History

Inspiration

Free Minds was created in 2006 as a program of the University of Texas Humanities Institute, in partnership with Austin Community College and Foundation Communities. It is affiliated with the Clemente Course in the Humanities, which originated in New York City under the direction of the late Earl Shorris in 1995 and has now spread to communities across the country. In keeping with the Clemente model, Free Minds seeks to address the divide between the skills-based training usually delivered to people living on low incomes and the studia humanitas, the kind of humanistic education ordinarily reserved for students at elite colleges and universities.

Free Minds bridges that divide by engaging students with important works of literature, philosophy, history, and art, through the intensive, discussion-based seminar experience that is at the heart of a liberal arts education.

 

Strengthening Partnerships

In 2009, Free Minds became a program of the UT Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, maintaining its strong partnerships with ACC and Foundation Communities. After a successful four-year incubation period at the DDCE, Free Minds shifted its administrative home to Foundation Communities. As a part of this innovative affordable housing non-profit, Free Minds maintains a close connection with the community members it serves. Free Minds continues to foster its partnerships with UT Austin and ACC to maintain the academic rigor which is crucial to the program’s mission.

To date, Free Minds has graduated more than 175 students, many of whom have gone on to pursue degrees at local institutions of higher education. The program has expanded its programming in recent years to include ongoing support for program alumni through monthly master classes. In 2011, Free Minds launched a series of community writing workshops, offered for free at organizations serving economically disadvantaged populations.

Free Minds is now in its 13th year of programming.