In fall 2006, the IPRH launched the inaugural year of the Odyssey Project, a college-level course in the humanities offered at no cost to people in the Champaign-Urbana community living below or slightly above the federal poverty level.  The purpose of the course is to help students reenter the world of higher education and develop the writing and critical thinking skills they need in order to become full and active members of their communities. Funding for the course has been provided by the Illinois Humanities Council, the U of I Office of the Chancellor, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

The nine-month program offers instruction in five discrete disciplines in the humanities: literature, art history, philosophy, U.S. history, and writing and critical thinking, and faculty for the course are drawn from departments at the U of I.  The class enrolls 25 to 30 students, recruited from the Champaign-Urbana community and surrounding areas.  Prospective students must meet the following criteria: they must live at 150% of the poverty level or lower, be 17 years of age or older, be able to read an English-language newspaper, and, in interviews with the project coordinator, demonstrate a desire to complete the course. 

During the pilot year of the Odyssey Project, the following U of I faculty members taught in the course:
Dale Bauer (English Department), English Literature
Rebecca Ginsburg (Department of Landscape Architecture), Art History
Debra Hawhee (English Department and Department of Speech Communication), Philosophy
Mark Leff (Department of History), U.S. History
John Marsh (IPRH and English Department), Writing and Critical Thinking

Details about the faculty for the second year of the course, and additional information about the Odyssey Project, can be found here.