July 2026 Newsletter: China Coding-Ethics and Debate Camps, Online Philosophy Camps
Tech for Good: 2026 AI Innovation Camp, Shanghai
Registration closes Monday, July 14
Archie here, with a personal note on this one. I'm working with TKEthics, an Arizona-based nonprofit, to run the ethics side of a vibe coding camp in Shanghai, and it kicks off in just 9 days, on July 19. If you happen to be in Shanghai, or anywhere nearby, get in touch and register now if you're keen!
In seven days, your student will go from an idea to a working AI product that they built themselves, tested with real users, and presented to a room of Shanghai school principals. No coding experience required. We teach students to build with AI the way it is actually done now: describe what you want, direct the AI that writes the code, and make the human decisions that matter.
The week includes a field research day at a village school in Shangrao, Jiangxi, where students interview younger students about their real digital lives to find a problem worth solving. They then design, build, ethically stress-test, and launch their own app, and pitch it at a final Demo Day judged by tech leaders and the rural students themselves. The best team wins a $1,000 incubation package to keep building their product.
Dates: July 19 to 25, 2026, 9:00 to 16:00 daily
Venue: Cordis Shanghai Hongqiao, plus the Jiangxi field day
For: Ages 13 to 17, interested in AI, coding, ethics, and social impact. No coding background needed
Format: In-person, 7 days, bilingual instruction (English and Chinese)
Fees: $2,688 per student, including the field research trip, lunch and tea breaks, insurance, and certificate. $100 off with coupon code MPI. Register as a pair and each student receives 15% off
Students leave with a working AI MVP, a portfolio (product doc, build process, ethics audit), and an official certificate. The mentor team spans philosophy, product, engineering, and education, with a guest talk from Priten Soundar-Shah, Harvard interdisciplinary scholar and author of AI and the Future of Education.
Meet the instructors: instructor team and program details
GE-Elite Debate Summer Camp 2026: Public Forum, Shanghai
A two-session, in-person Public Forum debate camp taught personally by a world-class coaching team, all with extensive international competition experience and years of front-line teaching, so every student receives professional, efficient, and targeted training. During the second week, an exclusive preparation camp for the NHSDLC National Championship runs alongside the program, focusing on debate skills, case writing, oral expression, and logical thinking to help students peak for the year's biggest event.
Session 1 (Beginner): July 21 to 26, 2026
Session 2 (Competition, NHSDLC Nationals prep): July 29 to August 3, 2026
Location: Shanghai, China
For: Grades 5 to 12
Format: In-person
Placement: We speak with every family individually and place each student in the class that fits their level. Email or WeChat both work.
August Online Philosophy Camps
Classes are filling up. Registration closes August 1.
Three live, four-day camps on Zoom. Four 3-hour sessions each, 10:00 a.m. Eastern, small-group discussion with a graduate-level philosophy instructor. Every student receives a verifiable Accredible certificate and individual written feedback on a final evaluation. Need-based scholarships are available.
Intro to Philosophy · Aug 9 to 12 · ages 12 to 16 · Archie Stapleton · $480 CAD. The trolley problem, knowledge, personal identity, and God. No background needed.
Epistemology · Aug 16 to 19 · ages 14 to 18 · Zach Bloom · $480 CAD. What does it mean to know something? Skepticism, evidence, trust, and the ethics of belief.
Deductive Logic · Aug 23 to 26 · ages 14 to 18 · Zach Bloom · $480 CAD. Tell good arguments from bad ones. Symbols, truth tables, validity, and fallacies.
Kind regards, Archie Stapleton Co-founder, Director: Modus Ponens Institute Outreach Director: TKEthics.org
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