This article is based on an August, 2017 phone interview with Bob and Joanne Ladenson
As big as ethics bowl is today, creator Dr. Bob Ladenson remains the avuncular, soft-spoken phil prof the community loves and respects. Simply mention “Bob” to any ethics bowl organizer, intercollegiate through jr. high, and they’re likely to know exactly who you’re talking about, and just as likely to smile.
Bob’s principal collaborator, especially during the college bowl’s ramp up from isolated event to a formal two-tier structure, has been his wife, Joanne. Never heavy-handed, and always quick to share credit, the two have gently steered the initiative since its inception at Illinois Institute of Technology almost 25 years ago.
Now retired in California, I had the pleasure of chatting with Bob and Joanne on ethics bowl’s growth, how their view of its importance and benefits have changed over the years, and their thoughts on ethics bowl’s future.
Bob: When I quote “retired” – when I stepped down from being the head of the Ethics Bowl Executive Committee and Pat [Croskery] took over – I thought it was time. My dear friend and teacher Bernie Gert said, “The ethics bowl is like your child that’s grown up, and now it can go on its own.”
Going with the flow is too new-agey and breezy to put with my attitude. Rather, it’s like the ethics bowl is like my kids, who are adults. I hope it continues and flourishes.
The High School Ethics Bowl is really something. From the beginning I thought this would be great for high schools, but I could never figure out a way to move it forward. I was just delighted when Roberta [Israeloff] stepped up, for me out of the blue, and said this is something she wanted to work on developing.
Joanne: In terms of future directions to explore, if we can have tele-medicine, why can’t we have tele-ethics bowl?
Bob: At the Prindle Institute, for example, we have people who are much more technologically savvy than me and everyone in my generation. So maybe they’ll figure out a way to do this. My problem was that when we thought about doing it via media we could never keep the central objectives of ethics bowl intact.
Matt: That part of the future is actually here. I was involved in a brief webcam bowl a couple of years ago between high school teams in Tennessee, California, and Australia. The National High School Ethics Bowl has also held regional playoff rounds via Skype. I agree something’s lost when the teams and judges aren’t in the same room. But it’s less expensive and more convenient than traveling, with a lot of potential.
Joanne: I read a recent article in the Guardian about teenagers who use technology to communicate with their friends for everything… I’m thinking there might be some other ways to work with students not necessarily as a competition…
It’s critical for students to learn to listen, to respond respectfully, to find commonalities and areas of difference, to recognize that they may not always agree with each other but they can understand where the other person is coming from.
Indeed, these skills and attitudes are critical for the citizens of any successful democracy, and reason why Bob and Joanne’s contributions are so important.
We also discussed the apparent tension between ethics bowl’s competitive format and aim of fostering civility, how Bob and Joanne’s views on the appropriate role of ethical theory have changed as a result of witnessing so many bowls, and their thoughts on the source of the initiative’s sustained success.
Special thanks to Bob and Joanne for taking the time to chat, as well as for the gift of ethics bowl.