Telluride Association Summer Program

The programs were designed to bring together young and intellectually bright students from around the world who share a passion for learning. The participants, or TASPers, attended an intensive seminar led by college and university faculty members and participated in many educational and social activities outside the classroom. Like the Telluride houses, each TASP received a discretionary budget, whose use was democratically distributed via weekly house meetings.

Many students were invited to apply based on strong standardized test scores, such as by scoring highly on the PSAT,[http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/psat/about/scholarships.html CollegeBoard] or through the nomination from educators who were familiar with TASP. However, any high school junior could request an application, and acceptance largely ignored standardized test scores and graded academic performance. Like other Telluride programs, TASPs were free.

TASPs also advocated a self-contained community of learning among the TASPers at any one of the four TASP seminars. TASPers were encouraged to engage in activities together outside of seminars. Often, TASPers formed close bonds over six weeks as a result of the self-contained community that formed.[http://theamericanscene.com/2008/01/24/tasp TASP], by Reihan Salam of The American Scene

Since the first TASP was held in 1954, TASPs were held at college and university campuses across the United States, including Cornell University, the University of Texas at Austin, Deep Springs College, Johns Hopkins University, Williams College, the University of Michigan, Washington University in St. Louis, Kenyon College, and St. John's College.{{Cite web |title=Past TASP Topics & Faculty - Telluride Association |url=https://www.tellurideassociation.org/about-us/history/past-tasp/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114172452/https://www.tellurideassociation.org/about-us/history/past-tasp/ |archive-date=January 14, 2024 |access-date=March 26, 2024 |website=Telluride Association}}

Applicants to TASP were required to write essays in response to six prompts, with each essay a maximum length of 1,500 words. Sample essay prompts included "Discuss a specific problem or topic in a field that interests you" and "Write a critical analysis of a book, poem, play, essay, or other text you have read outside of school."{{Cite web |title=Telluride Association Summer Programs 2010 Program Application |url=https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/TASPAP10.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240326025513/https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/TASPAP10.pdf |archive-date=March 26, 2024 |access-date=March 26, 2024 |website=Telluride Association}} Promising candidates received an interview with one or more Telluride associates. Applicants' test scores and transcripts were given only limited consideration, with application readers selecting for "geographic, economic, and racial diversity" and students who would thrive in a community environment.{{Cite web |title=Apply to TASP - Telluride Association |url=https://www.tellurideassociation.org/our-programs/high-school-students/summer-program-juniors-tasp/apply-tasp/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426213328/https://www.tellurideassociation.org/our-programs/high-school-students/summer-program-juniors-tasp/apply-tasp/ |archive-date=April 26, 2020 |website=Telluride Association}} As of 2012, the program's admissions rate was 4.4 percent.{{Cite news |last=Kohavi |first=Noya |date=May 5, 2012 |title=Two Telluride High School students to attend prestigious summer program |url=https://www.telluridenews.com/news/article_b29bac32-f5da-5a3f-b1e9-039600c8e0da.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240326031534/https://www.telluridenews.com/news/article_b29bac32-f5da-5a3f-b1e9-039600c8e0da.html |archive-date=March 26, 2024 |access-date=March 26, 2024 |work=Telluride Daily Planet}}

Notable alumni of TASPs include:

