<p>I got one of those little postcard thingies in the mail yesterday...the PSAT based invitation.</p>
<p>I looked around the site, and none of the topics appealed to me. Caribbean Culture?</p>
<p>It was all anthropology. Science..I'd be applying. Seemed to be dry, dull, and generally useless topics.</p>
<p>They made all the seminars unique so it forces you to think about topics that you normally wouldn't give a hoot about. I think the main point behind TASP is not so you can learn about those topics, but instead to improve your the thinking and cooperation skills which you can retain forever.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the topics shouldn't be so obscure as to hinder the development of analytical and observational skills. Topics should be relevant.</p>
<p>Pardon me, but spending six weeks discussing the gradual evolution of traditional Caribbean drum rhythms from 1890-1910 (exaggeration) seems counterintuitive.</p>
<p>Marshcat: I soooooooooooo disagree. Perhaps the topics are not interesting to you, but they are certainly relevant to living life in today's world. The "hard" sciences are not the only pillar for life--the social sciences and the humanities are ESSENTIAL when it comes to human interaction on all levels and the comprehension and analysis of the world we live in. As for the dry and dull aspects, again, I disagree. As for the TEACHING methods, that just depends on the instructor. Mine were pretty wonderful, engaging, and hiiiiighly approachable.</p>
<p>Again, with relevance, it seems you did not read the description correctly.</p>
<p>"Through cultural theory, the seminar will describe how perceptions of Caribbean culture are historically fluid, defying easy categorization, and students will be invited to question their own sense of identity, culture, race, and ethnicity. We will examine the creative spirit of the region's artists to show how they are imaginatively reconfiguring their day-to-day experiences to meet the needs of a changing world—at once apprehensive and charmed by black culture.
Using Caribbean art as a case study, this seminar explores themes such as new world history, colonialism, diaspora, trauma, violence, and tourism. We will be working with weblogs and student web pages as integral parts of class teaching as well as examining how the tools and techniques offered through the Internet shape our discussion."</p>
<p>How can you say that is not relevant? That is relevant in more ways than I can even count.</p>
<p>Rainmaker: I think TASP can give you a lot of things, it just depends what angle you're coming from. As a person that lives in the Caribbean, I find that Cornell program SUPER relevant and important, so the knowledge itself comes in handy, while the critical skills also do. For someone taking a seminar in something they're not passionate about or not interested in, the least they'll get out of it (and by it I mean the seminar, not the TASP experience) is perspective and a broadening of the horizons. Anyway, that's why they ask you to rank the seminars you'd wish to attend, to allow you to have your cake and eat it too.</p>
<p>Suicidal!? Ahhh, good thing I checked...I was about to put only that one thing down. musechick2007 it's "Gravity's Rainbow" by Thomas Pynchon. It took me 3 times to get past page 200, and my blood nearly came out my ears by that point, but afterwards I literally could not remove it from my hands. Brilliant guy.</p>
<p>I also agree with the relevance point mentioned above. Like the environmental seminar? How topical is that</p>
<p>Bah...sarcasm.</p>
<p>Anyway, the Michigan seminar does interest me...but none of the others do.</p>
<p>I can understand having one seminar on a obscure topic in the humanities...but not three.</p>
<p>Cornell has the largest nanotechnology department in the country...what about that?</p>
<p>I love philosophy. Last year (or was it the year before) there was a seminar on (essentially) the ethics of medicine. I would adore that topic. Why can't they have something like that this year.</p>
<p>Oh wow, that is a hardcore book, Gods_Fav. A friend of mine did his critnal on it for '06. :) He actually gave me the book, too, but I haven't read it yet.</p>
