Shakespearean tragedy to ancient Greek philosophy. Sway's Guide challenged them to refine their thinking and develop more nuanced arguments.
View Full Report
What Is A Species & The Ethics of Conservation Biology
Students engaged in paired discussions about key conservation biology concepts and controversies. Students analyzed competing frameworks for defining species, debated the ethics and practicality of interventionist conservation approaches, and examined the tension between traditional conservation methods and emerging technologies.
View Full Report
Affirmative Action for Boys and Men
Students debated three topics: whether Kamala Harris's 2024 loss proves the US isn't ready for a woman president, if women should receive more paid parental leave due to traditional childcare roles, and whether special scholarships for boys and men are justified. Students engaged with opposing viewpoints, leading to nuanced explorations of gender, policy design, and societal expectations.
View Full Report
Testing The Limits of Tolerance: Hijab Laws and FGM
Students debated three main topics: (1) whether courts should default to maternal custody in opposite-sex divorces, (2) whether we should respect female genital mutilation (FGM) as a cultural practice, and (3) whether a gender-neutral approach to genital cutting requires treating male circumcision and FGM equally.
View Full Report
Euthanasia for Mental Illness
Students engaged with ethical questions surrounding euthanasia and the moral equivalence of killing versus letting die. They analyzed topics including active euthanasia's permissibility, the treatment of psychiatric versus physical suffering in end-of-life decisions, and the moral weight of action versus inaction in life-or-death scenarios.
View Full Report
Medical Paternalism: Should Doctors Ever Amputate Healthy Limbs?
Students debated the balance between patient autonomy and medical paternalism, the ethics of amputation for Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID), and the appropriateness of "nudging" in medical decision-making. Students engaged in pairs (occasionally trios) to debate these complex ethical dilemmas, with Guide prompting them to deepen their analysis, consider different perspectives, and develop nuanced positions on controversial medical ethics topics.
View Full Report
Navigating The Hazards of Group Work
Students debated how to handle challenging group work scenarios, particularly around issues of uneven contribution, poor communication, and fairness in credit allocation. They were presented with scenarios in which team members either overworked, undercontributed, or "ghosted" their groups, and were asked to debate appropriate responses to these situations.
View Full Report
Animal Suffering & Factory Farming
Students debated the moral significance of animal and human pain. They explored whether physiological similarities in pain perception should translate to equal moral consideration or if human cognitive capacities justify differential treatment. The discussions examined practical implications including emergency resource allocation, medical testing ethics, and animal welfare regulations.
View Full Report
Should Alcoholics Get Liver Transplants?
Students debated the ethical challenges of allocating scarce medical resources in healthcare settings. They discussed difficult prioritization decisions, exploring whether certain patients deserve priority access to limited treatments or transplants based on criteria like disability status, personal responsibility in illness (particularly alcoholism and liver transplants), and ability to pay.
View Full Report
Frankenpets, Super-Athletes & Designer Babies
Students analyzed and debated ethical questions around bodily modifications and enhancements in three contexts: cosmetic surgeries for pets, performance supplements in sports, and growth hormone therapy for children with idiopathic short stature. They weighed harms versus benefits, consent and autonomy, fairness and naturalness, and the influence of societal biases.
View Full Report
Debating Abortion: Philosophical Arguments
Students debated philosophical arguments about abortion ethics, focusing particularly on personhood, bodily autonomy, and the moral status of fetuses. They discussed perspectives from Marquis's "future like ours" argument, Thomson's bodily autonomy framework, and other philosophical positions while exploring the tensions between maternal rights and fetal moral status.
View Full Report
Universal Healthcare, Job Guarantees & Reindustrialization
Students debated two major policy topics: universal healthcare and reindustrialization as a remedy for "deaths of despair." In both cases, they were often assigned devil's advocate roles to ensure robust argumentation from multiple perspectives. For healthcare debates, students examined whether the U.S. should guarantee insurance coverage for all legal residents, weighing moral imperatives against economic feasibility.
View Full Report
Ethical Dialogues on Gender, Aging, and Media Representation
Students debated ethical questions surrounding beauty standards, media representation, income inequality, and aging. They engaged in substantive discussions about societal pressures, personal autonomy, and systemic change. Many discussions demonstrated students' ability to move beyond initial polarized positions toward more nuanced understanding while considering practical solutions.
View Full Report
Should You Be Allowed To Donate Your Heart?
Students debated the ethical and practical viability of organ markets, primarily focusing on kidney markets with some exploration of heart/vital organ markets. They analyzed the complex balance between addressing organ shortages and preventing exploitation, considering various regulatory frameworks, alternatives to market solutions, and the broader ethical implications of commercializing human body parts.
View Full Report
Policies for Combatting "Deaths of Despair"
Students debated the economic, practical, and ethical dimensions of government-guaranteed universal healthcare coverage. They explored tensions between increased access and potential quality concerns, the balance between taxes and overall cost savings, and how different implementation models might address various challenges.
View Full Report