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• World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz (1960){{Cite web |title=Telluride Newsletter 1979 January Volume 66, Number 2 |url=https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/66_2_1979_Jan.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220419220821/https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/66_2_1979_Jan.pdf |archive-date=April 19, 2022 |access-date=March 26, 2024 |website=Telluride Association}}
• Political theorist William Galston (1962){{Cite web |title=TELLURIDE ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER 2016 FALL • VOLUME 102, NUMBER 2 |url=https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/102_2_2016_Fall.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220419220853/https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/102_2_2016_Fall.pdf |archive-date=April 19, 2022 |access-date=March 26, 2024 |website=Telluride Association}}
• Writers Guild of America West president Howard A. Rodman (1966){{Cite web |last= |first= |title=TELLURIDE ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER 2018 FALL • VOLUME 104, NUMBER 2 |url=https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/TA-Newsletter-Fall-2018-FINAL-CORRECTED_12_13_18-Reduced-size.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216050613/https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/TA-Newsletter-Fall-2018-FINAL-CORRECTED_12_13_18-Reduced-size.pdf |archive-date=December 16, 2023 |access-date=March 26, 2024 |website=Telluride Association}}
• Queer theorist Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (1966){{Cite web |title=TELLURIDE ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER 2016 SPRING • VOLUME 102, NUMBER 1 |url=https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/102_1_2016_Spring.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220419220800/https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/102_1_2016_Spring.pdf |archive-date=April 19, 2022 |access-date=March 26, 2024 |website=Telluride Association}}
• Political economist Francis Fukuyama (1969){{Cite web |last= |first= |title=TELLURIDE NEWSLETTER 2001 WINTER VOLUME 88, NUMBER 1 |url=https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/88_1_2001_Winter.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220419220752/https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/88_1_2001_Winter.pdf |archive-date=April 19, 2022 |access-date=March 26, 2024 |website=Telluride Association}}
• Journalist and biographer Walter Isaacson (1969){{Cite web |title=TELLURIDE ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER 2017 SPRING • VOLUME 103, NUMBER 1 |url=https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/103_1_2017_Spring_rev.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220419220817/https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/103_1_2017_Spring_rev.pdf |archive-date=April 19, 2022 |access-date=March 26, 2024 |website=Telluride Association}}
• Stanford Law School dean Kathleen Sullivan (1971)

• Philosopher Anthony Weston (1971) https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/58_4_1971_May.pdf

• Filmmaker Glen Pitre (1972){{Cite web |title=Telluride Newsletter 1990 February Volume 77, Number 2 |url=https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/77_2_1990_Feb.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220419220807/https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/77_2_1990_Feb.pdf |archive-date=April 19, 2022 |access-date=March 26, 2024 |website=Telluride Association}}
• Lawyer Loulan Pitre Jr. (1978){{Cite web |title=TELLURIDE NEWSLETTER 1996 SPRING VOLUME 83, NUMBER 2 |url=https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/83_2_1996_Spring.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220419220754/https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/83_2_1996_Spring.pdf |archive-date=April 19, 2022 |access-date=March 26, 2024 |website=Telluride Association}}
• Paralympic medalist Bonnie St. John (1981){{Cite web |last=Trail |first=Matthew |date=February 14, 2018 |title=TELLURIDE’S OLYMPIANS: MEREDITH “FLASH” GOURDINE CB50 AND BONNIE ST. JOHN SP81 |url=https://www.tellurideassociation.org/blog/tellurides-olympians-meredith-flash-gourdine-cb50-bonnie-st-john-sp81/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002111635/https://www.tellurideassociation.org/blog/tellurides-olympians-meredith-flash-gourdine-cb50-bonnie-st-john-sp81/ |archive-date=October 2, 2023 |access-date=March 26, 2024 |website=Telluride Association}}
• Harvard Law School professor Noah Feldman (1987){{Cite web |title=TELLURIDE ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER 2017 FALL • VOLUME 103, NUMBER 2 |url=https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/TA-Newsletter_Fall_2017_WEB.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220419220815/https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/TA-Newsletter_Fall_2017_WEB.pdf |archive-date=April 19, 2022 |access-date=March 26, 2024 |website=Telluride Association}}
• Democratic politician Stacey Abrams (1990){{Cite web |title=TELLURIDE ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER 2018 FALL • VOLUME 104, NUMBER 2 |url=https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/TA-Newsletter-Fall-2018-FINAL-CORRECTED_12_13_18-Reduced-size.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220419220750/https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/TA-Newsletter-Fall-2018-FINAL-CORRECTED_12_13_18-Reduced-size.pdf |archive-date=April 19, 2022 |access-date=March 26, 2024 |website=Telluride Association}}
• Journalist and author Euny Hong (1990)
• Neurobiologist Rachel Wilson (1991){{Cite web |title=TELLURIDE NEWSLETTER 2008-09 WINTER VOLUME 96, NUMBER 1 |url=https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/96_1_2009_Winter.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220419220758/https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/96_1_2009_Winter.pdf |archive-date=April 19, 2022 |access-date=March 26, 2024 |website=Telluride Association}}
• Stanford University professor and n+1 cofounder Mark Greif (1992){{Cite web |title=TELLURIDE ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER 2012 SPRING • VOLUME 99, NUMBER 1 |url=https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/99_1_2012_Spring.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220419233828/https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/99_1_2012_Spring.pdf |archive-date=April 19, 2022 |access-date=March 26, 2024 |website=Telluride Association}}
• Author Daniel Alarcón (1994){{Cite web |title=TELLURIDE ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER 2015 FALL • VOLUME 101, NUMBER 2 |url=https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/fall_news_vol101no2_web.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240326004452/https://www.tellurideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/fall_news_vol101no2_web.pdf |archive-date=March 26, 2024 |access-date=March 26, 2024 |website=Telluride Association}}
• Manhattan Institute president Reihan Salam (1996){{Cite web |last=Salam |first=Reihan |author-link=Reihan Salam |date=January 24, 2008 |title=TASP |url=http://theamericanscene.com/2008/01/24/tasp.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123044930/http://theamericanscene.com/2008/01/24/tasp.html |archive-date=January 23, 2024 |access-date=March 26, 2024 |website=The American Scene}}
• Journalist Graeme Wood (1996)}}

