PLS professor Stephen Fallon teaches a class for guests of South Bend's Center for the Homeless

photo/Matt Cashore

LINKS:
Center for the Homeless

Notre Dame's Program of Liberal Studies

It's not the typical aid given homeless people: a college course discussing the works of Homer, Plato, Augustine, Shakespeare and other of history's greatest thinkers and writers.

But that's what a group of Notre Dame professors has been offering guests of South Bend's Center for the Homeless since fall 1998.

In what is believed to the first enterprise of its kind, guests of the nationally recognized center -- which Notre Dame helped launch and which an ND alum directs -- can take an eight-week Great Books seminar course at Notre Dame free of charge. As many as 20 people at a time have been attending the once-a-week classes. All essentials are provided, including transportation to and from campus, books, tutoring, even childcare for those who require it.

Students are given reading assignments in their two-volume World Masterpieces textbooks, donated by W.W. Norton & Company. Then they meet to discuss the issues raised in the texts. Those who write a paper at the end of the course can earn one college credit.

The idea of using a humanities course to fight poverty originated with author Earl Shorris. In his 1997 book New American Blues: A Journey Through Poverty to Democracy, Shorris argues that learning through reading great books can pave the way to human development and greater political participation by those on the margins of society.

F. Clark Power, director of the Program of Liberal Studies, is teaching the course along with PLS professor Stephen M. Fallon and Alvin Neiman, director of the Arts and Letters Core Course. Power says, "We think this, at very least, excites or renews their interest in learning, reading, discussion. The books are challenging and are sort of time-tested. They raise the really great questions and serious questions."

Although most students so far have not written the paper required to earn the college credit, Power says some have shown a clear aptitude for higher education. "A couple of people are as good as our best [Notre Dame] students."

The experience has been mutually informative, as faculty and a number of Notre Dame students helping with the program have gotten to know people who've led lives very different from their own, often involving addictions. Power says students from the homeless center "have been able to relate their experiences to what we've read, and it gives them a perspective on the texts that the average Notre Dame student or faculty member doesn't have."

Ellen Shore, one of the people taking the class, said the class is worthwhile if it teaches you to open your eyes to issues, "and it's always good to be learning something."  

The program is seeking external funding to allow more guests of the homeless center to take the course and to expand eligibility to other agencies in South Bend.

-- Ed Cohen