Social Justice Immersions
What are Social Justice Immersions?
Social Justice Immersions are immersive service learning trips that can last from 3 days up to multiple weeks. Students learn about the historical and current context of critical social issues, enter into meaningful dialogue and deep reflection with each other and with community partners, and expand their ability to imagine possibilities for social change. While some immersions offer opportunities for direct service, the focus is on planting seeds of understanding and hope while engaging authentically with communities affected by the social justice issues each immersion is centered on. Trips are located both close to campus and across the country, and are led by student coordinators with the support of Moreau Center staff, and each trip also brings a staff of faculty accompanier. Students who participate in immersions must commit to attending up to four preparatory seminars (depending on the time of year of your trip), fundraising (for Spring and Summer Immersions), and must commit to at least one follow-up engagement after returning from the trip. Social Justice Immersions invite students to engage the Moreau Center for Service and Justice's core core commitments of Community, Social Justice, Solidarity, and Reflection, which are rooted in Catholic Social Teaching. The immersion is more than just the trip itself! It starts with preparation and community building and is bookended with a follow-up group activity after returning to campus.
2024-25 Social Justice Immersion Opportunities
Rural Immersion
The Rural Immersion takes place over Fall Break on the Yakama Indian Reservation in Washington State where we meet farmers, farm workers, community organizers, and tribal members, in order to better understand the landscape of farming in the PNW, the lives of migrant workers, and the relationship of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation to the land.
Housing Justice Immersion
The Housing Justice Immersion is a local "mini-immersion" which allows students to experience issues surrounding the housing crisis, poverty, drug use, mental health, and more, right here in Portland. This immersion occurs during the end of Winter Break prior to the start of the spring semester and is only 2 nights.
Indigenous Justice Immersion
Students travel to the Warm Springs Reservation in Eastern Oregon to learn about the history and current context of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs, focusing on land and water sovereignty and access to health care. The group may also travel to other local Native-run organizations and cultural centers. This trip occurs over Spring Break.
Border Immersion
Students travel to Phoenix and Tucson, AZ to learn about human and environmental rights issues at the U.S./Mexico border through discussions with local activists and organizers, engagement with local art and culture, and visits to the border wall and other key sites. This trip will occur in early Summer 2026.
Civil Rights Immersion
Students will travel to the U.S. South to learn about the history of the Civil Rights Movement as well as current movements for racial justice. Students may visit Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and/or Tennessee. This trip will occur in early Summer 2026.
