UAA offers unique, fun summer camps for middle and high school students

The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) College of Arts and Sciences offers summer camps to both middle school and high school age students, offering something for everyone. The camps will run through the month of June with each week having several different camps to choose from. If you have any questions or concerns please email uaa_cascamps@alaska.edu,

The College of Arts and Sciences has partnered with ConocoPhillips Alaska to provide the ConocoPhillips Access Scholarship. Participating Title I schools will be choosing eligible students to attend our Summer Camps for free. The entire cost of registration, lunch, and transportation of the students will be covered. Parents and students, please ask your school if they are a participant

There are scholarships available for families qualifying for ASD free and/or reduced lunch. To receive this scholarship, please email uaa_cascamps@alaska.edu and provide documentation that you qualify BEFORE proceeding to the CAS Camps registration and payment process.

Please be sure to review the dedicated dates and grades of each camp. Below are the available camps for the 2025 College of Arts & Sciences Summer Camp Program.

The camps available for middle school students (grades 6-8) include:

UAA Dance Camp

The purpose of the dance camp is to welcome middle school aged students into the university to take classes in ballet, social dance, musical theatre, and choreography (could be other styles, but a variety of different types of dance is the goal). The goals will be to engage the students in learning dance techniques and choreography and to put on a small showcase at the end of the week to perform for parents.

June 2-6; M-F 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Brain Explorer Camp

UAA Department of Psychology

Learn about the brain and mind, explore careers in Psychology, and meet (and train) a real live lab rat

Dates: June 9-13; M-F 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Bone Detectives: Forensic Anthropology

This summer camp will introduce forensic anthropology to the campers, and provide them with the opportunity to collect human skeletal remains (plastic) and personal items from a field setting, as well as laboratory analysis of these items. Other outcomes include reconstructions of potential crime scenes, documentation of individual specifics, trauma, and injuries, and generating descriptions of the crime and victim. Laboratory activities will include examining items recovered from outdoor instructor-created crime scenes and examining the recovered human skeletal remains for signs of injury and/or trauma. Other activities will include comparisons of recovered evidence to age-appropriate crime scene photographs and or inventory lists, and generation of crime scene descriptions. Hands-on lab activities include blood spatter analysis, microscopic hair analysis, shoe impression recovery, and analysis. Campers apply the above concepts to a specific forensic case they are reconstructing as a group. During the last day, we will go over their interpretations of this case based on their experiences with the hands-on lab activities.

Disclaimer: This camp will be discussing topics that may be sensitive to some.

Dates: Camp 1: June 2 - June 6 (FULL), Camp 2: June 9 - Jun 13; M-F 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Guitar Camp

The purpose of the UAA Guitar Camp is to improve participants' technique, musicianship, and ensemble playing. The goals of the camp are to introduce students to important elements of guitar technique, chord reading, fingerpicking, and playing together.

Dates: June 9-13; M-F 8:30 a.m.- 3:30 p.m.

Camps available for High School students (grades 9-12):

Mystery! Romance! Sci-Fi and Fantasy! Creative Writing Storytelling

Students will have the opportunity to learn and practice good writing techniques and to write a completed short story by the end of the camp. We will have classes, writing time, and peer review during the camps, and at the end all stories will be “published” in a little literary journal or anthology that can be taken home! Hosted by Sharon Emmerichs, Sunday Times Bestselling author of ‘Shield Maiden.’

Dates: June 2-6; M-F 8:30 a.m.- 3:30 p.m.

On the Record: Journalism Camp

Throughout history, journalism has always been integral to keeping the public informed to the goings-on of the wider world, from the muckrakers of the early 1900’s, to today's bloggers and podcasters. Now you can learn valuable skills of the trade from UAA professors and local journalists in a week-long camp!

Dates: June 9-13; M-F 8:30 a.m.- 3:30 p.m.

Printmaking & Paper Making Camp: Printmaking with Recycled Materials, Paper Making & Painting with Plants

A beginner’s introduction to handmade paper, plant based dyes and paints, and printmaking. For half of each day campers will explore the paper making process and extracting pigments from plants with Cecilia Karoly-Lister. For the other half of the day campers will learn a variety of printmaking techniques using DIY methods you can replicate at home and recycled materials.

Dates: June 16-20; M-F 8:30 am- 3:30 pm

Better Painting Camp

This program introduces students to think about painting and art history not as separate entities as they’re often taught, of how one can inform and enrich the other. There’ll be an art historical/contemporary art component, introducing students to core painting concepts and projects abound!

Dates: June 16-20; M-F 8:30 a.m.- 3:30 p.m.

For more information, please visit www.uaa.alaska.edu/academics/college-of-arts-and-sciences/cas-summer-camps