Nationally known faculty who taught at TASPs include:

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• Robert Nozick (1965)
• Donald Kagan (1965, 1967)
• Herbert Storing (1967)
• John Schaar (1970–1972, 1979, 1981, 1986, 1989–1990)
• Barbara Herman (1978, 1985, 1987)
• Leon Kass (1986)
• Hanna Fenichel Pitkin (1989)
• Thomas Palaima (2005)
• Petrine Archer-Straw (2008)
• Blakey Vermeule (2018)

}}

Starting with the summer of 2022, the Telluride Association retired the names of its two previous summer programs, including TASP and the Telluride Association Sophomore Seminar (TASS). Instead, the Association began offering summer programs under two new names: the Telluride Association Summer Seminar in Critical Black Studies (TASS-CBS) and the Telluride Association Summer Seminar in Anti-Oppressive Studies (TASS-AOS).

Vincent Lloyd, professor and director of Africana studies at Villanova University, wrote an article about his experience teaching at one of the restructured courses that replaced Telluride Association Summer Program. He described a cult-like experience focused on parroting anti-racist slogans. He stated that two Asian students, as well as himself, were kicked out of the program for alleged racism.{{Cite web |last=Lloyd |first=Vincent |author-link=Vincent Lloyd |title=A Black Professor Trapped in Anti-Racist Hell |url=https://compactmag.com/article/a-black-professor-trapped-in-anti-racist-hell |access-date=2023-11-09 |website=compactmag.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Friedersdorf |first=Conor |date=2023-02-17 |title=An Anti-racist Professor Faces ‘Toxicity on the Left Today’ |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/02/villanova-professor-vincent-lloyd-anti-racism-conversation/673079/ |access-date=2023-11-09 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}

Another alumna Ani Wilcenski described a similarly cult-like atmosphere during her tenure in 2015. She claims the program has no process for disagreement, and that all disagreeable personalities are simply insulted and then made to leave the program. She also claims the program focuses heavily on reinforcing how differently privileged everyone is, without fostering dialogue, and that the program outright prohibits close friendships as being socially unfair "exclusive relationships".{{Cite web |last=Wilcenski |first=Ani |title=A Cruel Summer at Cornell |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/a-cruel-summer-at-cornell |access-date=2024-09-13 |website=tabletmag.com |language=en}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.tellurideassociation.org/programs/high_school_students/tasp/tasp_general_info.html Official TASP Website]

Category:Summer camps in the United States

Category:Telluride Association