Summer Program for Juniors (TASP) | 2012 Programs
"No one had wanted me to truly think before, and TASP came not politely asking, but demanding that I read and analyze, present my view and then defend it." - Meredith Durkin, student
Cornell I Program
Cornell II Program
Michigan I Program
Michigan II Program
Cornell I Program
Literature Takes on Moral Complexity
Telluride House, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
June 24 - August 4, 2012
Faculty: Professor Kathleen Long and Professor Marilyn Migiel, Department of Romance Studies, Cornell University
Factotum: TBA
In this seminar, we will ask how literature helps us to formulate ethical questions, i.e., questions for which there is no single, objectively correct answer. We concentrate on literature, as opposed to philosophy or history, because certain aspects of
literature make it ideal for taking on complex ethical questions.
Literature can be used to persuade or even manipulate; it appeals to our emotions as well as our reason, and may even call into question the neat division between the two. It forges sympathies
that tie us as readers to characters and narrators, even as we suspect their motives.
The seminar will focus on great writers and storytellers of early modern Europe (e.g., Boccaccio, Machiavelli, Montaigne, Marguerite de Navarre, Bandello), with additional consideration of
how ethical questions posed by these early modern writers continue to surface in modern times (including in TV series, movies, and books). We will also discuss some of the writings by modern
thinkers who have participated in debates on literature and ethical criticism.
Throughout, we will grapple with questions like: What obligations do I have to myself and to others? What does honor mean to me? Are any means acceptable to achieve desirable, even morally laudable, ends? What can a boss, a head of state, a family member legitimately demand of me? When I report information, what does it mean to report it “faithfully”? When is it OK to deceive others, to
break the law, to take justice into my own hands? Is it right to use unethical means to trap an unethical person or to stop unethical behavior? How do I avoid doing harm in a world where the ethical
choices are often unclear?
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"TASP has changed the way I look at history, society, and even myself."
- Sasha-Mae Eccleston, student
Cornell II Program
Democracy and Diversity
Telluride House, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
June 24 - August 4, 2012
Faculty: Professor Angelia Means, Independent Scholar; and Professor David Peritz, Department of Political Science, Sarah Lawrence College
Factotum: TBA
Does democracy work only in homogenous societies? Only in such societies, it has long been maintained, can a people be sufficiently similar to form shared political understanding and projects. Absent considerable commonality—religious, linguistic, ethnic, racial—it is feared that democracy deteriorates into the tyranny of the majority or
a war of all against all. But we are in the midst of a dramatic shift in which democratic societies are increasingly diverse and their citizens less willing to “forget” their many differences to melt into a dominant national culture. These developments raise some basic questions. Is it possible to achieve sufficient agreement on fundamental political
issues in a diverse society to sustain democracy? Can the character of political community or the nation be reconceived and reformed? If not, is democracy doomed? Or might it be possible to reform democracy to render it compatible with conditions of deep diversity? If so, does the democratic claim to legitimacy also need to be transformed?
This seminar will explore these questions in a number of ways. We will study exemplary historical
statements of the ideal of democracy, drawing on traditional and contemporary works in political philosophy. We will also draw on contemporary
work in sociology, anthropology, cultural and legal studies, and political science to examine the nature of social and cultural diversity including religion,
gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and class. Finally, we will explore works that bring these themes together by attempting to (re-) articulate the relevance of specific identities to political
engagement and the general ideal of democracy in light of increased diversity. Specific themes to be considered include the expansion of rights to accommodate claims of cultural difference, race, and democracy; the expansion of the practice of democracy in an era of globalization; and the ethics of identity.
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Michigan I Program
The Origin of Species and the Politics of Evolution
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
June 24 - August 4, 2012
Faculty: Professor Benjamin Gregg and Professor David Prindle, Department of Government, The University of Texas at Austin
Factotum: TBA
Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection is one of the two or three most influential scientific books ever published. But unlike other scientific works, the Origin, published in 1859, is also of
profound political importance. Part of this political importance—the implications of Darwin’s theory for religious explanations of the diversity of life—is understood by many socially aware citizens. But many citizens are unaware of the political implications of controversies within the science
of evolutionary biology founded by Darwin. In this seminar we will analyze and explore key political implications of the science launched by the Origin, some internal to biological science, others unconnected to science. The seminar is organized into three units:
the historical context and political consequences of Darwin’s book; contemporary controversies within evolutionary biology; and the debate over creationism and intelligent design. Within each unit we will discuss a range of political, philosophical, historical, and scientific topics.
The seminar combines student thinking with student action and student governance, in that students will participate in the planning and conduct of each day’s discussion; present each of their three
essays to their fellow students for critical, constructive feedback; and administer three exercises on key concepts.
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Michigan II Program
Modernism Through Modern Art and Theatre
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
June 24 - August 4, 2012
Faculty: Professor Charles Grimes, Department of Theatre, University of North Carolina, Wilmington; and Professor and Dean Justin Kim, Studio Art and Art History, Deep Springs College
Factotum: TBA
This seminar examines the phenomenon known as Modernism through the lens of modern art and modern theater—not merely as a series of movements in the evolution of cultural history, but also as a fundamental shift in a humanist understanding of the world and our relationship
to it. Whereas the traditional world grappled with questions of man’s relation to God and emerging subjectivity, the Modern consciousness splinters into a range of different areas: man’s relationship to nature, technology, and culture; theories of psychology and the unconscious; an evolving sensibility of artifice and irony; and a shift in historical approach from positivism to methodological skepticism and epistemological
doubt.
A special focus of this class is the conjunctions and mutual influences between theater and visual arts in both the theory and practice of Modernism. The seminar will also investigate the problematic dynamic in Modernism between formal innovation, aesthetic autonomy, and political commitment, and the question of the diffusion and cooptation of Modernist techniques in the broader culture. Concluding issues will include the fate of Modernism given the advent of post-modernity or post-humanism, especially the question of whether Modernism can still provide a platform for oppositional thought and action.
Readings will combine primary sources with critical essays and will be used in concert with images and readings of artists’ work to generate class discussion. There will be two assignments, one an essay and the other a creative project. Options for creative work include: working on artistic projects in photography; writing, revising, and rehearsing
dramatic pieces on the avant-garde models studied in the class; creating and executing a design for an avant-garde play in the manner of a Modernist art style; and rehearsing and staging a dramatic piece. Several class sessions will be devoted to creative work with a concluding day for student artistic presentations.
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