Current Domestic Intercultural Immersion Programs
Explore the rich cultural diversity within our own country
Faculty and staff at UW-Eau Claire plan domestic intercultural immersion trips for all Blugolds that take place throughout the entire United States, including Hawai'i and Puerto Rico. Check out this year's Domestic Immersions below!
2024-2025 Domestic Immersion Programs
These Domestic Intercultural Immersion (DII) programs are cultural adventures in the truest sense--even without leaving the United States. Students who have participated in the past have regularly noted how their experiences were surprising and eye-opening as they embraced the opportunity to see and gain greater understanding of the lived experience of people from a variety of cultural perspectives.
Remember, you don't have to leave the United States to engage in a transformative immersion experience!
Program Location: West Central Wisconsin
Program Dates: Fall Semester 2024; Spring Semester 2025
Frequency: Program runs each fall and spring semester.
Target Student Population: Program is limited to 6-8 students each semester. Senior nursing students with some Spanish language proficiency will be given preference.
Faculty / Staff Leader(s): Dr. Lisa Schiller and Dr. Ben Bogle
Corresponding Course: NRSG 428 Nursing Leadership I (3 credits)
Cost of Participation: No fees are expected, except for lunch during the 5-day immersion
Additional Attributes: R1, I1, S3; 30 Hours of Service-Learning
Abstract: This immersion provides screenings, immunizations, and education to mostly Latino farm workers at large dairy farms. Students integrate knowledge of agricultural health and safety and understanding of rural and Latino culture into their nursing practice, by providing on-site education and basic health screening. The program includes preparation in collaboration with partners, culturally sensitive services to farm works, and debriefing sessions upon completion of the experience.
APPLICATIONS FOR SPRING 2025 NOT YET AVAILABLE
Program Location: Georgia (Atlanta), Alabama (Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Montgomery, Selma), Louisiana (New Orleans), Mississippi (Jackson), Arkansas (Little Rock), Tennessee (Memphis)
Program Dates: January 5-15, 2025 (Tentatively)
Frequency: Program runs every year.
Target Student Population: Limited to 25 students, targeting first-year students
Faculty / Staff Leader(s): Jodi Thesing-Ritter
Corresponding Course: Women's, Gender and Sexuality studies course (WGSS 422): Women of the Civil Rights Movement (3 credits during fall semester)
Cost of Participation: No program fees, but estimated $280 in meals.
Additional Attributes: R1; 30 Hours of Service-Learning
Abstract: Through the fall course, students will learn a shared vocabulary for understanding complex systems of racism, the history of enslavement, reconstruction, the Jim Crow era, methods of organizing during the Civil Rights Movement, and key roles that women played. Students will then travel for 10 days to the sites of historical significance, where they will meet with leaders to hear first-person accounts. Cities include: Atlanta, Georgia; Birmingham, Montgomery, Tuskegee, Selma, and Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Money and Jackson, Mississippi; Saint Louis, Missouri and Memphis, Tennessee. Students will engage in various activities, discussions, and reflections to make critical connections.
Program Location: Puerto Rico, USA
Program Dates: January 3, 2025 to January 12, 2025 (Tentatively)
Frequency: Program runs every year.
Target Student Population: Experience is limited to 12 students
Faculty / Staff Leader(s): Katy Rand
Corresponding Course: None
Cost of Participation: $350 program fee
Additional Attributes: R1; 30 Hours of Service-Learning
Abstract: Discovering Difference through Service in Puerto Rico is an opportunity for students to explore cultural, political, environmental, and societal differences through volunteerism. Students will be able to connect with community members of this US territory through hands‐on work, intentional conversations, and educational opportunities. Exposure to these components will allow students to critically think about their individual identities and privilege.
Program Location: Georgia (Atlanta), Alabama (Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Montgomery, Selma), Louisiana (New Orleans), Mississippi (Jackson), Arkansas (Little Rock), Tennessee (Memphis)
Program Dates: March 15 - 24, 2025 (tentative)
Frequency: Program runs every year.
Target Student Population: Limited to 25 students, targeting first-year students
Faculty / Staff Leader(s): Jodi Thesing-Ritter and Laken Jones
Corresponding Course: Women's, Gender and Sexuality studies course (WGSS 422): Women of the Civil Rights Movement (3 credits during fall semester)
Cost of Participation: No program fees, but estimated $280 in meals.
Additional Attributes: R1, 30 Hours of Service-Learning
Abstract: Through the fall course, students will learn a shared vocabulary for understanding complex systems of racism, the history of enslavement, reconstruction, the Jim Crow era, methods of organizing during the Civil Rights Movement, and key roles that women played. Students will then travel for 10 days to the sites of historical significance, where they will meet with leaders to hear first-person accounts. Cities include: Atlanta, Georgia; Birmingham, Montgomery, Tuskegee, Selma, and Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Money and Jackson, Mississippi; Saint Louis, Missouri and Memphis, Tennessee. Students will engage in various activities, discussions, and reflections to make critical connections.
