About

The League of Creative Minds (LCM) Summer Camp is an intensive one-week academic program for middle and high school students focused on international relations, foreign policy, public speaking, diplomacy, and parliamentary-style debate. Now in its 19th year, the 2026 summer offers five locations: Palo Alto, Nueva High School, UCSF, Cal Berkeley, and — new for 2026 — the University of Cambridge in England. The curriculum remains consistent across all locations, taught by the same LCM academic team regardless of site.

LCM's approach is simulation-driven: students navigate geopolitical scenarios, debate live policy questions, and practice negotiation in a format that blends Model UN-style deliberation with original LCM curriculum covering world history, international law, ethics, logic, and analytical writing. The program is deliberately not a standard Model UN camp — LCM has developed its own framework over nearly two decades, with a strong emphasis on rhetoric, public advocacy, and cross-disciplinary reasoning. The summer camp also serves as an entry point into LCM's year-round academic program, giving prospective year-round applicants a chance to experience the classroom dynamics before committing to the full program.

Tuition is $1,050 for day sessions; a boarding option at Berkeley is available for $2,500. The Cambridge session — held at the University of Cambridge — is the most distinctive 2026 offering, giving students an international setting for a program that is otherwise concentrated in the Bay Area. Open enrollment; no competitive application required.