About the International Humanities Challenge

Why this competition was created

The International Humanities Challenge was created in response to a simple concern: despite the strength and richness of humanities education in schools, there are relatively few competitions that fully reflect what excellent humanities learning should actually look like.

In many cases, competitions are either too heavily based on memorisation and recall, too narrow in focus, or not academically robust enough to offer the kind of challenge that strong humanities students deserve. In other cases, they can be expensive in ways that make participation difficult for many schools and families.

            The aim of this challenge is to offer something broader, more balanced, and more worthwhile: a competition that is rigorous, accessible, and genuinely rooted in humanities thinking.
          

Founder background and educational perspective

The challenge was founded by an experienced international school humanities teacher and leader with a background in Geography, Psychology, and Global Politics, and experience across IB, A-Level, IGCSE, and MYP programmes.

Leadership roles have included positions such as Key Stage Leader, MYP Coordinator, and responsibilities connected to supporting academically ambitious and high-attaining students.

Experience teaching across multiple age ranges and international curricula

A strong understanding of what schools look for in meaningful academic enrichment

A commitment to designing competition experiences that are both challenging and practical

What the challenge values

At its best, humanities education is not just about remembering information. It is about asking worthwhile questions, exploring evidence, considering different perspectives, and communicating ideas clearly.

Research and inquiry

Students should have the opportunity to pursue questions, investigate ideas, and build understanding through structured independent thinking.

Argument and evidence

Strong humanities work depends on reasoning, interpretation, and the ability to support claims with relevant evidence.

Communication

Students should be able to express ideas clearly, present with confidence, and adapt their message for an audience.

Collaboration

Humanities also involves discussion, perspective-taking, and collective problem-solving, not just solitary performance.

What makes it different

The International Humanities Challenge deliberately combines several strands that are often separated in other events: an original essay, a short presentation, an individual quiz, and a collaborative team challenge.

This creates a fuller and fairer picture of student achievement. A student may excel in research even if they are not the quickest quiz performer. A confident public speaker must still demonstrate substance and intellectual depth. Teams are rewarded for thinking together, not just for winning on speed alone.

In this sense, the competition is designed to sit between a quiz competition, an essay competition, and an academic symposium.

Long-term vision

The long-term ambition is to build a trusted humanities competition for schools across Asia: one that begins with strong regional events and, over time, grows into a respected final round bringing together thoughtful, articulate, and well-prepared student participants from across the region.

More than anything, the goal is to create a competition that feels worthy of the humanities themselves: intellectually serious, broad in scope, and genuinely rewarding for students and schools alike.