<p>Um, TASP <em>is</em> a program about the humanities; all the Telluride topics are humanities-related. That's...why. lol. And it doesn't matter that Cornell has an awesome nanotech department. The TASP doesn't really DO anything at the university itself, the TASP is just held there because that's where one of the Telluride branch houses is and therefore it can be used as a location for the junior summer seminars (2, if you wanna get technical). The ones were location was really relevant were WashU and...well, depends on the subject, but mainly it was all the ones that weren't Cornell, XD.</p>
<p>And again, the topics are not unnecessarily obscure (or too/at all obscure, I'd argue). They connect to larger themes and deal with broader concepts and ideas. <em>shrug</em></p>
<p>Also, they change topics every year, so some years you might have philosophy and music and urban landscapes, while others may be lit and foreign policy and civil rights. This year it's caribbean/islander culture and art/tech, race portrayals and the media/movies, the environment/science/etc, and that sort of thing. It's varied.</p>
<p>Before I checked out the website, I spoke to my mom (who went to Cornell) about it.</p>
<p>She said that when she was there, Telluride had a hard science focus.. Perhaps I am getting the high school progam and the college program confused.</p>
<p>musechick, my hat off to your friend. I had enough trouble getting through it...I don't know if I could pull off an analysis that gives it justice...at this point I figure I could read it four different times and get four completely different ideas of what's going on. I didn't catch it, but my uncle--who would know--said that Pynchon even makes Tagalog references in there. !!!!!!!!!!! </p>
<p>marshcat: I guess times can change. I think Telluride has always been interdisciplinary--it shows how true learning or whatever cannot be confined to a single area of study--but the humanities lean it has now still seems up your alley based on what you've described as your interests. Apply and find out?</p>
<p>booklist question:
i'm not even going to lie- maybe 3/4 of the 30 or so books i've read in the past few months have been meg cabot, hs romance (to make up for my apparent lack of a social life) type stuff... brain goo-iffying things. the other 1/4 are good or decent books, like candyfreak (must read, food lovers)- but their titles make them sound less-than-einstein. do i leave off the mind goo? do i leave in some of it?</p>
<p>critical analysis- can i take something fun- a totally random topic- and make this completely serious, possibly overanalytical (i'm good at overanalyzing, being the sensitive person i am <em>sigh</em>) paper on it? or would they prefer ANOTHER paper on the Scarlet Letter(bore me to tears, hawthorne.... the guy practically had a crush on pearl, chillingworth wasn't that great of a villain, dimmesdale was weak and i didn't sympathize with him....)</p>
<p>conflict paper- can i even touch the whole mental race culture group identity thing? it's something i've thought about alot, but i don't want to get shot down with a cliche-death-ray.</p>
<p>"For Critnal I am thinking of doing one of those stupid Old Spice commercials that ends with a whimsical "Ahoy". What does it mean? And subliminal advertising.... I doubt it, I am more confused than compelled to purchase."</p>
<p>same thing as the tag or axe ads, but they just aren't beating you over the head with it. the sultry voiced ahoy represents the positive sexual reaction a male wearing old spice will recieve. when someone says "ahoy", they mean "look over there" or something- you know, the ladies are looking at this male, who has captured their attention- and all thanks to the overkilling scent of their product. except, you know, they think we actualy like the stuff.</p>
<p>note to all guys:
back away from the axe display. i'll take the smell of good clean soap over that anytime.</p>
<p>so... who else likes the ut topic?</p>
<p>musechick, i understand what you're saying about the critnal, but I'm having a tough time on mine (Ayn Rand's Anthem idk if you've heard of it). Anyways, its set way into the future, with an oppressive state, men are completely controlled, etc. etc. ) I'm having slight (ok, more than slight) issues trying to extract an argument. Help would be appreciated.
Thanx</p>
<p>dyu- anthem sounds delish from what i just saw on the sparknotes overview. a veritable goldmine. sounds like something by bradbury.
