The Ballarat Clemente Program: A doorway to the treasures of humanities education. 1 Humanities Education as a Pathway for Rural Women in regional and rural Australia: Clemente Ballarat Ann Gervasoni Australian Catholic University Clemente Course Co-ordinator, Ballarat Ann.Gervasoni@acu.edu.au Jeremy Smith University of Ballarat Clemente Lecturer, Ballarat Jeremy.Smith@ballarat.edu.au Peter Howard Australian Catholic University National Leader, Clemente Australia Peter.Howard@acu.edu.au This paper provides insight into the experience of Clemente education for six regional and rural Australian women living in Ballarat. Each took part in an audio-taped semi-structured interview which explored the impact that university study had on their lives.Their responses suggest that Clemente Ballarat was life-giving.. The student insights identified: the importance of providing a supportive learning environment for people lacking life opportunities and routine; students feeling better and happier with themselves resultant from personal learning achievements; doing something that was about ‘me’; the significance of support from others including Learning Partners and the program’s counsellor; students appreciating their academic and inner strengths; the rekindling of dreams and hope; seeking ways out of poverty for their family; finding friendships and connections; appreciating the academic disciplines; improvements in well-being and mental health; pride in achievements; and apprehension of what the future may hold after completion and graduation. These insights highlighted the treasures that students found when engaged in a humanities education based upon community embedded socially supported structures that enabled them to engage in learning. Further, these insights provide contextual outcomes for the Clemente program which could be implemented across regional and rural Australia for people experiencing multiple disadvantage. Introduction Promoting social justice and connection for all is a necessity for regional and rural communities within Australia which acknowledge the experiences of those who are socially excluded either for brief or prolonged periods of time. Social exclusion occurs when individuals, families and communities: experience low incomes relative to community norms; do not have secure and safe shelter; experience unemployment; cannot access the health, child care and social services needed; receive inadequate schooling; are not connected with friends, families and their community; and experience self-esteem and quality of life well below those of the general Australian community. Education is well established as one domain of social inclusion and its corollary social exclusion (Headey, 2006; Headey & Warren, 2007; Scutella, Wilkins and Kostenko, 2009; Eurostat 2010; ASIB 2010; Scutella & Wilkins, 2010). Thus education may be both a cause for social exclusion and, when education is a fully available option, a means of increasing social justice. This article looks at how a broadly Socratic approach to education – specifically the Clemente Course in Ballarat – can diminish the effects of social exclusion and empower those excluded to participate as democratic citizens with greater autonomy. The focus is the experiences of a group of women in an Australian regional/rural setting where tertiary education is delivered through a partnership between universities, local government and community organisations and enterprises. The authors