Themes

    2021-2022: A World Re-Renewed

    • Special Area - Mistakes & Recoveries
    • History - The History of Succession
    • Social Studies - Out with the Old
    • Science & Technology - To Edit a Planet
    • Art & Music - Second Chances, Second Glances
    • Literature & Media - Reboots, Sequels, and Reconsiderations

    2020: A World Renewed

    • Special Area - Mistakes & Recoveries
    • History - The History of Succession
    • Social Studies - Out with the Old
    • Science & Technology - To Edit a Planet
    • Art & Music - Second Chances, Second Glances
    • Literature & Media - Reboots, Sequels, and Reconsiderations

    2019: A World on the Margins

    • Special Area - Unsolved Mysteries
    • History - Neglected Histories
    • Social Studies - On the Edge of Society
    • Science - Enabling Technologies
    • Art & Music - Louder than Words
    • Literature - Voices from the Margins

    2018: An Entangled World

    • Special Area - Human Relationships
    • History - The History of Diplomacy
    • Social Studies - Black Markets
    • Science - The Science of Memory
    • Art & Music - Braving the Distance
    • Literature - Voices of the Inseparable

    2017: An Unlikely World

    • Special Area - Modern Mythologies
    • Science & Technology - To Shoot for the Moon
    • History - History of Conspiracy
    • Literature - Voices of the Almost Impossible
    • Art & Music - Fragments of an Improbable Universe
    • Social Studies - Predicting the Future

    2016: An Imperfect World

    • Special Area - Crime and Justice
    • History - A History of Cheating
    • Science - Disease and Public Health
    • Literature - Words to Light the Darkness
    • Arts - Flawed Visions, Broken Sounds
    • Social Studies - When States Falter

    2015: The World Unbound

    • History - Movements Toward Freedom
    • Science - Liberating Technologies
    • Literature - Voices of the Unbound
    • Special Area - Heroes and Superheroes
    • Arts - Peering Over the Edge
    • Social Studies - Worlds Held Together, Worlds Torn Apart

    2014: The World Within

    • History - The History of Espionage
    • Science - Thoughtful Brain, Troubled Mind
    • Literature - Voices from the Inside
    • Special Area - The Science of Decision-Making
    • Arts - Echoes of the Interior
    • Social Studies - Worlds Within Walls

    2013: A World in Motion

    • History - The Great Migrations
    • Science - The Science of Transportation
    • Special Area - The Turbulent Earth
    • Literature - Movement in Poetry, Film, and Prose
    • Arts - Movement in Art, Music, and Dance
    • Current Affairs - Globalization

    2012: A World in Flux

    • Science - Biotechnology and Nanomedicine
    • Special Area - The Postmodern Metropolis
    • Literature (Fiction) - Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Nightfall by Isaac Asimov, and Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
    • Literature (Film) - Wall-E and Life is Beautiful
    • Arts - New Media in Art and Music
    • History - Technology and Social Change
    • Current Affairs - The Global Economic Crisis

    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

    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
    • Art (Music) - Music of Separation and Difference
    • Economics - Fundamentals of Economics, The Economics of Wealth and Poverty
    • History - When the World Breaks

    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
    • Mathematics - The Essentials of Standardized Assessment
    • Economics - Fundamentals of Economics, The Economics of Spectacular Collapse
    • History - Empires at the Brink

    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
    • Economics - Fundamentals
    • History - Exploration