Believing in the power of education to break a cycle of generational poverty, Bob chose at the time of Wanda’s death to use her retirement account to start an endowment to benefit Odyssey students. Now he is marking his 90th birthday with a surprisingly generous offer.

Read about Odyssey’s Assistant Director of Development and Community Partnerships, Jenny Pressman, and her decades of social justice work.

Albert Watson had a great deal on his plate, including working and raising a family, when he applied to the University of Wisconsin–Madison Odyssey Project. At the time, it was hard to see past the obstacles in his life. Watson completed the program—including its two-semester, six-credit course exploring English literature, philosophy, and history—in 2008, and he hasn’t looked …

“Often people don’t find a community of other working parents who face similar obstacles and are succeeding,” says Johnson. “We have drop-in tutoring two nights a week, celebrations, picnics, a Facebook group, a clinical social worker, academic counselor and financial advisers. It’s like nurturing a family.”

You can find Frankenstein’s monster at many Halloween parties, but only at Night of the Living Humanities will he mingle with the likes of Socrates, Sojourner Truth, and Susan B. Anthony. On Oct. 25, the Odyssey Project’s annual fundraiser encouraged attendees to dress up as political, artistic, and literary figures who play a part in …

The UW Odyssey Project, an award-winning jump-start program in the humanities for adults overcoming adversity, sponsored a contest for the best short essay convincing non-voters to vote. This article contains excerpts from 15 participants, both current and former students.

“Derrick was someone who didn’t even know his own gifts, but who found his voice and recognized his own power in the course,” Auerbach says. “When people explore works of art, they see themselves and the world in new ways, and their lives change.”

The Odyssey Project helps create an opportunity for people who had given up on or been forced to avoid pursuing higher education.

The greater Madison community is invited to attend the inspiring and memorable graduation ceremony for students of the UW Odyssey Project class of 2018 on May 2 at the Great Hall of Memorial Union that will feature guest speaker Judge Everett Mitchell.

In 2008 Sherri Bester graduated from the Odyssey Project, University of Wisconsin–Madison’s two-semester humanities course for adults facing obstacles to a college education. That achievement inspired her daughter Keziah, who participated in a related program for kids called Odyssey Junior in 2015-16.