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Italian physicist Carlo Rovelli. This picture was taken at the Department of Philosophy, Science & Philosophy Colloquia in Rome, Italy; La Sapienza University of Rome. Image by Marco Tambara. |
Upcoming, Inspirational Guest Speakers |
We are truly excited for the semester ahead in the Arts & Humanities, and our calendar is already filling up with phenomenal guest speakers for our program and the Faculty writ large! Many of our events will be hybrid events, meaning you can enjoy them from the comfort of home. Read on!
Luke Stark on AI On January 27th, you can join our "Digital Tools, Digital Literacies" course for a guest presentation from Dr. Luke Stark (Faculty of Information and Media Studies and FIMS' Starling Centre). Luke will be discussing his 2024 article, "Animation and Artificial Intelligence," which proposes that ChatGPT and similar chatbots powered by Large Language Models (LLMs) can be best understood as animated characters. From Luke's vantage, characteristics of animation can help us both analyze and respond appropriately to interactive AI technologies and the hyperbolic claims of their promoters. This talk is at 4PM EST in the FIMS/Nursing Building, room 2210, and online via Zoom. Contact Ruth Skinner (rskinne6@uwo.ca) for the Zoom link!
Carlo Rovelli on Black Holes The Faculty of Arts & Humanities is honoured to host Carlo Rovelli for the 2025 Robert and Patricia Duncanson Lecture, held on January 30, 2025. This hybrid event can be attended in person at Conron Hall or online via Zoom.
Carlo Rovelli is a theoretical physicist and New York Times bestselling author, known for his work on quantum gravity and the nature of time. In " Come with Me Inside a Black Hole," Rovelli explores white holes, black holes, and what we do when we do science. Rovelli will guide attendees on a trip towards and into a black hole, illustrating what we know and what we do not know about these strange objects. He will show how we might then get out of a black hole, via a white hole, assuming the theory on which he works, Loop Quantum Gravity, is correct. This trip will illustrate what it is to do science, using imagination, visualization, and creativity, besides ‘cold’ math and logic. Register for this hybrid event!
We'll have another exciting Duncanson announcement later in the semester... |
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Image courtesy of Dr. Jessica Lockhart, the Old Books New Science Lab (OBNS) at the University of Toronto. |
Jessica Lockhart on the Secret Lives of Old Books On February 10th, Dr. Jessica Lockhart will give a public talk titled "Old Books, New Science, and Hidden Stories: New Approaches to the Local and Global History of the Book." Jessica is an invited guest of SASAH Teaching Fellow Kyle Gervais's course, "Handwritten: Medieval Manuscripts and their Contexts." This talk will take place at 10:30 in the Social Sciences Centre, room 2032.
Jessica is Head of Research for the Old Books New Science Lab (OBNS) at the University of Toronto directed by Alexandra Gillespie. A medievalist by training, she now helps shape the development of large-scale research projects and partnerships between the lab and researchers at the University of Toronto, across Canada, and internationally. Since 2019 she has facilitated collaborations among researchers across multiple disciplines and apparently disparate research methodologies, especially concerning the humanistic, archaeological, and scientific study of premodern book technologies. Her team’s current project is Hidden Stories: New Approaches to the Local and Global History of the Book (2022-2026), funded by the Mellon Foundation. This project also involves exciting collaborations with researchers and librarians at Western. Learn more.
Bruce Holsinger on A Medieval Poetics of Wine Join us on February 24th for a guest talk by Bruce Holsinger (University of Virginia), invited by SASAH Teaching Fellow Kyle Gervais.
