The Prairie Landscape

The Illinois Humanities Council is Accepting Applications

07/22/2002 Author(s): For Free College-Level Classes

The Odyssey Project, an eight-month program of college-level humanities courses for low-income students, will be held at the Family Service Center in the fall of 2002.

CHICAGO - The Illinois Humanities Council is pleased to announce that they are accepting applications for the Odyssey Project, a free, eight-month program of college-level humanities courses for people living in poverty. Classes will begin in mid-September at the Family Service Center in Springfield. For more information about the Odyssey Project, or to request an application for the program please call Nancy McKinney at (217) 820-6150.

Founded on the theory that engagement with the humanities can offer a way out of poverty, the Odyssey Project, in partnership with the Bard College Clemente Course in the Humanities, offers course participants 110 hours of instruction in four humanistic disciplines. Students explore masterpieces in literature, art history, philosophy, and United States history. Writing instruction is also integral to the coursework. The Bard College Clemente Course in the Humanities (of which the Odyssey Project is a part) is in its sixth year, with 26 sites operating in the 2000-2001 academic year in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The Odyssey Project is in its third year in Chicago, but will be in Springfield for the first time this fall.

"The Illinois Humanities Council is thrilled to bring the Odyssey Project to Springfield," explains Angel Ysaguirre, Director of Programs at the Illinois Humanities Council. "After two years of success in Chicago, we are excited to see the course expand statewide."

Classes meet two evenings a week over a twenty-eight week period at the Family Service Center. Syllabi and reading lists are roughly equivalent to those a student might encounter in a first-year humanities survey course at a first-rate university. Tuition is free; books, childcare, and transportation vouchers are also provided. Bard College grants a certificate of achievement to any student who completes the course and six college credits to those completing it at a high level of performance.

Curriculum
There are five discrete sections: Philosophy, U.S. History, Literature, Art History, and Writing and Critical Thinking. In addition, the course offers tutoring, especially with writing.

Students
Students must be 17 years of age or older. Race and gender are considered irrelevant. The only entrance requirement is the ability to read an English-language newspaper and live below 150 % of the poverty level.

Faculty
Teachers for the Odyssey Project are professors from the University of Illinois-Springfield, Southern Illinois University, MacMurray College, and Millikin University.

Classes
Classes generally last two hours and meet twice weekly. Each section must include 11 two-hour sessions, with the writing section more loosely structured according to the needs of the student.

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