what's the problem with making an argument? you either do or do not like the book, then proceed to tell us why.</p>
<p>i personally liked the whole individualism thing- you can talk about the dangers of haveing a society that tries to homogenize people, or make people feeel bad for being different. i mean, the guys name has equality in it! and the book is pretty awesome in that it could easily apply today's "memememememe" attitude.</p>
<p>too much equality isn't good. we're ment to be darwinian. without being able to separate the weak from the truly strong- without being able to let the strong get ahead- society can only weaken. that's why i'm against affirmative action, but i won't get into that.</p>
<p>think about it- if we had this completely equal, communist type of society, why would anyone want to excel or work hard to better the place? why would you try to be a doctor- a process that takes years and years of schooling- without the boon of a nice paycheckj to look forward to? and without those good doctors, wouldn't more people get sick? die? i ramble...</p>
<p>sorry for intruding, i was curious...</p>
<p>I live pretty close to UT, so it'd be so convenient for me to go there, but I find the Michigan and Cornell II topics way more interesting. Call me ethnocentrist, but I've never really liked African history. It seems to me like one long tragedy involving conquest, exploitation, and economic mayhem. I like golden ages. :)</p>
<p>Oh, and inconspicuous, I've kind of got the same problem with the booklist. I'm a closet fan of shoujo manga, which I think is undervalued as an art form (like YA literature and speculative fiction) but is viewed as frivolous (like YA literature and speculative fiction). I think I'm just going to leave it out of my booklist-- it's not like I read it in the original Japanese, which would actually be impressive.</p>
<p>the critical analysis must be on something textual, right?</p>
<p>Actually, I remember reading a post earlier about someone in TASP who did the critical analysis on a painting, and others who wrote about songs. I think the idea behind the critical analysis is to get you to evaluate ideas...but don't interpret that too liberally.</p>
<p>I want/need to write a response, but I have to go to work.</p>
<p>I need to do a better job keeping up with this influx of posts. I fail compared to last year.</p>
<p>Papercrane: I just saw your message, will respond with more insight later tonight :-)</p>
<p>haha, thanks so much. this thread is making me want to attend TASP just because of how nice and eager to help the people are here ... :)</p>
<p>^^ aww (10char)</p>
<p>Marshcat: Well, Telluride itself used to be just the Cornell house. The house was to offer room/board for men who had worked for Nunn (the founder of Telluride Association) and were studying engineering at Cornell. Now it's a myriad of programs, more houses, more stuff, blah blah, but it didn't start out that way. Maybe that's...what you meant? Or...there ARE Cornell summer programs for credit, and those are in a variety of areas, like engineering and polisci and others.</p>
<p>inconspicuous: I LOVE Axe, XD. I even bought a little can to use as air freshener in my room. If that makes me a dork, so be it, but seriously, it smells really nice. I'm a sucker for people that smell good...As for the books...um, it's up to your discretion. Why not? <em>shrug</em> But, maybe not the romances, lol. Heaving bosoms and quivering members, oh my. Bahaha, jk jk. List what you feel comfortable listing. As for the critnal, remember that old books can be seen in new ways. Don't think a paper on TSL will necessarily be cliched. Give it a new spin, take it from a new angle, examine something that hasn't been examined. :) For the conflict paper, eh, I didn't really get what you were trying to say. O.o lol</p>
<p>D-Yu: Ayn Rand. Can you believe I've never read any of her stuff? I seem to find that people either adore her or hate her with an incredible passion. I haven't read that novella, but it's online for free, so I probably will soon. Anyhoo, you can talk about the use of language and its power in the novel (how "I" was eliminated form the languge and how that formed and WAS formed by the society in which it happened, stuff about how they referred to certain types of people, blah blah, how Equality used plural pronouns, what psychological effect that had), collectivism vs. individualism in the novel, the way science affected the course of events in the story, the character of ________ as a symbol for _______________. Stuff like that. Just pick something from the book and pick it apart. If you want, reread it and write down things you find interesting, or connections you see/can make, then go from there. :)</p>
<p>papercrane: UM, I think it generally is supposed to be, but you don't HAVE to HAVE to do it on something textual? It's recommended, though, I guess, 'cause it's easier to comprehend and more...familiarly structured...I'm not really sure. I'd just be careful of going too extremely out there, mmkay? Do whatever you want, though. The most practical thing you could do is to actually contact Telluride itself and ask. :) Same thing goes for everything else, too. I'm not a TA mystic and I'm not a secret spy or anything; I'm just an '06 TASPer with tips. TA is a mysterious thing for everyone, so all of these questions are basically just common sense, y'know? Don't sweat it too much. Just do it, ask Telluride for anything you consider important, and let the things roll as they will.</p>
<p>lunar_years: Dude, YA fiction is so totally not frivolous; people are silly betches. Well, okay, a lot of YA fiction books can be kind of frivolous, but I've read really nice stuff, sooo psh. Someone recommended "Feed" to me, but I have yet to buy it. As for history, if you saw some of the crap that happened in America, it would feel the same way. The institutionalized racism that was so prevalent here was completely and utterly disgusting. It makes me so angry when I read texts that describe the processes of conquests and the otherization of certain cultures and just...GRRRR. Speaking of speculative fiction...have you read Margaret Atwood's stuff?</p>
<p>Oh socialism and affirmative action. Those are complicated topics. Looooooooong discussions. My brief position on AA: it's necessary now, but it should also take economic factors more into account, instead of omg minority status (only). One day, it should stop, because if it started giving minorities an unfair advantage, it would just be perpetuating the same crap, just in the opposite direction. Socialism...sigh. Tricksy stuff. I'll leave that for another day.</p>