Aspen is a place for leaders to lift their sights above the possessions which possess them. To confront their own nature as human beings, to regain control over their own humanity by becoming more self-aware, more self-correcting, and hence more self-fulfilling.
Walter P. Paepcke, Aspen Institute Co-Founder
Aspen Institute
The Genius of Jefferson
Note: This is a past event, additional resources may be available below.
In partnership with the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Monticello, and the University of Virginia, thirty-five Aspen Institute Society of Fellows members and American philanthropists gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia to explore the genius of Thomas Jefferson in September 2015. This weekend-long immersion in the Founding Father’s world included a private tour of the house and grounds of Monticello, Jefferson’s home, led by renowned gardener and historian Peter Hatch. This tour was followed by an exploration of Jefferson’s letters and, later, a “Feast of Reason” prepared with ingredients from Jefferson’s garden by James Beard Award-winning chef Frank Stitt. At breakfast the following day, landscape architect Thomas Woltz connected Jefferson’s legacy of agricultural stewardship to large-scale sustainability projects taking place at Monticello and across the globe. The weekend concluded with a visit to Jefferson’s “Academical Village” at the University of Virginia, which was followed by a panel on the future of higher education with the school’s Undergraduate Dean, Vice Provost, and the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Alan Taylor.
