Summer Start
Join us August 25-27, 2025!
ISAP Summer Start is a 3-day academic orientation for Indigenous students new to the College of Arts and Science at the USask Saskatoon Campus. This year, Summer Start participants will join the Gordon Oakes Red Bear Student Centre’s Indigenous Student Welcome on Wednesday, August 27th, and celebrate start of term with a Summer Start Keynote Lecture!
Registration NOW OPEN
Ready, Set… Go!
Summer Start is an immersive academic orientation hosted by the Trish Monture Centre for Student Success and Indigenous Student Achievement Pathways teams. Summer Start will begin with 2-days of activities designed to get you ready for first year classes. You can “choose your own adventure” for many activities; experience a Psychology lecture, get hands-on in a first year Chemistry lab, or try out a Studio Art class!
We'll also have practical skills-focused sessions covering common first-year student concerns, including...
- advice on notetaking for different kinds of 100-level classes
- a mock midterm exam, and follow-up discussion of common exam formats in 100-level courses
- introduction to Canvas, the Learning Management System you'll use during the academic term
- Q & A sessions with upper year Indigenous student peer mentors
- campus facility tours and an overview of resources, including programs developed for Indigenous students, mature learners, student athletes, and student parents
Are you a Student Parent? Childcare will be available for school aged children (ages 5-14) of student parents attending Summer Start, in partnership with Sci-Fi Science Camps! Snacks and Lunch served daily.
Summer Start Keynote Lecture
Each year, ISAP peer mentors invite a faculty member to close Summer Start with a Keynote Lecture.
This year, we are excited to have College of Arts and Science School for the Arts Faculty Member Deneh’Cho Thompson, coordinator of the wîcêhtowin Theatre Program share his “Constellations of Success: Personalized Pathways in Education”
When: Wednesday, August 27th, 12:15-1:00
Where: Neatby-Timlin Theatre, Room 241, Arts Building
Everyone Welcome, invite your Family and Friends!
Deneh’Cho Thompson (he/they) is a director, actor and playwright and displaced and dispossessed member of the Pehdzeh ki Nation. As Assistant Professor at the University of Saskatchewan Deneh’Cho oversees the wîcêhtowin Theatre Program, one of few Indigenous theatre programs at a Canadian university. Deneh’Cho’s research focuses on the development, naming, and centring of Indigenous pedagogies, new play development, and modes of collaboration while centering the values of reciprocity, respect and reflexivity. Deneh’Cho is also engaged in the (re)storying of personal family archives focusing on healing, resilience, and Indigenous storywork as a pathway towards the creation of new works of theatre.
What students say about ISAP Summer Start
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“Honestly, I loved it all. I can't wait to start school.” |
“Being at the university helped make me feel more comfortable.” |
“I am now no longer overwhelmed by the word chemistry.” |
“I really enjoyed all the tours and how we were introduced to all the help we can get on campus—and where to get it.” |
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Partners
ISAP Summer Start is offered by the College of Arts and Science in partnership with