Bruce specializes in the literature and culture of the medieval world, with additional interests in historical fiction, modern and contemporary theory, the history of the book, and premodern religious cultures. Holsinger is also a celebrated fiction author. Bruce's talk is titled "Taste, Tincture, Temptation: A Medieval Poetics of Wine." Learn more. |
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Racquel Rowe and Jessica Karuhanga in Conversation In partnshiper with Forest City Gallery, and to celebrate Racquel Rowe's current solo exhibition, The Centre of the World was the Beach, SASAH hosts a conversation between Rowe and artist Jessica Karuhanga (Western's Department of Visual Arts). The artists will be discussing their multi-faceted practices in a discussion moderated by SASAH student Kira McCallum-Schmidt.
Racquel Rowe is an interdisciplinary artist from the island of Barbados currently residing in Canada and pursuing a PhD in Western's Department of Visual Arts. Her practice is continuously influenced by many aspects of history, matrilineal family structures, diasporic communities, and her upbringing in Barbados. Jessica Karuhanga is a first-generation Canadian artist of British-Ugandan heritage who addresses politics of identity and Black diasporic concerns through lens-based technologies, sculpture, writing, drawing, and performance.
This hybrid event will take place on February 28th, with more details to follow.
We'll be sharing details for these and additional guest talks in upcoming newsletters! You can also track SASAH events on our calendar page. |
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ICONOCLAST Vol. 15: ICON.EXE
Do you recognize the internet you once looked upon with childlike wonder in the online spaces you frequent these days? How did we get to this digital dependence from the lagging pixels of only a few decades earlier? The latest edition of Iconoclast challenges you to reach through your screen and pull out what has shaped everything we know.
Iconoclast has strong SASAH power behind it, including Directors Sophia Heppenstall, Zoe Port and Paniz Vedavarz, VP Finance Heather Stanley, and Events Coordinator Cat Walke. |
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Theatre Western's Little Women: 2024 video recording
Remember all that December snowfall? Unfortunately, two of the three performances for Theatre Western's adaptation of Little Women were cancelled due to weather. Thankfully, they've made a full recording of the performance available. Congratulations to SASAH Director Hannah Teicher, and all the cast and crew! Image courtesy @theatrewestern |
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SASAH Bi-Weekly Drop-in Sessions
SASAH students! Need extra help with your academic writing, resumes, applications, or creative projects? We'll hold bi-weekly drop-in sessions in the SASAH lounge beginning Wednesday, January 29th from 4-6PM. Bring along any work that you're needing assistance with, or show up to just draw, colour, craft, and hang out. Check your calendar invites for upcoming events! |
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Events Around the SASAH Community
Dept. of Visual Arts - ArtLab Gallery, on until January 30
The Grand Theatre, running until February 1st
D.B. Weldon Library, on now through April
January 24, 5-11PM
January 27, 4-5:20PM, FNB 2210 and online
January 27, 28, 29, 30, 6-9PM UCC 210
January 29, 12:30-1:30, UCC 210
January 30, 5-7PM, UC Conron Hall and online
Museum London, February 1, 1-4PM
Feb 10, 12-1:20, FNB 4130 and Zoom
February 5, 1-2PM, UC McKellar Theatre
February 10, 10:30-12:30, SSC 2032
February 10, 5:30-6:30, UC 3220
Tap Centre for Creativity, February 10, 6-9PM |
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The School for Advanced Studies in the Arts and Humanities (SASAH) offers an enriched undergraduate learning experience that is unique in Canada. Students gain practical experience in many career fields in a range of sectors—including arts and culture, non-profit, for-profit, education, and information technology—and undertake opportunities in the London community and beyond. We are grateful for our community: our students and alumni, our teaching fellows, our valued Advisory Council, our community partners and our supporters.
SASAH acknowledge that Western University is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and Chonnonton Nations, on lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum. With this, we respect the longstanding relationships that Indigenous Nations have to this land, as they are the original caretakers. We acknowledge historical and ongoing injustices that Indigenous Peoples (First Nations, Métis and Inuit) endure in Canada, and we accept responsibility as a public institution to contribute toward revealing and correcting miseducation as well as renewing respectful relationships with Indigenous communities through our teaching, research and community service.
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