This humanities program was based on the ideas of Earl Shorris, who created the Clemente Course in the Humanities. Shorris believes humanities education helps disadvantaged students move from being reactive to active thinkers and from being powerless and isolated to fully-engaged citizens.This heuristic study examines the lived experience of non-traditional students from a disadvantaged background who completed a rigorous course in the humanities. It seeks to determine the effect this program had on students' identities, social relationships and levels of civic engagement.Participants reported epistemic, sociolinguistic and psychological changes and some increase in civic engagement as a result of their humanities education. However, most participants were active lifelong learners before enrolling in the program; most were also engaged civically. Thus, while humanities education for the poor is valuable, underlying assumptions about the role of education and civic engagement in the lives of the poor should be re-examined.