TRANSFORMATIVE TEXT SCHOLARS PROGRAM:
Learning from the 5,000 Year Old Human Conversation
The Transformative Text Scholars Program is an 8-Day, FREE Residential Seminar for High School Juniors, which will take place at Pacific Lutheran University, June 30-July 2; July 6-10. The purpose of the program is to help develop your capacity to read carefully, think for yourself, converse with others effectively, and find meaning in both ancient and modern works of literature and philosophy. There will be no lectures, no grades, no textbooks, no exams. Just reading together, thinking and conversing. The deadline to apply is May 15, 2026!
Human beings have been leaving answers to fundamental questions they had about their own lives in poems, plays, religious works, and other writing for thousands of years, right up to the present. In this seminar, we’re going to use texts like these from across the world to explore together where justice comes from. In particular, we’re going to focus on an ancient play by Aeschylus which explores a situation where violence never seems to come to an end – where each person feels justified in killing to avenge a past wrong. In such a situation, how does something like ‘justice’ first emerge, without ignoring or forgetting past wrongs? In our conversations over these 8 days, we’ll also read excerpts from other writers which help us understand this same topic: the political philosophers Kant and Locke, the ancient The Bhagavad Gita, the philosopher Xunzi, along with other excerpts.
Some of these works can seem intimidating to read on your own—so often we’re going to read them together. The goal isn’t just to learn about these transformative texts, but to converse with them and in the process develop your own voice, and your ability to converse effectively with others.
Learn with professors from PLU’s International Honors Program (IHON)
Experience college life by living in a PLU residence hall and eating in the dining commons
Receive mentorship and 1-on-1 college application support, including letters of recommendation
All of this is 100% free if you are admitted to the program
Who is Eligible?
Applicants must be in 11th grade in a Tacoma or Pierce County high school, or home-schooled. Any student who is intellectually curious, interested in reading great texts and discussing with peers, or who wants to come up with their own answers to things, might be a good candidate for this seminar. You DO NOT need to be enrolled in AP or Honors courses to apply! Interest in doing the work is enough! Note: the condition of the Teagle Foundation Grant which supports this program is that we prioritize underserved students, which means either students who are low-income (as determined by federal income guidelines) and/or of the first generation to attend college.
Meet the Faculty
Arthur C. T. Strum
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Carmiña Palerm
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Adam Arnold
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Scott Rogers
Learn moreDaily Schedule
- The day begins with breakfast in the dining hall, together with tutors
- Mornings will be spent in reading and discussion with program faculty and program tutors
- At noon, we will break for lunch.
- Small group sessions with tutors
- On some days, we may do outings
- Other days, there will be further sessions with program faculty, or one-on-one tutoring with student tutors.
- You will also have the opportunity to use PLU’s facilities, if you wish: the track, or campus, or library, or pool
- You’ll have dinner with other students, tutors, and at least one program faculty member
- In the evening, there will be various activities, including recreation, watching films together and socializing
- Free time before lights out at 11:00 p.m.
- Our outings will focus on practicing attunement: quieting one’s mind to become more aware of one’s environment, or a book, or something else.
- Outings will include a visit to Tacoma Art Museum, learning to read the plants on campus through foraging, and a visit to the Chinese Reconciliation Park on Ruston Way in Tacoma.
Some of our Readings This Summer
- Aeschylus, The Eumenides
- Excerpts from philosophers like Locke, Kant, Plato, Montaigne, Xunzi and others.
- Stories by authors like W. E. B. DuBois and Samuel ibn Nagrila
- Films related to our topic
- Poetry by Marianne Moor and Seamus Heaney, among others.
- Excerpts from religious works such as The Bhagavad Gita and the Hebrew Bible.
Parent & Guardian Frequently Asked Questions
How much does this cost?
The program is 100% free for all accepted students. This includes tuition, books, dorm housing, and all meals during the summer session.
Who is eligible to apply?
We prioritize students who are current high school juniors, live in Pierce County or Tacoma, and are considered ‘underserved’ by the Teagle Foundation’s standards (our funder). This means that we prioritize students from lower-income households, or will be the first in their family to attend a four-year college in the U.S. But please inquire if interested – we are flexible!
Who are the professors teaching in the program?
Our program is led by a team of dedicated educators from PLU’s International Honors Program (IHON) who specialize in making complex, transformative texts accessible and meaningful to students.
Your student will learn from:
- Dr. Carmiña Palerm, who has directed the IHON program for a decade while regularly teaching in it. As IHON director, she helped rework the first-year IHON program beginning in 2014 to center on transformative texts. She also teaches in and directs the Hispanic and Latino Studies Program at PLU.
