PSIA Contributes to SMC Ethics Bowl Win
(UNG’s Senior Military College Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl Team poses after their second-place victory.)
(Photo previously published by Denise Ray in UNG News)
UNG placed second after competing against all six of the United States' Senior Military Colleges in the Senior Military College Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl with PSIA cadets playing a vital role in the accomplished victory. Out of the four students on the esteemed team discussing and debating seven relevant national cases, three are a part of the PSIA family: Nevaeh Owen, a sophomore majoring in strategic and security studies; Greg Fuentes, a junior majoring in political science; and Piper Sheetz, a junior majoring in international affairs.
Greg Fuentes has realized how “ethics are often overlooked,” and through participating in the SMC Ethics Bowl and “getting an in-depth analysis and reading ethical theory, you can start applying it to more everyday things and really think about how ethics play into everything.”
He informs how the SMC Ethics Bowl forces participants to be “on your toes” and be ready to give swift yet thoughtful answers. In such a rigorous environment, Fuentes credits his preparedness largely with taking “The Model United Nations” (POLS 3505) with Dr. Minor. The course “definitely helped my confidence and my public speaking skills. I owe a lot of my success to that class specifically.”
Piper Sheetz shares how the SMC Ethics Bowl “has improved my critical thinking and communication skills by giving me the unique opportunity to discuss military related ethical issues with cadets from other senior military colleges.” She remarks how the SMC Ethics Bowl allowed her and her team to engage in discussions grounded in personal experiences, adding “a deeper level of insight and responsibility to each conversation.”
The SMC Ethics Bowl asks students “to form solid opinions and then refine them by challenging one another’s claims” allowing Sheetz to put into action what she has learned while studying international affairs. Sheetz points out how “the PSIA department prepared me really well [for the SMC Ethics Bowl], especially through classroom discussions. Professors often encouraged us to challenge our own research and conclusions, rather than just defend them. That pushed me to look at issues from multiple perspectives and consider different experiences.”