United States Academic Decathlon announces 2026-27 theme

United States Academic Decathlon® Curricular Topics for 2026–2027!

The U.S. Academic Decathlon® is excited to announce that the overall curricular theme for 2026–2027 will be Journeys of Transformation: An Exploration of Travel and Transportation. Following is some general information on the topics in each of the subject areas.

▪ ART: The art curriculum will explore themes of travel and transportation in art.

▪ ECONOMICS: The economics curriculum will cover fundamental economic concepts, microeconomics, and macroeconomics and will include a thematic section on the economics of transportation.

▪ LITERATURE: The literature curriculum will explore journeys, quests, and travel in literature and will include critical reading, one long work of literature, and selected shorter works. The long work of literature will be The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro.

▪ MATHEMATICS: The mathematics curriculum will cover general math, geometry, and an intro to calculus.*

▪ MUSIC: The music curriculum will focus on travel and transportation in music.

▪ SCIENCE: The science topic will be an introduction to animal behavior and migration.

▪ SOCIAL SCIENCE: The social science topic will be an introduction to human geography and migration.**

The full subject area outlines will be posted on the U.S. Academic Decathlon website on May 1 and will be published in the U.S. Academic Decathlon Study Guide, which will be available on May 15.

* The 2026–27 mathematics curriculum and materials will be the same as were used for the 2023–24 U.S. Academic Decathlon.

**The portion of the social science curriculum that covers human migration will present an introduction to migration patterns and processes and will include historical case studies but does not discuss current issues and policies related to migration.