A $500,000 donation from the John Dobson Foundation is enabling one of Western’s signature arts and humanities programs to grow its enrollment and strengthen its defining experiences.
The foundation’s gift has created the School for Advanced Studies in the Arts and Humanities (SASAH) Scholarship Program. Five scholarship recipients will be chosen annually to receive $5,000 to offset tuition costs in each of the four years of their studies and an additional $5,000 to support an internship experience, or cover educational travel opportunities.
SASAH is a program that high-achieving students take in tandem with another major in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities or another faculty at Western. It invites students to broaden their scope, cross-pollinate their knowledge with a range of disciplines and perspectives, and engage in community-based learning experiences.
Unique in Canada, the SASAH program blends arts and humanities with other disciplines like business, politics, sciences, and economics to produce graduates capable of solving global challenges by looking at issues from all angles. Its student-driven curriculum focuses on creativity, critical thinking and adaptability, emphasizing themes of community, teamwork and leadership.
“It’s exciting to see the John Dobson Foundation’s significant investment in the arts and humanities,” said Western President Alan Shepard. “We’re deeply grateful for their help in expanding and strengthening a unique interdisciplinary program focused on developing tomorrow’s leaders.”
First-year students Levi Macleod, Theodora Vulpe, Max Steinbock, Felix Gu and Myles MacPherson are the inaugural 2023 recipients of the SASAH Scholarship. They were selected based on their entrepreneurial endeavours and contributions in the classroom.
In high school, Vulpe excelled in programs like theatre arts, English literature and dance, but it wasn’t until she took an introductory course in Ivey’s HBA program focused on the school’s case teaching method that she discovered her love of accounting, analysis and case methodology, she said.
“This scholarship recognizes the entrepreneurs within the arts and humanities. It shows that being creative and infusing the field with other disciplines is applicable and important in whatever we pursue,” said Vulpe.
The scholarship is expected to attract promising students, like the first cohort of recipients, to SASAH.
“SASAH is among Canada’s best interdisciplinary, community-engaged undergraduate programs,” said Jan Plug, acting dean, Faculty of Arts and Humanities.
“With this landmark support from the John Dobson Foundation, and with support from other visionary philanthropists, SASAH will continue to set the pace other programs aim to follow.”
The foundation has promoted entrepreneurship and leadership development at the university, having also donated $650,000 to advance entrepreneurship programming and awards through Western’s Morrissette Institute for Entrepreneurship, powered by Ivey.
“John Dobson believed in backing great people early to create positive change,” said Ian Aitken, director of the John Dobson Foundation. “By investing in Canada’s most innovative and interdisciplinary humanities program, the foundation is building on our record of supporting Canada’s emerging leaders.”
