University 101, Victoria

University 101 is a joint initiative by community activists and members of the University of Victoria community to offer a liberal arts education to people traditionally excluded from the university classroom. Building on a model started in New York City and drawing on a very successful program at the University of British Columbia, University 101 will provide a barrier-free course in the humanities to people whose economic and social circumstances normally pose insurmountable obstacles to university education (for example, low income, mental health challenges, poverty and single parenthood, homelessness). Government education programs tend to focus on jobs training and vocational skills, important in their own right. This program starts from the premise that critical thinking and a passion for learning, both important tools of constructive citizenship, are not the prerogative of the privileged. Many people with no access to university classrooms have a love of learning and a desire to develop their powers of critical thought. University 101 will provide people from these marginalized communities with access to the insights of the humanities, and a forum to pursue their desire to learn.