Telluride House The Cornell Branch of Telluride Association

Dear Potential Applicants for Telluride House Faculty Guests in Residence 2009-10,

The Telluride House is currently receiving applications for one Faculty Guest position for the 2009-10 academic year.  The Telluride House is a vibrant self-governing intellectual community of 25-30 undergraduate and graduates across disciplines and colleges.  Life in the house is an academically rich experience with frequent seminars, events, short-term guests and constant informal intellectual exchange.  Faculty guests come from as diverse backgrounds as its students and are frequently visiting Cornell on one or two-year appointments.  Faculty enjoy free room and board for up to one academic year.

Applications will be accepted up until Tuesday, March 31st.  More information about the house is available at www.tellurideassociation.org.  We strongly encourage interested faculty to visit the house at 217 West Ave.  If you would like to schedule a visit, request an application, or have any other questions, feel free to contact me. Also, the application is availabe for download here.

Best,

Sinziana Paltineanu

Telluride Resident Guest Committee, guests@telluridehouse.org

Posted under Announcements

In between drums and meetings, I’m missing those house

members who are now dissertating or writing books.

Signed by Elton

Posted under Pictures

Last Saturday was Valentine’s Day, and YES, I definitely got a mail with some chocolates that morning, as all of you guys know.

To all of you who asked me about this incident, I pretended that I was not excited by that; however, to be honest, I was excited at the affair. I wondered who did this, whether the person is in this house, and how I should react.  I felt tired of my popularity (lol), but on the other hand, I also wanted to brag of it to many of my miserable Korean male friends who did not get any chocolates this year. Even more, I seriously consulted with one of my close friends about what I should do….

Partially, I was a bit dubious about the event. As far as I know, there is no one who would do this. I thought of two groups of suspects; one is my high school friend and his friends, who consistently asked me how I think about whether I would get any chocolate or not, and the other is YOU guys, who gazed on me with curiosity and interest. However, right after the doubt, I excluded my high school friend because I know that he and his friends are not that mischievous; they are too exemplary (or NERDY) to do that. Therefore, I actually had some doubts on you housemates, thinking that it might be a welcome joke for a new member.

However, it turned out to be a joke by the first group, my high school friend and his friends. lol. Well, I felt ashamed of all that excitement and effort to pretend indifference. I first considered to keep it secret, (yes, I feel really embarassed..) but I realized that I should reveal the truth because the event might discourage the person who is really enamored of and enchanted with me. (yes, i am joking. lol)

Well, I just hope reading this posting had made you smile on the start of a new LONG week.. Have a nice week!

Posted under Musings

I am at thsi very moment training my successors on the C-Czars Committee (by C we mean computers). Look out for their contributions in the upcoming weeks.

Posted under Musings

Telluride Association, Cornell University and the Central European
University in Budapest are pleased to announce the 2009-2010 Reese
Miller International Exchange Scholarship

SCHOLARSHIP TO
CENTRAL EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY
IN BUDAPEST

The Miller Exchange Scholarship provides an exciting, fully-funded opportunity for Cornell graduate students and undergraduates within two years of graduation to study at Central European University in Budapest.  Students in the Department of History, the Program in Medieval Studies, the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs, and the Department of City and Regional Planning are eligible to apply, as well as members of the Cornell Telluride House.

Recipients of the scholarship may attend CEU as:
1) a non-degree seeking student for one year or one semester or
2) a master’s student for one year

The scholarship provides full funding, including:
1) university housing
2) health insurance
3) a stipend
4) travel costs, and
5) tuition

This year’s application deadline is February 20th, 2009.  For details and to download the application, visit:
http://www.tellurideassociation.org/programs/university_students/us_awards.html#reesecornell

Some useful links:

Central European University home page:
http://www.ceu.hu/

Information specific to CEU departments:
http://www.ceu.hu/academics.html

An information page for international students living at CEU, particularly those entering History:
http://www.hist.ceu.hu/?q=node/184

Posted under Announcements

You know the semester is really over when the House empties out. At this point, the only ones here are a few international students, dissertating graduates, and unfortunates whose travel was foiled by the annual blizzard that hits Ithaca around the last day of exams. A few of us will continue to dwell on the premises through the break.

The present blogger will spend the rest of the day duffing around in his jammies.

Iris and Hyunok break from packing and grading for post-semestral comfort food (gnocchi).

Posted under Musings, Pictures

It’s been quiet on the blog the past couple of weeks probably because everyone, including myself, is preparing for the end-of-semester push. In terms of the House, we’re going through our peer evaluation process, which happens every semester, and also preparing passover reports. Those reports are not Jewish in any way. It just means that committees write reports that pass over to the new members of the committee the following semester.

Posted under Musings

Robert Hockett, Associate Professor at Cornell’s Law School, recently came to us to talk about “Bailouts, Buy-Ins, and Ballyhoo”: the causes, historical antecedents, and possible solutions to our current financial crisis. The title really did not to justice to this talk, which was exemplary in its clarity and lucidity. Talking entirely without notes, Professor Hockett — who has training in philosophy, economics, and law — addressed analytical, historical, and normative dimensions of the crisis while steering clear of the jargon that has come to plague us in the halls of the academy. I wish that Treasury Secretary Paulson had been here, as I’m confident he would have profited Hockett’s talk and from the ensuing discussion. Academic events like this one are only one of the many privileges of living here.

Posted under Events, Musings

Here are a couple of pictures from our Halloween formal dinner, though I can’t seem to find pictures from the actual dinner itself. I guess people were hungry or tipsy from cocktail hour beforehand. Here’s a picture of Jim and Julie posing in front of the coffin:

and here are some people dancing afterward, including me in the foreground and our faculty fellow Suman in the background:

Posted under Events, Pictures

You know, this is really an amazing day. The campus has been buzzing with anxiety all day, and professors in all of my classes rambled on for at least 10 minutes at the beginning of each class about the historic nature of this day. Now it’s about 11:00 PM EST, and I’m surrounded by my fellow Housemates in the living room of Telluride house watching streaming ABCNews.com projected onto the wall. Wine, cookies, and sparkling cider have been broken out by one and all, and Ian just took an order for victory cocktails. I haven’t been able to focus on any of my work since 8:00 PM because people have been anxiously pacing around the House…and now John McCain is giving his concession speech. It is an honorable speech. But I didn’t mean to ramble on about the election. What I really want to say is — there isn’t anyone I would rather be watching this historic election with in the world.

Posted under Musings