Programs & Projects
The Odyssey Project
Staff
- Cris Mayo, Odyssey Faculty Coordinator: cmayo@illinois.edu
- Michael Burns, Graduate Assistant Co-coordinator: burns3@illinois.edu
General program inquiries can be directed to: odysseyproject@illinois.edu
The Odyssey Project completed its fifth year in spring 2011. Since fall 2006, the Odyssey Project has offered a free, college-accredited course in the humanities to members of the Champaign-Urbana community who fall at or near the poverty level. The yearlong course offers students intensive study in philosophy, art history, literature, U.S. history, and critical thinking and writing. Classes are taught by University of Illinois faculty and take place every Tuesday and Thursday from September to May at the Douglass Branch Library in Champaign. Tuition is free, as are books, transportation, and childcare.
The Odyssey Project is made possible by the generous financial and institutional support of the Office of the Chancellor, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the Illinois Humanities Council.
Thirty-five students were accepted for the class that began in fall 2010. Seven students graduated with full credit for the yearlong course, and an additional twelve students graduated with at least half credit. Students who complete the course receive six credits of transferable humanities credit. Several students have continued their education beyond Odyssey at the University of Illinois and Parkland College. Ester Godia, the co-valedictorian of the 2010-11 class, will continue her studies this fall at the University of Denver.
Instructors for 2010-11 were Odyssey Faculty Director Cris Mayo (Educational Policy Studies/Gender and Women’s Studies), philosophy; Cara Finnegan (Communication), art history; Spencer Schaffner (English/Writing Studies), literature; Mark Leff (History), U.S. history; and Odyssey Graduate Student Coordinator Michael Burns (English/Writing Studies), critical thinking and writing.
In summer 2010, using funds from a Community Informatics Initiative Seed Grant, and in partnership with Urbana Adult Education, the Odyssey Project was able to offer a Summer Computer Literacy course for Odyssey alumni and incoming students. Fifteen students participated in the program. The course was conducted in eight sessions over four weeks, and topics ranged from keyboarding to the Microsoft Programs suite. The university’s CITES office generously provided technical support for the course, along with the loan of fifteen computers for use in the classroom. The Summer Computer Literacy Course was held again in summer 2011 at the Douglass Branch Library.
The Odyssey Project maintains a wiki, which can be found online at http://theodysseyprojectcu.wikispaces.com/. The site contains a wide variety of information about the course, including student work and reflections, news articles about Odyssey, an informational video, and application materials.
Teaching Odyssey in 2011-12
Cris Mayo (Educational Policy Studies/Gender and Women’s Studies, and the Faculty Director of Odyssey), philosophy
Spencer Schaffner (English/Writing Studies), literature
Kathryn Oberdeck (History), U.S. history
Jennifer Burns (Art and Design), art history
Michael Burns (Ph.D. candidate in English/Writing Studies, and the Graduate Student Coordinator of Odyssey), critical thinking and writing
