UW Odyssey Project

This talk is an overview of the UW Odyssey Project and its two decades of empowering students to change their lives.

Emily Auerbach is a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of English, the Executive Director and co-founder of the life-changing UW Odyssey Project, the chair of the Department of Liberal Arts and Applied Studies in the Division of Continuing Studies, and the co-host of Wisconsin Public Radio’s University of the Air. She is also the author of the book Searching for Jane Austen and Project Director of the “Courage to Write” series of radio programs and written guides about women writers. Emily has won many teaching, programmatic, broadcasting, diversity, and humanitarian awards for her work with nontraditional students in her four decades at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

This talk will cover how the UW-Madison Odyssey Project is a multigenerational life transformative opportunity to help its students reach their full potential through education.

Brian Benford, Social Worker/Success Coach UW-Madison Odyssey Project: Brian is the proud father of five children, including two UW-Madison graduates. Currently, Brian also serves as the Success Coach for the award winning, UW – Madison Odyssey Project, where he helps underserved and at-risk students overcome barriers to achieve their educational goals. He received his Master’s of Social Work from UW Madison in 2020.

Lucas Benford is a lifelong learner who celebrates nature, the arts, history, and good cooking. He finds it difficult to talk about himself as he is the aggregate of all the wonderful people, ideas, fauna, and flora that he’s had the pleasure of meeting, but he is proud of his gentle and curious nature. Lucas lives and works on the eastside of Madison and is enormously blessed to have a fantastic family and wonderful partner. I leave you with this image: a toad in a teacup – may it brighten your day.

Josephine Lorya is originally from South Sudan, then moved to Kenya, and then to the United States. Before she became a U.S. citizen, she enrolled in the UW Odyssey Project, a free jumpstart humanities course for adults facing obstacles. The program changed her life and that of her four children, who attended Odyssey Junior. She now has both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from UW Madison.

Emily Auerbach is a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of English, the Executive Director and co-founder of the life-changing UW Odyssey Project, the chair of the Department of Liberal Arts and Applied Studies in the Division of Continuing Studies, and the co-host of Wisconsin Public Radio’s University of the Air. She is also the author of the book Searching for Jane Austen and Project Director of the “Courage to Write” series of radio programs and written guides about women writers. Emily has won many teaching, programmatic, broadcasting, diversity, and humanitarian awards for her work with nontraditional students in her four decades at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Marisol Gonzalez Rodriguez is a writer, poet, storyteller, Spanish tutor, mother and wife. She immigrated from Mexico City to achieve the American Dream. In 2017, Marisol graduated from the UW Odyssey Project where she found her passion and her purpose. She writes short stories about her life as an immigrant and diverse children’s books. She also is part of the Moth community, telling stories at storytelling events. Marisol has lived in Madison, Wisconsin for almost 20 years. She is currently studying to get her Medical Interpreter Certification and continue taking onward clases with the UW Odyssey project.

This talk will focus on UW-Madison’s Odyssey Beyond Bars, which offers free humanities-based college jumpstart courses to incarcerated learners in Wisconsin’s prisons. Through reading and responding to the works of writers like James Baldwin, George Orwell, Plato, Toni Morrison, and Dr. Martin Luther King, students explore their own thoughts and beliefs while developing more confidence in the power of their voices. In this talk, Peter Moreno (Director of OBB), Kevin Mullen (an OBB instructor), and Robert Taliaferro (an OBB alum) will discuss the desire for access to higher education within the prison system and the impact courses like this can have on incarcerated learners.

Peter Moreno has directed Odyssey Beyond Bars since 2018. Part of the UW Odyssey Project, Odyssey Beyond Bars is a college jumpstart program serving incarcerated learners in four Wisconsin prisons. Prior to joining Odyssey, Peter was a clinical law professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School and the University of Washington School of Law, where he taught criminal law and represented incarcerated clients in wrongful conviction cases. Peter enjoys spending time with students and loves the positivity and hope that Odyssey Beyond Bars brings to the prison classroom.

Kevin Mullen is an Assistant Professor of Continuing Studies and the Director of Adult Education for the UW Odyssey Project. His work focuses on expanding access to higher education for low-income adult students from marginalized communities, especially the role that writing plays in creating a stronger sense of self-efficacy, voice, and community. In addition to the core Odyssey class, he teaches English 100 (Introduction to College Writing) courses for Odyssey alumni and incarcerated students in the Odyssey Beyond Bars program. He also oversees the Odyssey Family Learning Center, where past and present students can come with their children to work on homework with a team of tutors.

Robert Taliaferro is a former intelligence analyst for the US Army Security Agency, a writer and multiple-award-winning journalist and editor, an author, a musician, and an artist. He also spent 38 and a half years in prison and was released in January 2022. Robert was a full-time college student at both the University of Minnesota and Metropolitan State University, but was not permitted to finish his degree while incarcerated. He joined the Odyssey Beyond Bars writing program prior to his release. He received his BA in Individualized Studies in May 2023, graduating with Latin Honors, received the President’s Outstanding Student Award for his College at Metro. State, and gave the commencement address. He is currently on track to receive his MS in Adult Education and Curriculum Development in May 2024. Recently, he founded an LLC that is developing correctional program curriculums, is on the National Convening committee for a conference on Mass Incarceration this Summer, and works with both IL and WI humanities on various projects within their agencies.

UW-Madison’s Odyssey Project offers humanities classes for adult students facing economic barriers to college. The majority of students who participate in Odyssey are from racial and ethnic minority groups, and are often overcoming the obstacles of single parenthood, homelessness, addiction, incarceration, depression, and domestic abuse. Participants say they read more to their children, feel they are better parents, and have more hope about their own future. In this program, we’re exploring how Odyssey has helped students find their voice and be heard. Buzz speaks with Director of UW Odyssey Project Emily Auerbach, and Odyssey Projects alums Keena Atkinson and Corey Saffold about their Odyssey experience.

Explore how the Odyssey Project has helped students celebrate their courage and take control of their lives; with Emily Auerbach, Odyssey Director & Co-Founder, and resilient alumni Hezouwe Walada and Rene Robinson.