UW-Madison

The UW-Odyssey Project offers University of Wisconsin-Madison humanities classes for adult students facing economic barriers to college. The majority of students that participate in the Odyssey Course are from racial and ethnic minority groups (~90%) and are often overcoming the obstacles of single parenthood, homelessness, drug and alcohol addiction, incarceration, depression, and domestic abuse. Odyssey students report transformative outcomes, and some have even moved from homelessness to bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Students also say that they read more to their children, feel that they are better parents and advocates for their children in school, have more hope about their own futures, and are more likely to vote and become involved in their communities. While their parents are in class, over 50 children and grandchildren of Odyssey students, ages newborn-18, participate in one of our four Odyssey Junior classrooms. Recognizing that breaking the cycle of generational poverty involves whole families, we piloted Odyssey Junior in 2015 to support children in self-discovery, literacy, and expression through a variety of forms, including writing, speaking, visual arts, music, movement, and theatre.