The Illinois Humanities Council (IHC) will celebrate the graduation of The Odyssey Project‘s class of 2011. 

Professor Antonia Darder will give the keynote address. 

The Odyssey Project is a free, eight-month program of college-level humanities courses for people living in poverty. Students in the class of 2010 took classes from August through April at the Douglass Branch Library in Champaign, Illinois.

Antonia Darder was born in Puerto Rico in 1952 and raised in East Los Angeles. As a young single mother of 3 children on welfare, she began her studies at Pasadena City College in 1972 and later attended Cal State Los Angeles and Pacific Oaks College. She eventually earned a Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University in 1989. She had the honor and privilege of studying and working with renowned Brazilian educator, Paulo Freire. Antonia Darder focuses on comparative studies of structural inequalities as they manifest within a variety of schooling and societal contexts. Her teaching examines cultural issues, racism, and class inequalities within education, with an emphasis on identity, language, and popular culture, as well as the foundations of critical pedagogy, Latino studies, and social justice theory.
For a complete bio, click here.

A reception will follow the ceremony.

This event is by invitation only.
For more information or an invitation, please call Amy Thomas Elder at 312.422.5580.