World Scholar's Cup - Curriculum

Curriculum

The World Scholar's Cup curriculum has six subjects that relate to a larger theme. Each year the theme changes, and with it so does the Special Area. The curriculum is designed to help students understand the overarching themes of the subjects and how they relate to one another. Students are often given questions that require critical thinking skills as well as their basic knowledge to come to a conclusion rather than focusing on memorization. For instance, instead of asking on which date an experiment was performed, the question would ask, "Which artist would be most likely to oppose this experiment?"

The subjects of the curriculum are:

• Science
• Language and Literature
  • Poetry
  • Short Stories / Novel(s)
  • Film
• The Arts
  • Art
  • Music
• Special Area
• History
• Current Affairs (both divisions)

Until 2009, mathematics up to trigonometry was included in the curriculum. However, in 2010 it was eliminated in order to better address the goal of the organization. The tournament's decision to eliminate math stemmed from the subject's inflexibility and its difficulty to debate, though the World Scholar's Cup does not deny the importance of math in life and education. In 2008, the World Scholar's Cup added a "film" category to its visual arts section, and in 2010 added a "music" category to its art section.

Until 2012, there was an Economics section which was only for the senior division. That was replaced by the Current Affairs subject which is for both the juniors and seniors.

The World Scholar's Cup releases curriculum guides each year—one for each subject—that are available free-of-charge on its official website. Starting from 2013, emphasis will be on topic outlines and theme-relevant material. The World Scholar's Cup recommends connecting each section of the outline to the given theme and how they connect or impact society.