The experience
Themes
All rounds taking place after Jan 22, 2026 will cover the new 2026 Theme: Are We There Yet?
Are We There Yet?
Explore the 2026 guiding questionsArchive
Past themes
Every season since 2008 has explored a new theme. Seasons from 2013 on include their subject outlines or guiding questions.
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2025
Reigniting the Future
- Guiding Questions
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2024
Reimagining the Present
- Guiding Questions
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2023
Reconstructing the Past
- Guiding Questions · Theme Overview
- Content Update · Curriculum Booster Pack
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2021–2022
A World Re-Renewed
- Science & Technology · To Edit a Planet
- Special Area · Mistakes & Recoveries
- Social Studies · Out with the Old
- History · The History of Succession
- Art & Music · Second Chances, Second Glances
- Literature & Media · Reboots, Sequels, and Reconsiderations
- and 1 more
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2020
A World Renewed
- Special Area · Mistakes & Recoveries
- Science & Technology · To Edit a Planet
- Social Studies · Out With the Old
- History · The History of Succession
- Art & Music · Second Chances, Second Glances
- Literature & Media · Reboots, Sequels, and Reconsiderations
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2019
A World on the Margins
- Special Area · Unsolved Mysteries
- Social Studies · On the Edge of Society
- History · Neglected Histories
- Science · Enabling Technologies
- Art & Music · Louder than Words
- Literature · Voices from the Margins
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2018
An Entangled World
- Special Area · Human Relationships
- History · The History of Diplomacy
- Art & Music · Braving the Distance
- Science · The Science of Memory
- Social Studies · Black Markets
- Literature · Voices of the Inseparable
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2017
An Unlikely World
- Science & Technology · To Shoot for the Moon
- History · History of Conspiracy
- Literature · Voices of the Almost Impossible
- Art & Music · Fragments of an Improbable Universe
- Special Area · Modern Mythologies
- Social Studies · Predicting the Future
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2016
An Imperfect World
- Special Area · Crime & Justice
- Science · Disease & Public Health
- History · A History of Cheating
- Literature · Words to Light the Darkness
- Art & Music · Flawed Visions, Broken Sounds
- Social Studies · When States Falter
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2015
The World Unbound
- Art & Music · Peering Over the Edge
- Special Area · Heroes and Superheroes
- Science · Liberating Technologies
- History · Movements Toward Freedom
- Literature · Voices of the Unbound
- Social Studies · Worlds Held Together, Worlds Torn Apart
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2014
The World Within
- Special Area · The Science of Decision-Making
- History · The History of Espionage
- Science · Thoughtful Brain, Troubled Mind
- Literature · Voices from the Inside
- Art & Music · Echoes of the Interior
- Social Studies · Worlds Within Walls
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2013
A World in Motion
- Special Area · The Turbulent Earth
- Science · The Science of Transportation
- History · The Great Migrations
- Current Affairs · Globalization
- Music · Movement in Music and Dance
- Art · Movement in Art
- and 1 more
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2012
A World in Flux
- Science · Biotechnology and Nanomedicine
- Language and Literature · Transformation in Fiction and Film
- History · Technology and Social Change
- Special Area · The Postmodern Metropolis
- The Arts · New Media in Art and Music
- Current Affairs · The Global Economic Crisis
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2011
A World Transformed
- Science · Biotechnology
- Special Area · The Modern Metropolis
- Literature (Poetry) · Changing Lives, Changing Worlds
- Literature (Short Stories) · The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World by Gabriel García Márquez, Nightfall and The Last Question by Isaac Asimov, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, Julian: A Christmas Story by Robert Charles Wilson, and There Will Come Short Rains by Ray Bradbury
- Arts · A World in Flux
- Economics · Fundamentals of Economics
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2010
A World Divided
- Science · Great Conflicts in Science
- Special Area · The Psychology of War
- Literature (Poetry) · Poetry of a World Divided
- Literature (Novel) · The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay
- Literature (Film) · The Motorcycle Diaries
- Art (Visual) · Art of Separation and Difference
- and 3 more
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2009
The Fall of Empires
- Science · Sustainable Development
- Special Area · The Fall of Empires
- Literature (Poetry) · Poetry of the Fall
- Literature (Novel) · Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
- Visual Arts (Art) · The Art of Decline and Decadence
- Visual Arts (Film) · The Last Emperor and Serenity
- and 3 more
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2008
The Frontier
- Science · Astronomy
- Literature (Poetry) · Short Selections
- Literature (Novel) · Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
- Literature (Film) · 2001: A Space Odyssey
- Art · Art on the Edge of the Possible
- Mathematics · Mathematical Scenarios
- and 2 more