Program dates: July 11 - August 1, 2026
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Move-in: July 11
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Orientation: July 12
- Move-out: August 1
Application dates are available on the Application Information page.
This immersive 3-week course introduces high school students to the foundations of research-informed writing and responsible AI use in preparation for university-level study across the arts, sciences, and humanities. This will involve drafting, revising, and sharing work that’s geared toward varied academic and professional audiences. Students will closely explore how scholars develop questions, locate reliable resources, and share their original research in different settings. Together, we will apply important lessons from journal articles, white papers, and similar academic writing that demonstrate how scholars distinguish and enliven their work. The academy provides extensive opportunities to practice writing through daily activities, collaborative problem-solving, prompted self-reflection, peer feedback, and dialogue.
Features
Curriculum highlights
Effective writing takes time, care, and intention. Throughout the 3-week course, we will examine what it means to:
- Identify what readers, reviewers, and writers value in published, research-informed work
- Examine how scholars use evidence to craft persuasive arguments across disciplines
- Experiment with style, voice, and ethical documentation practices in digital research environments
- We will engage with AI throughout the course while also using tools like research journals, concept maps, and others that support focus, creativity, and deliberate practice.
- Ultimately, the class will use writing and research as bridges to larger discussions about digital ethics, creative research design, emergent leadership, and social change.
Learning outcomes
Students will:
- Explore innovative methods that reflect our evolving relationships to writing and research in the 21st century
- Design a how-to guide for completing initial scans of existing research in a field, topic, and medium of their choice
- Create an interactive toolkit for writing and research that draws from the social sciences, natural sciences, technological sciences, and humanities
- Build research, writing, and AI literacy skills that apply beyond the course
- Share a final project that connects to an area of academic or professional interest
Technology statement
Students are required to bring their laptops or tablets to the program for in-class work and must have administrative access to make changes to the computer system and install applications.
Dr. Clayton Colmon is the director of curriculum design for the Arts and Sciences Online Learning team at Penn. In this role, he works with instructors to conceptualize, create, and support educational experiences. Clay believes lifelong learning is integral to any sustainable social system and appreciates the transformative potential of blended and online learning modalities. He is an advocate for inclusivity in present and future knowledge-building communities and uses inclusive design practices in his work. Clay also adapts his instructional design approach to meet individual pedagogical needs.
Before coming to Penn, Clay has taught courses on digital rhetoric, American literature, and science fiction at the University of Delaware. He received his Bachelor of Arts in English and political science, with honors, from Rutgers University. He holds a PhD in English from the University of Delaware. Clay’s work lives at the intersection of critical race, gender, queer, and utopian studies, as he examines technology’s impact on queer communities of color, creative knowledge-work, and social change. He has presented and published scholarship on queer Afrofuturism, digital pedagogy, dystopic urban spaces, and critical worldbuilding.
