Fourth Year

Steve Cordes, CEO of Youth Opportunities Unlimited, was our visiting lecturer in 2024-2025. As a visionary leader with a remarkable 40-year tenure at Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU), Steve has been instrumental in the organization’s growth and success. Under his guidance, YOU has evolved from its humble beginnings in a social service incubator to become a prominent non-profit organization. With seven locations, three social enterprises, over 120 staff members, and a network of community partners, YOU has become a beacon of hope for youth in need.

The capstone course component, titled "Understanding and Addressing Youth Homelessness in London, Ontario," provided our students with a comprehensive exploration of youth homelessness while fostering community engagement among students, youth, housing advocates, and youth experiencing homelessness.

Each week, our students participated in dialogues, practical activities, and field work visits that challenged their assumptions while also empowering them to contribute meaningfully to solutions in their local context. The culminating project for the course was a short, collaborative video documentary that shared stories of local youth experiencing homelessness.

Carol Off, who hosted the CBC radio's As It Happens, the network's flagship evening radio program covering human interest stories worldwide for 16 years, was our visiting lecturer in 2023-2024. With extensive experience in both Canadian and international current affairs, Off has covered conflicts in the Middle East, Haiti, the Balkans and the sub-continent, as well as events in the former Soviet Union, Europe, Asia, the United States and Canada. She reported the fallout from the 9/11 disasters with news features and documentaries from New York, Washington, London, Cairo and Afghanistan. She has won numerous awards for her CBC television documentaries in Asia, Africa and Europe and is the author of four books. 

The fourth-year capstone course, called Endangered Words, explored the weaponization of language, including words that have become especially polarized – even contaminated – such as liberty, equality, freedom and democracy. 

Ivan Coyote is a writer and storyteller. Born and raised in Whitehorse, Yukon, they are the author of twelve books, the creator of four films, six stage shows, and three albums that combine storytelling with music. Coyote’s books have won the ReLit Award, been named a Stonewall Honour Book, been longlisted for Canada Reads, and been shortlisted for the Hilary Weston Prize for non-fiction. In 2017 Ivan was given an honorary Doctor of Laws from Simon Fraser University for their writing and activism. They have toured public schools solo around the world for 17 years now, using the power of a personal story to fight bullying and make schools safer for students, staff and parents. In 2019 Ivan marked 25 years on the road as an international touring storyteller and musician, and released their twelfth book, Rebent Sinner, with Arsenal Pulp Press. Coyote’s stories grapple with the complex and intensely personal topics of gender identity, family, class, and queer liberation, but always with a generous heart, and a quick wit. Ivan's stories manage to handle both the hilarious and the historical with reverence and compassion, and remind us all of our own fallible and imperfect humanity, while at the same time inspiring us to change the world. Ivan was awarded the Freedom to Read Award for 2020 by the Writer's Union of Canada, in recognition of work that is passionately supportive of the freedom to read and free expression.

In the fall term, with the guidance of the instructor, students conceived of, created and presented a project containing two or more elements: ex. text and visuals, or music and poetry. Real-world topics also included grant writing, contracts, timelines, and project outlines.

Dennis Garnhum became the Artistic Director of the Grand Theatre in the fall of 2016; a move that was a coming home for Dennis. Growing up in London, his theatre career began at the Grand with a role in Antler River at age 13.  Since his return to London, Dennis has created several new programs: COMPASS New Play Development Program, 100 Schools educational outreach, and 1000 Seats community initiative.  

Dennis’ career has taken him across North America, directing at a number of companies including Vancouver Opera, National Arts Centre, Shaw Festival, Stratford Festival, Tarragon Theatre, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Florida Grand Opera, American Conservancy Theatre (San Francisco), Bard on the Beach, Pacific Opera Victoria, Belfry Theatre, and Neptune Theatre. His co-adaptation (with author Cathy Ostlere) of Lost – A Memoir was nominated for a 2012 Governor General’s Literary Award. Before taking on his role at the Grand, Dennis was Artistic Director of Theatre Calgary from 2005 to 2016. During his tenure, eight world premieres were developed and staged. Dennis is a recipient of a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee and a Calgary Award for Community Achievement in Arts.  

The topic for the 2021-2022 course was 'Defining Beauty'. What makes something beautiful? How does the notion of beauty translate in a contemporary world, either by looking at a painting, having a unique experience, or witnessing the act of beauty in another? Students explored the defition of beauty in the areas of performance, body, environment, visual arts, words, adventures, and ceremony. 

Examples of student projects can be found online in SASAH's yearbook, Pegasus.

David Simmonds is a member of the expert panel at the Canadian Centre for the Purpose of the Corporation. Most recently, David was Senior Vice President, Communications and Public Affairs for McKesson Canada. A member of the company’s executive leadership team, David was responsible for internal communications, external affairs, media relations, government relations, corporate and event marketing, corporate social responsibility and strategic partnerships for McKesson’s business units in Canada. His quests included, Evan Dell'Aquilla, Zach Stafford, Del Ray McKesson, Jamie Watt, Helen Kennedy, and Sam Andrey.

For the final project in this course, students were tasked with creating campaigns for change.

Theory and practice of persuasion - “Every day, those with social power have opportunities to drive decisions that impact organizations, individuals, and the public at large. How successful they are rests in large part on their ability to effectively use power, influence, and persuasion to move individuals to ‘think, say, or act’ in a way that benefits their perspective / POV."

Visiting Professor Jamelie Hassan with students from her ArtHum 4410E course.

Jamelie Hassan is an award-winning visual artist based in London, Ontario, Canada. She has also coordinated numerous cultural programs, including Orientalism and Ephemera (2006-2010). Her mixed media installation works have been presented across Canada and internationally. In 2018 she received an honorary doctorate in Fine Arts from OCAD University, Toronto. Her guests included, Jim Drobnick, Jennifer Fischer, Salah Hassan, John Greyson, and Dr. Tarek Loubani. Jamelie also took her students to the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation, and the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto.

Shelley Niro is a multi-diciplinary artist, and a member of the Six Nations Reserve, Turtle Clan, Bay of Quinte Mohawk. She has worked in a variety of media, including beadwork, painting, photography, and film. Her work challenges stereotypical images of Indigenous peoples. Her guests included, Sam Thomas, Robin Bourgeois, ElizaBeth Hill, and Darlene Naponse. Shelley also took her students to the ImagiNative Film Festival in Toronto.

Paul Kennedy has been the host of CBS’s Ideas since 1999. His guests included, Sally Armstrong, Joe MacInnis, Richard Susskind, Michael Stadtlander, David Bentley, Katherine Switzer, Zita Cobb, Payam Akhavan, and Jim Stayer.