What is the Odyssey Project?

Odyssey Faculty   •   FAQs  •  Course Content

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Odyssey Project provides members of our community facing economic barriers with a chance to start college. In this introductory humanities course, students gain a voice and a sense of empowerment through lively discussions of literature, history, philosophy, art and writing.

Each Wednesday evening from September to May, UW-Madison faculty and staff introduce students to great works and help them improve skills in writing and critical thinking. The project director is Emily Auerbach, professor of English and recipient of numerous teaching, arts, and broadcasting awards. Many guest faculty and artists join the class, and students take part in field trips to fine arts performances. See Odyssey Faculty for details.

The program provides students with a variety of support services. Participants receive individual help in writing, counseling on the process of applying to college, and guidance on financial aid.

Participants in this program are enrolled as "Special Students" at UW-Madison. This status is not the same as regular undergraduate admission to the university, but it does carry many of the same benefits (library access, bus pass, etc.). Students who successfully complete the September-to-May program receive six college credits through the English department.

The History of the UW-Madison Odyssey Project

The UW-Madison Odyssey Project was inspired by the work of Earl Shorris, a revolutionary author and educator who began the Clemente Course in the Humanities in New York in 1995. Earl Shorris believed that the gateway out of poverty and disenfranchisement would come through exposure to powerful works of moral philosophy, literature, art history, American history, and writing. He chose the name “Clemente” because the first classes were held at the Roberto Clemente Guidance Center in New York, named after baseball star and humanitarian Roberto Clemente. Clemente humanities courses are now offered through Bard College at many locations throughout the United States, and programs have also begun in other countries. For his work in establishing empowering courses for poor adults, Earl Shorris received the 2000 Presidential Humanities Medal.

After Jean Feraca had Earl Shorris on her Wisconsin Public Radio program, she became convinced that a program like it should be established here in Madison. She knew that Emily Auerbach, professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, had spent the last two decades developing outreach programs in the humanities for nontraditional students. Together they worked to find the funding and institutional support to begin a program in Madison. Rather than offering an official Bard College Clemente course, they decided to arrange for the credit to come directly from the UW-Madison. The Integrated Liberal Studies Program at the UW agreed to provide credit for the coursework, and funding was found (see Sponsors) to begin offering classes in the Fall of 2003. Graduates of the first (2003-2004), second (2004-2005), third (2005-2006) and fourth (2006-2007) years of the UW-Madison Odyssey Project report life-transforming changes (see Meet Our Graduates). Starting in the Fall of 2006, the UW-Madison English Department became the academic home of the Odyssey Project, granting students credits in English 167 and 168, Literature I and II.

Odyssey Faculty   •   FAQs  •  Course Content