Humanities 101

Humanities 101 is a community-based outreach program designed to ensure that community members with a love of learning have access to educational experiences. The program offers free non-credit university-level courses for people living in Edmonton’s downtown and surrounding areas who are passionate about learning and knowledge, especially those whose economic situation, academic experience, financial and social well-being are compromised. Humanities 101 provides non-vocational training that aims to empower students to use critical thinking in everyday life and inspire a passion for lifelong learning.

Partnering with The Learning Centre Literacy Association, Humanities 101 currently offers courses each semester at St. John's Institute (11024-82 Avenue). Past courses include: Native Studies, An Introduction to the Humanities, Stories & Communities, and Education & Society.

Since Spring 2010, Humanities 101 has also run at Wings of Providence shelter for Second Stage Shelters. This initiative brings university-level learning experiences into the unique environment of the women’s shelter, and is specifically designed for women recovering from interpersonal violence. The course focuses on themes of home and community from diverse scholarly perspectives, with student work including guided writing, photography and ‘life books’ projects.

Click on the images to the right to take a look at the collective journals created by the students in the Humanities 101 classes from 2013, 2012, 2011. Also, click here to read Nancy Rempel's article Community Matters: The Beauty of Humanities.