One of the newest clubs at DMAE for 2014-2015 is the Justice League Club. The club is dedicated to discussing the philosophical, ethical and judicial dilemmas in different superhero movies.

“I really like this club and not just because I am nerdy about superheroes,” freshman Asim Qureshi said. “It increases my knowledge in what could be right or wrong in multiple scenarios,” he said.

Physics teacher Randall Pratt got the idea for the club from two sources. One source was one of his daughters. He overheard a conversation she had with her friends discussing a movie — they were analyzing the characters’ decisions and whether their actions were ethically okay.

Mr. Pratt was also interested in starting the club because of Harvard Professor Michael Sandel. Mr. Sandel has a series of video episodes called “Justice” that explore the question, “What’s the Right Thing to Do?” The episodes explore justice, equality, democracy and citizenship and ask varied questions, such as, “Is it sometimes wrong to tell the truth?” or “How much is one human life worth?” or “Is it ever okay to steal?”

“Its interesting to see the Harvard students and the comments they have and the questions that they have for this professor,” said Mr. Pratt. “In my mind I think about what our juniors and seniors and some sophomore and freshman would say. How would they talk about it. Harvard students aren’t that much more sophisticated than high school students at this point,” he added looking up and smiling.

Students watch the Justice episodes as well as superhero movies. For example, students watched “The Dark Knight” and “X-Men: Days of Future Past” and debated about the morality of the superheroes actions.

“The first one we watched was The Dark Knight, which had a lot of ethical situations that we discussed and I think other people would enjoy this, too,” Asim said.

The Justice League Club is always looking for new members who like to debate tough issues in a stimulating but fun way. Check out “Justice” episodes at http://www.justiceharvard.org/watch/