Odyssey Beyond Bars

“Odyssey Beyond Bars has given me an opportunity to examine my experiences; it provokes you to look at things in a different way and gives you the confidence to express yourself.”–Carl Lewis, OBB student

Odyssey Beyond Bars enrolls students in Wisconsin state prisons who are interested in college but not yet enrolled in a degree program. Occasionally, we enroll students who already have some college experience. 

Odyssey Beyond Bars students are admitted to UW-Madison as special students, not degree-seeking students.  We often help our students pursue admission to degree programs at UW-Madison and elsewhere.

In Fall 2021, we are offering English 100 at Oakhill Correctional Institution only.

In Spring 2022, we will offer English 100 at Oakhill and three other prisons–Green Bay Correctional Institution, Racine Correctional Institution, Columbia Correctional Institution. Additionally, we will offer Non-Violence and Social Change at Oakhill.

We do not operate in any county jails or federal prisons.

Milwaukee Area Technical College, Madison College, and Moraine Park Technical College offer associate degree and certificate programs in certain Wisconsin state prisons. Interested students should ask the Education Director in their institution to learn which programs are available to them.

Thanks for your interest in volunteering for Odyssey Beyond Bars. We are not actively recruiting new volunteers at this time. Our recruitment usually takes place in August and January.

If you would like to add your name to our prospective volunteer pool, please fill out this form. We will contact you during our recruitment period and when suitable opportunities arise.

Volunteer tutors are typically affiliated with the UW System (e.g., graduate students, faculty members, emeriti).

Undergraduate volunteers typically contribute to behind-the-scenes classroom assistance and administrative support such as typing, editing, and assisting instructors.

If you have successfully completed at least one Odyssey Beyond Bars course, you are one of our program “alumni” and we encourage you to connect with our Alumni Support Coordinator, Pearly Wong. Pearly can help you pursue additional college courses through UW-Madison and other schools, and some of these courses are free.

Call Pearly at 608-262-3143, email her at obbalumni@dcs.wisc.edu, or send a paper letter to OBB Alumni Support Coordinator, UW Odyssey Project, 2238 S. Park Street, Madison, WI 53713.  Pearly can help you identify the options available to you, even if you’re not sure what you want to do next.  We look forward to hearing from you!

If you are looking for educational opportunities in the Milwaukee area, Marquette University offers free courses for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals. Browse available courses and apply on their website. If you have questions about Marquette’s programming, contact urbancenter@marquette.edu.

Thanks for your interest in teaching for Odyssey Beyond Bars. OBB is not actively recruiting new instructors at this time. If you would like to add your name to our prospective instructor pool, please fill out this form. When opportunities arise, our team will contact you.

To teach for OBB, you must be affiliated with a UW university and have approval from your department to teach the course(s) you propose.