Abstract

This account of learning journeys, taken from interviews with a group of adults graduating from a part-time humanities programme, traces one prominent pattern from first enrolment to graduation, prioritising the importance of ‘time out’. Students who had joined a course out of curiosity found themselves travelling in a land of unexpected pleasures, and revelled in their escape from the everyday world. The article identifies three factors which contributed to this experience: the extended nature of the programme, the humanities-based curriculum and the multidisciplinary structure; and maintains that opportunities for unpredictable learning adventures must be respected and protected