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Instructors stand at the front of a lecture hall and speak to Stanford Humanities Institute participants.

Stanford Summer Humanities Institute

Stanford Summer Humanities Institute is a three-week residential program where rising high school juniors and seniors explore the big questions at the heart of the humanities in seminars led by distinguished Stanford professors.

Become a Humanities Scholar

Grow as a scholar, writer, and thinker this summer at the Stanford Summer Humanities Institute. By exploring the humanities, you will gain a better sense of the world and grow as a global citizen.

For three weeks, live on Stanford campus in a vibrant, intellectual community.
Stanford Faculty
Distinguished Stanford professors teach all of the courses, sharing their expertise and passion with participants.
Passionate Peers
Live and study alongside fellow participants similarly interested in better understanding contemporary society and global history.
Diverse Academic Exploration
Studying the humanities involves thinking about philosophy, literature, religion, art, music, history, and language.
Discover Academic Freedom
Explore the humanities at a college-level, investigating questions and pursuing research topics of your own choosing that excite you.

The Application is Currently Closed

Our application for each summer opens in December. Join our mailing list to be the first to know when our application is live.
Sign Up Here

The goal of the Stanford Summer Humanities Institute is to bring high school students who are particularly interested in the humanities to Stanford for three weeks so that they can experience what a humanities class and what humanities research is like at a top university.

Professor Dan Edelstein

French Department, Stanford University

Expand Your Intellectual Interests

We offer several interdisciplinary humanities courses that delve deep into various issues, going far beyond the typical high school curriculum. Develop your critical thinking, writing, and research ability this summer through one of the following intensive courses.
Revolutions
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Ancient Rome
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Racial Identity in the American Imagination
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Evil
/courses/2018/evil
Happiness
/courses/happiness
The Age of Jefferson
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Magical Realism
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The Art of Living
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Program Highlights

Participants listen to a curator discuss works on view at the Cantor.
Participants view rare print material in Stanford's Special Collections in the library.
Professor Dan Edelstein delivers a lecture to a room of participants.
A student reads at a podium at the Stanford Humanities Center.
Participants look at Rodin's The Thinker
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