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SASAH's 2025 Welcome Event; Sam Maggs visits "Digital Literacies"; student collaboration on learning outcomes; Kate Stanley's first-years are down by the river; Jason Dyck discusses digital research; Judith Rodger visits the Capstone Class. |
🍂Starting the Fall with Friends🍂 |
We're three weeks into the semester, and SASAH students have already been meeting professionals from across the arts and humanities! They've also been taking a collaborative role in creative curriculum and community building.
Kate Stanley’s first-year course, “Climate Conversations: Finding Common Ground for the 21st Century,” visited the river this week with guest Jules Lee. The Anishinaabemowin name for this river is Deshkan Ziibi, or “Antler River.” It’s also commonly called the Thames River. The class spent this time with Jules reading Natalie Diaz’s “The First Water is the Body.” Art historian and author Judith Rodger visited the fourth-year Capstone course to discuss her research of Greg Curnoe in relation to regionalism and sense of place.
Second-year students in "Digital Tools, Digital Literacies" collaborated on drafting learning outcomes related to knowledge, practical skills, and professional development. Author Sam Maggs discussed writing approaches for novels, comics, and video games—including a look behind the scenes at how each requires specific approaches to collaboration and different platforms for organizing writing. Who would have thunk that video game scripts live on spreadsheets?? Teaching and Learning Library Jason Dyck also visited the second-years to discuss digital research practices and how the tricky biases of analogue library catalogues continue to inform digital cataloguing systems.
One big September highlight: we welcomed back the whole cohort! Our first-year students had a chance to meet some of their upper-year peers face-to-face. Special thanks to fourth-years Heather Stanley and Jaya Sinha, who had words of wisdom for how to navigate years first, second, and third of undergraduate life.
Continue reading to learn about forthcoming visiting speakers, student projects, gentle reminders, and more. |
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Guest Talk: Between Filter and Reality: Exploring the #InstagramVsReality Trend |
Monday, October 6
Join us for a guest talk in "Digital Tools, Digital Humanities" with Meaghan Furlano and Dr. Kaitlynn Mendes from the GEMS Research Lab: "Between Filter and Reality: Exploring the #InstagramvsReality Trend."
In the mid-2010s, a new body trend emerged on social media called #InstagramVsReality. Contributors uploaded side-by-side photos: an idealized “Instagram” depiction of their bodies contrasted with a more “realistic” portrayal. Given the growing influence of social media on body image, mental health, and the spread of mis/disinformation, we asked:
1) Who participates in this trend?
2) What does #InstagramVsReality reveal about contemporary body culture?
3) What do contributors say about the trend?
4) Where does #InstagramVsReality fit in relation to broader movements such as feminism, body-positivity, and media literacy?
Our qualitative analysis of 150 posts indicates that, although the trend claims to challenge narrow and unrealistic beauty standards, it nevertheless privileges and makes visible young, slim, conventionally attractive white women at the expense of more diverse body types, ages, and non-normative beauty standards. We argue that #InstagramVsReality is more closely aligned with popular feminist campaigns that promote neoliberal media literacy and individual psychic work rather than advocating for structural transformation. We conclude by thinking through media literacy and algorithmic rankings to combat social issues, especially at a time when AI-generated imagery is becoming increasingly prevalent and misinformation campaigns are rampant.
The GEMS Research Lab brings together scholars and students interested in topics around gender, equity, media, and society.
Dr. Kaitlynn Mendes is a Full Professor of Sociology at Western University and holds the Canada Research Chair in Inequality and Gender. She is an expert on rape culture, digital feminist activism, and tech-facilitated sexual violence including sextortion, online harassment, image based-sexual abuse, and deepfakes. Kaitlynn has spent considerable time turning her research findings into resources, policies, and educational materials. Insights from her research have been used to inform policies, practices, and public understanding on contemporary gender inequalities in Canada, the UK, Australia, and Europe. Kaitlynn is the Principal Investigator on 5-year project DIY: Digital Safety. She also recently contributed to this Toronto Star article on Instagram's use of AI in locating Canadian teens who have signed up for adult accounts.
