The South Side High School gymnasium became a living classroom for inquiry and analysis when 81 junior International Baccalaureate Diploma candidates presented their annual Theory of Knowledge Exhibition, turning abstract questions about truth, ethics and certainty into real-world exploration through personal and academic artifacts.
The event, which took place on June 5, is part of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, a rigorous two-year curriculum taken by South Side students in their junior and senior years. Students may participate as full diploma candidates or enroll as course candidates.
Those pursuing the full diploma complete coursework across six academic “groups,” with at least three — and no more than four — studied at the Higher Level and the remainder at Standard Level. Higher Level courses span two years of study, while Standard Level courses vary in length from one to two years depending on the subject.
The high school now offers 26 IB courses, giving students a wide range of options to align their studies with individual strengths and interests.
The Theory of Knowledge Exhibition is a key component of the program. Students selected one of 35 prompts provided by the International Baccalaureate Organization and used three objects to support their arguments. The exhibition serves as the official internal assessment for the course and contributes to students’ final IB scores.
“The course explores both how we create knowledge and how we interpret it, how we determine whether claims are credible, and how knowledge functions across different disciplines,” Andrea Darbee, South Side’s assistant principal and IB Diploma coordinator, said.
The exhibition featured a wide range of topics reflecting students’ interests and lived experiences. Throughout the day, freshmen toured the displays to learn more about the diploma program and observe examples of student research and inquiry.
“I don’t expect them necessarily to grapple with the epistemological ins and outs of the program or the course,” Bruce Hecker, Theory of Knowledge teacher said of the visiting freshmen. “I just want them to feel like the diploma program is something worth pursuing.”
Junior Harper Falibene, 17, examined whether some types of knowledge are more open to interpretation than others. One of her key objects was a recording of the jazz standard “Autumn Leaves,” which she used to demonstrate how artistic meaning can shift as different musicians reinterpret the same work over time.
“This is a jazz standard, and jazz is open to interpretation,” Falibene said. “It depends on the person playing it, it depends on the time period, and it’s meant to change over time.”
Basim Jamaf, 17, explored whether all knowledge carries ethical obligations for those who possess it. Using a stethoscope as a central object, he discussed the responsibility that comes with specialized medical knowledge and the moral duties that can accompany expertise.
“I tried to connect different psychological theories and ideologies represented through each of these objects with the stethoscope,” Jamaf said. “I talked about the obligation that doctors have to use their knowledge for the betterment of mankind and to help people who are sick.”
For Danielle Lu, 17, the exhibition focused on the relationship between knowledge and culture. Her most personal object was a diary written by her mother during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in China. The journal provided a firsthand account of a pivotal historical event and allowed Lu to examine how personal experience and cultural background shape understanding of history.
“It represents the differences between my culture and my mom’s culture,” Lu said. “She experienced this event herself and was really uncertain about the future afterward, whereas when I learned about it, I did so with an understanding that Chinese censorship is still going on today. I had a more thorough understanding of it because we grew up in different countries and have different experiences.”
Joanna Medidha, 16, tackled the question of whether absolute certainty is ever attainable. She compared a real photograph with an AI-generated image to explore how rapidly advancing technology is making it increasingly difficult to distinguish fact from fabrication.
“AI evolves more rapidly than methods created to identify it,” Medidha said. “All these objects ultimately show how difficult it is to achieve absolute certainty.”
Taken together, the projects reflected the central purpose of the Theory of Knowledge course: encouraging students to move beyond memorizing information and instead examining how knowledge is constructed, interpreted and applied.
