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Emily Auerbach, Professor of English; Director, UW Odyssey Project | Colleen Johnson, Director of Development and Community Partnerships |
Professor Emily Auerbach, along with Colleen Johnson talked about this two-semester program, which gives low-income adults an introduction to the humanities as a life-enriching experience. Many are overcoming the obstacles of single parenthood, homelessness, drug and alcohol addiction, incarceration, depression, and domestic abuse. With its six UW credits, the program opens the door to higher education for people who never thought it possible. With several UW professors and many volunteers, the program handles thirty students at the time, turning them into a mutually-supportive family engaged in a mind-expanding journey through literature, history, philosophy, and the arts. An Odyssey Junior program handles younger people, and an Onward Odyssey program supports alumni. More than 400 individuals have been through the program over its fifteen-year history. The talk closed with a dramatic presentation of parts of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have A Dream speech by Odyssey graduate Tosumba Welch, who’s gone on to win a Best Actor Award from the Bartell Theater. | |
