A $500,000 donation from The John Dobson Foundation has enabled Western's School for the Advanced Study of Arts & Humanities (SASAH) to set up a scholarship program which will encourage more students to apply to the school, which promotes entrepreneurial initiatives among humanities students.
The foundation's gift has created the SASAH Scholarship Program, for five students each year. Each recipient of the scholarships will be given $5,000 per year to offset tuition costs during the four years of their studies. They will receive an additional $5,000 of support as they obtain real-world experience in an internship, or to pay for educational travel opportunities.
The donation will position SASAH to attract promising young students, regardless of their individual financial circumstances. The school will also be able to create more awareness of the opportunities available by studying arts and humanities, and attract entrepreneurs who want to pursue more creative avenues in their future careers.
SASAH is a program high-achieving students take in tandem with another major in the Faculty of Arts & Humanities or another faculty. It invites students to broaden their scope and knowledge with a range of disciplines and perspectives, and engage in community-based learning experiences.
The first program of its kind in Canada, SASAH's course content blends business, history, politics, art, literature and philosophy to produce graduates capable of solving global challenges by looking at issues from all angles. It has a student-driven curriculum with a focus on creativity, critical thinking and adaptability. The course also emphasizes themes of community, teamwork and leadership.
"SASAH is among Canada's best interdisciplinary, community-engaged undergraduate programs," says Jan Plug, acting dean, Faculty of Arts & Humanities.
"With this landmark support from The John Dobson Foundation, and with support from other visionary philanthropists, SASAH will continue to set the pace that other programs aim to follow."
The university leadership welcomed the support of the foundation for SASAH.
"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."
As SASAH celebrates its 10-year anniversary in 2023 and Western moves toward its 150th anniversary in 2028 the university is inviting additional partnerships to grow SASAH's influence on the future of Canada and the world.
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," says 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."
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 Business 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.
