What is SASAH?

The School for Advanced Studies in the Arts & Humanities (SASAH) is a major that high-achieving students take in tandem with another major in the Faculty of Arts & Humanities or another faculty (Social Sciences, Sciences, FIMS, Music, etc.). We are an interdisciplinary program, meaning that we focus not on one discipline but on the foundations of the humanities. 

SASAH offers . . .

  • small class sizes of around 25 students.​
  • exceptional professors leading discussion-based courses*.​
  • a student-driven curriculum emphasizing ​
    • creativity, critical thinking, and adaptability ​
    • work-integrated learning and community engagement​
    • diversity, inclusion, and equality. ​
  • experiential learning and professionalization opportunities.​
  • a strong focus on community, teamwork, self-actualization, and leadership.​
  • the support of professors, staff, and mentors who care about their students’ success, interests, and well-being. ​​

SASAH students . . . ​

  • are inquiring, engaged, and high achieving.​
  • start the program in their first year of university. ​
  • gain confidence and develop the strengths, tools, skills that are in high demand in today’s marketplace through a variety of assignments, projects, and experiential learning.​
  • excel in diverse areas of study, which creates a program with great diversity of thought.​
  • create their own initiatives and work on projects that have an impact beyond the university.​
  • participate in exchanges with universities and volunteer around the world.​
  • learn with humanity—towards each other, our communities, and the world. 

Our Mission Statement

To educate citizens who thrive and lead in a time of transformative change. Through an interdisciplinary, issues-based education, SASAH prepares graduates with new competencies for the jobs, the leadership roles, and the studies that the future requires.

*See our Program page for more information about courses and requirements.

 

Director's Note

The SASAH community extends far beyond the classroom. Students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community partners all share collaboratively in learning from each other and responding with humanity and understanding to the questions presented by a changing world. As Director of SASAH, my commitment and my joy is to work in support of so many outstanding people as they create new kinds of knowledge together every day.

Contact

Jennifer Tramble 
Program Coordinator 
Stevenson Hall, Room 3122
Tel: 519 661-2111 ext. 87996

SASAH’s commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusiveness 

In SASAH, we recognize that learning and creativity happen best in an environment that exemplifies a commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusiveness. We are committed to attending to every voice, to including the many forms of experience and knowledge in our learning, and to identifying and addressing systemic barriers to equity and inclusiveness. This is always work in progress that engages us every day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Land Acknowledgment

SASAH’s home, Western University, is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and Attawandaron peoples, on lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum. This land continues to be home to diverse Indigenous Peoples (First Nations, Métis and Inuit) whom we recognize as contemporary stewards of the land and vital contributors to our society. By recognizing Indigenous peoples’ relationships to this land, we make explicit Indigenous peoples’ ongoing presence in this place, and their rights to self-determination, as well as our shared and individual responsibilities as a community of teachers and learners to uphold those rights, to contribute to the work of truth and reconciliation, and to celebrate, honour, and educate ourselves about Indigenous cultures.