Cornell Branch of Telluride Association Application

About Faculty Fellows

The Cornell Branch of the Telluride Association (“CBTA” or “Telluride House”) welcomes applications for Faculty Fellows for the 2025-2026 academic year. Applicants should have a permanent or temporary position at Cornell University or Ithaca College during this period. The award consists of a full room-and-board scholarship in which Fellows live at CBTA, centrally located on Cornell’s west campus, and contribute to the House community both formally and informally. Faculty accommodations include a private room and either private or semi-private bathroom, as well as access to a full kitchen, and daily lunches and dinners prepared by our chefs. 

Each year we admit a small number of Faculty Fellows, contingent upon space available. We look for individuals who will contribute to the vision of an intellectually diverse, self-governing community. In a formal capacity, faculty fellows are asked to organize two events in the house per semester, including a talk. In a more informal capacity, we ask our faculty fellows to attend meals, bring guests, and be present in the community through the duration of their stay. Fellows have often hosted formal and informal reading groups at CBTA. Fellows live in close proximity to the other residents of Telluride House, who include other Faculty Fellows, undergraduate students, and graduate students, studying a wide array of subjects at Cornell. 

About Telluride Association

The Telluride Association is a national nonprofit organization committed to fostering self-governance, a commitment to service, and intellectual inquiry among students and scholars at all stages of their careers. Founded in 1910, the Association has since branched into a range of projects dedicated to this vision. The Association is committed to offering these opportunities to all students regardless of financial means, and all programs are cost-free to participants. As such, all students at CBTA are the recipients of a competitive room-and-board scholarship. 

CBTA is the oldest Telluride institution, and has hosted a number of notable thinkers and leaders since its inception. Past student residents include Francis Fukuyama, Eve Sedgwick, Paul Wolfowitz and Gayatri Spivak; past faculty guests include Michel Foucault, Richard Feynman, Linus Pauling, and Allan Bloom. 

Please see further details on the House’s website.

CBTA has three central operating principles, which we refer to as “pillars.” The first is intellectual inquiry. We strive for rich and frequent exchange of ideas wherever possible. Besides formal academic events, the House is constantly immersed in lively conversation about academic and topical questions. Our second pillar is democratic self-governance. We have no president or director, but rather elect and appoint student-resident committees to oversee our activities, including everything from selecting new housemates to hiring kitchen staff. Our third pillar is community living. The House is more than a dormitory of students; it is a community of scholars. We eat, relax and socialize together, and whether undergraduate, graduate, or faculty member, we often leave CBTA having formed close bonds with our fellow housemates. 

Guidance on Applications

The CBTA Faculty Fellowship is most appropriate for academics who intend to make the Telluride House their primary residence for the academic year. Additionally, the House generally favors submissions from applicants who do not intend to be living with dependents, though fellows have, in the past, lived in the House with partners and/or children. We consider such applications on a case-by-case basis.

Please consult the House Fellows Terms of Residence to learn more about the house's expectations of our faculty fellows. 

Prospective candidates may, of course, arrange with us to visit the House. We would be happy to share a meal with you before you apply! 

The Application Process

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until April 20th, 2025 at 23:59 ET, which is a hard deadline. 

Applicants may be asked to schedule interviews by Zoom or in person soon thereafter. Fellows will be selected by the end of April. 

Inquiries

If you have any questions, please contact the CBTA Preferment Committee at cbta.apply@tellurideassociation.org with "2025-2026 CBTA Faculty Fellowship" in the subject line.

Telluride is proud of its diversity and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disabilities.

Please provide a 1-2 page statement describing your interest in living at the house, including but not limited to: 

1. Your interest in engaging in intellectual life and community living with undergraduate and graduate students; 
2. The role you see yourself playing in house life; 
3. A brief description of your academic interests and professional commitments for the upcoming academic year and how they will shape your contribution to the house. Please include, in this description, an idea as to a one-hour lecture you might like to give which would appeal to our diverse residents, who study in the hard and social sciences as well as the humanities. 
4. A comment on your teaching philosophy or pedagogical practices, and how you might integrate them into the Telluride community. 

For every family member whom you would like to bring into the House, you must furnish a letter of intent. A partner or spouse should write something describing his/her planned activities for the academic year. If bringing a child, you should provide us all relevant information, such as name, age, level of schooling, planned activities for duration of stay, special needs, etc.

I affirm that all of the work presented herein is my own and that I am familiar with the Cornell Branch of the Telluride Association's House Fellow Terms of Residence.