UA Center Hosts Moral Forum Competition

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.  — Two pairs of University of Alabama students will compete for $10,000 in scholarships in the final round of the 11th annual James P. Hayes Jr. Moral Forum debate tournament at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, in the Ferguson Theatre.

Kailey Webster, a theatre major from Prattville, and Paul Bousquet, an economics and political science double major from Franklin, Tennessee, will compete against Bert McLelland, a political science and theatre double major from Tuscaloosa, and Hannah Clark, a nursing major from Huntsville.

Moral Forum is an annual dialogue and debate program that involves extensive research as students in the UH 101 Moral Forum course prepare value-based case studies representing positions on each side of an issue.

This year, students will argue in support of and opposition to the statement: In order to be a more moral society, the United States government should permit the sale of human organs, in order to allow monetary compensation for cadaveric organs as well as non-essential organs from living donors.

In teams of two, students conducted research, attended a nine-week seminar series and constructed position statements that address both sides of an organ market in preparation for two required preliminary debate rounds.  Each team must be prepared to argue both affirmative and negative sides of the same resolution.

Nearly 60 students are enrolled in the UH 101 Moral Forum course.  Guest lecturers this fall included Dr. James Stacey Taylor, associate professor of philosophy at The College of New Jersey; and Dr. Mark Fox, associate dean at the Indiana University School of Medicine- South Bend. Dr. Mark Nelson, the dean of UA’s College of Communication and Information Sciences, also met with the class.

This event is free and open to the public. For more information on Moral Forum visit cesr.ua.edu.

About the UA Center for Ethics & Social Responsibility

Created in 2005, the Center for Ethics & Social Responsibility established university-wide programming supporting the development of projects that nurture social responsibility and reflective, thoughtful citizenship. The University of Alabama’s strong commitment to civic engagement and its history of community-university partnerships also serve as a foundation for the center.