- Dr. Adam Arnold, who has taught at PLU in philosophy since 2015, has been an affiliate faculty member in IHON since 2021 and is a member of IHON’s faculty Steering Committee. He has also developed innovative courses in the Philosophy department which combine both historical breadth and a global approach to philosophy with visual representations, storytelling, fictional representations, music, and current events, so that students are better able to connect philosophy to their own concerns.
- Dr. Arthur Strum, one of two IHON Core Faculty and the program’s Interim Director for 2024-2025, and again in Fall of 2026, has taught in IHON since it began in 2008. He also served as a faculty course leader for a decade in Stanford University’s (former) Introduction to the Humanities Program, taught humanities in PLU’s Summer Academy for incoming students, and started his own outreach initiative for teaching Great Books to high school students while at Stanford.
- Dr. Scott Rogers, who teaches courses in rhetoric and writing, and contributes broadly to general education courses at PLU. He has many years teaching in and supporting community-engaged programs, including activities in his own courses and management of special programs like PLU’s Parkland Literacy Center. He has also been a faculty leader in other curriculum pilot programs, including the Mellon-funded Cornerstones General Education program, in which he taught two courses and provided all of the assessment work.
Who are the Program Tutors?
Program tutors are selected from students currently enrolled in PLU’s IHON Program. These students are selected for their ability to teach, mentor, and also serve as residence hall supervisors.
Where will my student be staying?
Students live in a single occupancy room in supervised college dormitories on the PLU campus. They will experience life as a college student, eating in the dining halls and using the university libraries and facilities.
Who is looking after my student in the evenings?
Students are supervised 24/7 by program staff and undergraduate tutors. Students in the program will live together in one wing of one of our PLU residence halls with our student tutors. Our residence halls are secure: card-swipe only access. Our staff-to-student ratio is typically 1:3. PLU campus safety is nearby and on call.
Can my student come home during the summer session?
Yes. Your student will return home Thursday night of the first week and come back Sunday night.
Is this program too difficult for my student?
No! The texts we read (like Plato, Aeschylus’ Oresteia and Locke) are similar to those taught in our first year International Honors Program at PLU, where we have many years experience helping students with a wide variety of preparation to navigate these texts. We do not expect that your student has read anything like this before. We will spend a lot of time reading these texts together. We also provide support from program tutors (current students in PLU’s IHON program). Your student will leave the program with much greater confidence in reading even the most challenging book.
What is the commitment for the senior year?
The program does not end in July. Throughout their senior year, students must attend meetings (usually twice a month) to work on their leadership projects. We also provide free college application coaching, including help with the FAFSA, personal essays, and scholarship searches. Because our professors get to know your student personally during the 8-day seminar, they can write detailed letters of recommendation for college applications.
Does my student need to be a U.S. Citizen?
No. We welcome applications from students of all immigration statuses. We do not require Social Security Numbers for the application, and the information provided is kept strictly confidential.
Do I need to provide financial documents?
Since we prioritize low-income families, we may ask for your total household income. This information is only used to ensure we are serving the students who need this opportunity most.
How can I support my student’s application?
The most important thing you can do is sign the Parental Consent Form included in their application. This confirms that you understand the dates of the program and will support them in attending both the summer and school-year sessions.
HOW TO APPLY
Our application process is very simple!
- Fill out our application. There is no need for an essay.
- We will invite you to come talk to us on the PLU campus about your interest in our program.
That’s it! Make sure to get your application in by May 15th, 2026.
Once you’re accepted, we will invite you and your family to PLU campus in early June for a brief welcome and orientation to the program. We look forward to meeting you!
Those of highest Virtue do not strive for Virtue, and so they have it.
A true thought will be thought once more by someone else, somewhere else: this kind of trust accompanies even the loneliest and most powerless thought.
...those whose selves are lost,/ whose insight is narrow / and whose actions are cruel /come into being/ as enemies/ bent on the destruction/ of the world…
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;/ Where knowledge is free;/ Where the world has not been broken up into fragments; / by narrow domestic walls;/ Where words come out from the depth of truth…
The manifestation of the wind of thought is no knowledge; it is the ability to tell right from wrong, beautiful from ugly. And this indeed may prevent catastrophes…
This program is made possible by a grant from The Teagle Foundation and its national Knowledge for Freedom initiative, which invites students to study humanity’s deepest questions about leading lives of purpose and civic responsibility.