Imagine and create educational tools for the arts, humanities, and social sciences — games, chatbots, journals, storytelling apps, and more — using AI and natural language. No coding experience required.
April 17–19, 2026 • Nord Hall 356
Application deadline: 5:00 PM, Sunday, April 12, 2026
Open to all CWRU, CIA, and CIM undergraduates — arts, humanities, social sciences, CS, and every major in between
Vibe coding is a new way to build software by describing what you want in plain English. Instead of writing code, you focus on the vibe: what do you want learners to experience — curiosity, empathy, resilience? a deeper appreciation of complexity and ambiguity? a whole new understanding of what it means to be human in this more-than-human world? AI handles the code.
Tell the AI what you want to build using natural language. "Make a tool that helps students annotate poems together" — that's a real prompt.
The AI interprets your description and writes the code. You don't need to understand how it works — just what it should do.
Review the result and refine: "Add a sidebar for historical context." Each round gets closer to your vision, like revising a draft.
There are two ways to participate. Choose the track that fits you.
Have a vision for an educational tool — or just an interest in ed-tech you'd like to explore? Submit your project idea or describe your areas of interest. No coding experience required — we'll provide tutorials and onboarding on Friday night.
Have coding experience? Apply as a "technical translator" — you may be matched with a team to help translate their ideas into code and enable everyone's participation in technical decisions.
Application deadline: 5:00 PM, Sunday, April 12, 2026
All participants must be current CWRU, CIA, or CIM undergraduates in good standing. Teams can be pre-formed or we'll pair you with students who share similar ideas.
These AI-powered platforms let you build real web apps by describing what you want. No installation, no setup — just start describing your idea for a humanities ed-tech tool.
Describe a full web app and Lovable generates it instantly. Try: "Build an interactive timeline where students can explore the Harlem Renaissance." The easiest on-ramp for non-coders.
Visit Lovable →Build and deploy web apps from prompts right in your browser. Try: "Create a vocabulary quiz app for ancient Greek terms." No setup required.
Visit Bolt →An AI-powered code editor that writes and edits code alongside you. Best for teams with some coding experience who want more control over their project.
Visit Cursor →Three days of learning, building, and presenting your humanities ed-tech prototype.
All events in Nord Hall 356 • Free food and refreshments provided!
First, apply by April 12. In preparation, consider some of these steps:
Questions? We've got answers.
Absolutely! Vibe coding lets you build software by describing what you want in plain English. If you can write a clear paragraph, you can vibe code. Your knowledge of literature, history, philosophy, or languages is the hard-to-find ingredient — the AI handles the technical parts.
We need you! Apply as a "technical translator" — you'll submit a portfolio (like your GitHub profile) and may be matched with a team to help translate their ideas into code and enable everyone's participation in technical decisions. It's a great way to collaborate across disciplines and build for real users.
Any educational tool — games, chatbots, journals, storytelling apps, check-in tools, custom interfaces, and more. Projects can serve teachers and learners of any age, from primary school through college and adult learners, traditional and non-traditional alike. Think: an interactive timeline of the Reformation, a collaborative poetry annotation tool, an AI reading companion, a vocabulary builder, a discussion facilitator for Socratic seminars — if it opens up new possibilities for how people learn, think, or make meaning, it counts.
Ed-tech is just short for "educational technology" — any digital tool that helps with teaching or learning. If you've ever used Quizlet, Kahoot, Google Classroom, or Perusall, you've used ed-tech. You'll be building something like that, but focused on a question or possibility you care about in the humanities.
Nope! Teams are 1–4 people. You can pre-form a team and indicate it on the application, or the hosts can pair you with students who have similar ideas. Pre-formed groups of 2–3 can also request additional members.
Just your laptop and charger. We'll provide food, drinks, Wi-Fi, and all the tools and accounts you need.
VCET is completely free. All participants must be current undergraduate students in good standing at CWRU, CIA, or CIM. Food and refreshments are provided throughout the weekend.
We'll provide access to all tools for the weekend. Lovable, Bolt, and Cursor all have free tiers that are sufficient for hackathon projects.
Many students assume the humanities are simply a list of subjects, like history, literature, classics, and so on. Those are our data, but why do we study them? Because they are windows into understanding how we humans make and unmake meaning — indeed, how we make and unmake worlds. If that's the case, then humanities education is not only about problem-solving; it's also about possibility-thinking. As adrienne maree brown says, "We are in an imagination battle." We need to be working together not only to solve current problems but also to imagine new possibilities. We need to be asking, "What kind of future do we want to create for ourselves?"
Projects are evaluated on creativity, usefulness, and innovation for humanities education. We are interested not only in what you have created by the end of the weekend, but also in the potential of your project for further development, with our support, between now and October.