If you ever wanted a chance to meet and chat with amazing historical figures like Maya Angelou, Duke Ellington, Walt Whitman, Sojourner Truth, Mahalia Jackson, Walt Whitman, Frida Kahlo, and Frederick Douglass, you will get your opportunity at the UW-Madison Odyssey Project’s 4th annual “Night of the Living Humanities” fundraiser this Thursday, Oct. 25, 5-7 p.m. at The University Club.
“It’s a fun event. It’s not only fun, but it gives everyone a chance to think about how historical figures, musicians, or authors are still with us in some ways,” Emily Auerbach, director of the UW Odyssey Project, tells Madison365. “Last year, we had Socrates walking around … you never know who might just show up.”
At this annual pre-Halloween costume party, Odyssey staff, students, and board members will be dressed up in costumes inspired by the writers, philosophers, artists, and political figures that students learn about in their Odyssey humanities class. There will be a brief program at the event and Odyssey graduates will speak about how the program transformed them.
“You know from hearing our students speak at graduations and in class that there is nothing more compelling to hear from someone who is homeless and now has a master’s degree tell their story,” Auerbach says. “You wouldn’t think that encountering Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson would make a difference, but they will refer back to [Plato’s] “Allegory of the Cave” or something else we read and how it changed their sense of self and began that journey out of generational poverty.”
The Odyssey Project is a rigorous, six-credit humanities course where students discuss great works of literature, American history, philosophy, and art history while developing skills in critical thinking as well as academic, creative, and persuasive writing.
“This is our 16th year, can you believe it?” Auerbach smiles. “We have one adult student in this year’s class who had both a father and a grandmother go through the program. And he was just a kid when his grandmother graduated. She’s just one year away from her master’s degree in social work. It’s that generational affect, to me, that’s what’s most thrilling.”
The Odyssey Project has more than 400 alumni from its 16 years.
“I had one girl who was 8 years old when her grandmother was in the program in ‘06 and she’s now in her third year as a pre-law student at UW-Madison,” Auerbach says. “She’s doing an internship this fall in Washington D.C. at the NAACP. She wants to become a lawyer fighting racial discrimination.”
For the 30 students who participate in the two-semester course, Odyssey provides textbooks, child enrichment, and a weekly dinner, as participants study classic works of literature and achieve their dreams through higher education. Three years ago, Odyssey started Odyssey Junior. While their parents are in class, children and grandchildren of Odyssey students, ages 2-18, participate in one of our three Odyssey Junior classrooms.
“Odyssey Junior expanded what the Odyssey program offers on Wednesday nights to include children and grandchildren of Odyssey students ages 2-18. “These young people are getting enrichment and intensive help in literacy. They’re finding a voice and doing a newsletter. So while the adults are with us in the partnership space earning college credit we have little ones in the Head Start room, we have grades 1-5 in the Space Place and grades 6-12 in the Goodman Library all working on arts enrichment, literacy, self-esteem and sense of self.”
At this Thursday’s 4th annual “Night of the Living Humanities,” it will be an intergenerational affair all in the name of raising money for a very worthy program. The event is open to the public. There will be a raffle with a Shakespeare-themed basket, a Freida Kahlo basket, a Jane Austen basket and a Maya Angelou basket.
It’s not mandatory, but Auerbach encourages community members to come dressed up as their favorite historical or literary character.
“This will be my fourth attempt to have a costume that goes over alright,” Auerbach laughs. “When I was Emily Dickinson, somebody thought I was Princess Leia. When I was Jane Austen, they said the bonnet was more like Martha Washington. This year I’m going as a mythological character so I don’t think anybody can question it since we don’t have a photograph.
“This is Odyssey’s only annual fundraiser, so it’s an important event for us,” she adds. “We are so thankful to the University Club who has offered us the space this year for the fourth year and are donating a significant amount of appetizers. It’s always been a very fun event and a great chance to learn a little more about the Odyssey Project. We’re really looking forward to it.”
The Odyssey Project’s 4th annual “Night of the Living Humanities” fundraiser will be held Thursday, Oct. 25, 5-7 p.m. at The University Club, 803 State St., from 5-7 p.m. Attendees can reserve tickets at odyssey.wisc.edu/nolh or by contacting Auerbach. The minimum per-person donation is $35.
