Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences Showcase brightens young minds

High school students from Canberra and as far afield as Wagga visited the ANU campus for the inaugural Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences (HASS) Showcase.

 

Designed to provide a unique and enriching program for high school students, the HASS Showcase gave students the opportunity to experience the breadth and diversity of disciplines available within the Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences at ANU and assist them to make informed choices about subject choices in Years 11 and 12 and beyond.

 

Nearly 160 students in grades 10 - 12 attended across the two day event, engaging in lectures on English, art, music, politics, international relations, history, philosophy, linguistics, criminology, archaeology, anthropology and demography.

 

Students were also able to experience the breadth of languages at ANU, with academic presentations from each area, including the College of Asia & the Pacific on Asian languages, and social media in Southeast Asia. Students were also taught  how to write their name in Arabic by Huda Al-Tamimi, Associate Lecturer in Arabic Language and Literature.

 

A highlight for Kate Connolly from Merici College was hearing from Dr Richard Frank, lecturer in the School of Politics and International Relations.

 

"I liked International Relations because I am interested in learning about society and looking at what motivates our political leaders to make the decisions they make," Kate said.

 

The tours across the School of Art, School of Music, and Classics Museum, as well as labs in Biological Anthropology and Archaeology proved a hit with students and showcased to them the beautiful ANU campus and its fascinating collections. 

 

The students were escorted to each of the sessions and mentored by CASS student ambassadors. Engagement with student ambassadors has been a particular highlight for high school students visiting the ANU in previous years, and this year was no exception. This year, the College had current students on hand to talk about their experiences on campus and why they chose ANU.

 

The next student-focused event will be the upcoming ANU Languages Showcase on 31 May, and later this year there will be the university-wide Open Day on 27 August.