Meaghan Furlano is a PhD student in Sociology at Western University. As a feminist media and cultural studies scholar, Meaghan’s research interests include gender inequality, feminism, neoliberalism, body culture, social media, antifeminism, AI, menstruation, and qualitative research.Meaghan has received a Canada Graduate Scholarship–Master's and currently holds an Ontario Graduate Scholarship. In addition to managing GEMS, Meaghan works as a teaching assistant and research assistant. |
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The SASAH Speakers' Series presents: Heather George, "Sharing Difficult Truths and Supporting Cultural Vibrancy at the Site of the Longest Running Residential School in Canada" |
Tuesday, October 28 12PM, Location TBA
Museology is a fundamentally colonial discipline, however since 1972 Woodland Cultural Centre has been engaging in story-telling, caring for belongings and asserting Indigenous sovereignty. Behind every exhibition, program and policy we seek to undo the harms of Residential School and demonstrate the continuity and vibrancy of our nations.
Heather George, (Kanienʼkehá:ka, Akwesasne and Euro-Canadian) is the Executive Director and Chief Curator at Woodland Cultural Centre. As a UWO alumni from the Public History M.A. Program she brings two decades of community based, Indigenous practices to her work. As a mother, beader, gardener and curator Heather's PhD research through University of Waterloo is examining the historical and philosophical underpinnings of contemporary museum practice specifically grounded in Haudenosaunee (Six Nations / Iroquois) philosophies. She seeks to challenge the colonial basis of cultural preservation methods and museology and better understand how we engage with material culture to heal trauma and engage in cross-cultural dialogues. In 2022 Heather served as the President of the Candain Museums Association supporting the release of the Moved to Action Report responding to TRC #67 and as a current board member of the Indigenous Heritage Circle she advocates for better legal and funding mechanisms to support the implementation of UNDRIP in the museum sector.
Heather George is a guest of Sarah Bassnett's second-year SASAH course, "Photography and Social Justice."
The annual, interdisciplinary SASAH Speakers' Series invites nationally and internationally renowned leaders across the arts and humanities to discuss leading topics of concern. |
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SASAH Student Award Opportunity! ❗️Attention SASAH first-year and second-year students! Check your email for new information about our Leadership Awards 🏆
Valued support from The John Dobson Foundation enables Western’s signature Arts & Humanities program to grow its enrollment and strengthen its defining experiences.This gift has created the SASAH Scholarship Program for 20 students. Recipients of the scholarships receive $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 put towards educational travel opportunities. Learn more about the award and the first cohort of award recipients here! |
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Sleeping with the Ancestors: How I Followed the Footprints of Slavery |
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Monday, September 29 11AM - 12:30PM Weldon Community Room
Fifteen years ago, Joseph McGill began sleeping in extant slave dwellings on American South plantations to protest their lack of Black heritage interpretation. Now, an award-winning public historian, McGill will discuss his experiences as he created the Slave Dwelling Project on his first-ever Canadian visit. Learn more here!
Joseph McGill Jr is a history consultant for Magnolia Plantation, South Carolina, and a former field office for the National Trust for Historic Preservation and National Park Service Ranger at Fort Sumter National Monument, Charleston. SASAH is pleased to support this program! |
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HAVE YOU CHECKED YOUR EMAIL TODAY. SASAH students! A gentle reminder to CHECK YOUR UWO EMAILS REGULARLY. Don't miss important announcements about events, valuable experiential opportunities, information from your course instructors, and even reminders about dangerous email phishing scams. |
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Important Dates Sept 30, 2025: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (non-instructional day) Oct 13, 2025: Thanksgiving Nov 3-9, 2025: Fall Reading Week Dec 1, 2025: Last day to withdraw from a Fall 12-week course resulting in a grade of ‘WDN’ (withdrawn, without academic penalty) Dec 9, 2025: Fall term classes end Dec 10, 2025: Study day Dec 11-22: Examination period |
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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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