Apply Now!
Program Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Program Dates: March 15 -22, 2025 (tentative)
Frequency: Program runs every year.
Target Student Population: Experience is limited to 20 students
Faculty / Staff Leader(s): Katy Rand
Corresponding Course: None
Cost of Participation: $285 program fee
Additional Attributes: R1; 30 Hours of Service-Learning
Abstract: Student participants of the Alternative Spring Break trip can expect to learn about the issues of homelessness, poverty, and food security in the Indianapolis area, as well as, how it ties back to the Eau Claire community. Additionally, they can expect to interact with individuals different from themselves, engage in meaningful nightly reflections and articulate their experiences, work collaboratively as a team, understand servant leadership and its core principles, and develop a plan for after the trip to incorporate and apply what they have learned. Students will use critical and analytical skills to understand their responsibility to the community we serve while evaluating and challenging the existing structures in ways that respect equity and diversity (R1). Through hands‐on service with various populations, students will be able to identify and explain how gender, class, race, socio‐economic status, etc. inform the perspectives of the complex issues we are examining.
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Program Location: New York City, New York
Program Dates: March 15 - 22, 2025 (tentative)
Frequency: Program runs every year.
Target Student Population: This program is limited to 12 undergraduate composition, voice performance, applied instruments and BA BME, and theatre students with a focus on voice performance.
Faculty / Staff Leader(s): Kenneth Pereira and Arthur Grothe
Corresponding Course: MUSI 387: Travel Opportunities in Performing Arts (1 credit during spring semester; meets T-Th from 5:00-6:00pm)
Cost of Participation: $40 application fee + $165 special course fee + estimated $250 in meals
Additional Attributes: R1
Abstract: UWEC music and theatre students will be engaged in the study of composition, voice performance, applied instruments, and theatre during one week in the major metropolitan area of New York City. Students will live, perform, study, attend performances, conduct interviews, and interact daily with artists and people from a wide variety of backgrounds and perspectives. Students will also collaborate, interact, and share music with students from the Brooklyn High School for the Arts and York College.
APPLICATION UPDATE: We have now received 23 applications for this program. We are no longer accepting applications.
Program Location: New York City, New York
Program Dates: March 15 - 22, 2025
Frequency: Program runs every year.
Target Student Population: This program is limited to 13 undergraduate Art & Design students.
Faculty / Staff Leader(s): Jill Olm and Ned Gannon
Corresponding Course: N/A
Cost of Participation: $200 special course fee + estimated $320 in meals
Additional Attributes: R1
Abstract: UWEC Art & Design will engage with experiences unobtainable in the classroom and opportunities to expand student thinking on diversity of race, gender, economic, and cultural/historical status. Through studio visits with artist such as Jordan Casteel, George Boorujy, or Janaina Tschape, students will interact on an intimate level with international and domestic artists that represent progressive thinking on issues such as black male identity, the ecology of wildlife in a shrinking environment, and the nature and importance of abstract thinking in contemporary society.
APPLICATION UPDATE: We have now received 20 applications for this program out of which 13 students and 7 alternates will be chosen to participate. We are no longer accepting applications for this program.
Program Location: Los Angeles, California
Program Dates: June 24, 2025 - June 29, 2025
Frequency: Program runs every year.
Target Student Population: Limited to 10 students
Faculty / Staff Leader(s): Catherine Emmanuelle and Amber Dernbach
Corresponding Course: N/A
Cost of Participation: $250 program fee, plus estimated $400 in meals
Additional Attributes: R1
Additional Note: Community building and engagement are essential to restorative justice work. In your statement of interest on the application, please also reflect on your commitment to establishing and maintaining community connections and building relationships. The commitment can be based upon previous experience and/or future goals. A community is a group of people who share something in common, such as faith, neighborhood, dorm, workplace, school, etc. Priority will be given to applicants who articulate their commitment to community building.
Abstract: Through studying activism, resilience, and social justice movements, "Keep Ya Head Up" will help students to explore the racial tensions and injustices that surfaced in Los Angeles in the early 1990s to today. In depth exploration of archival records, conversations with community leaders, and training with The Groundlings' improvisational theater, will prepare students to honor voices of the unheard, gain greater understanding of marginalized groups, and build skills for self and community resilience.
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Program Location: San Francisco, California
Program Dates: 6/15/25 to 6/28/25 (tentative)
Frequency: Program runs every year.
Target Student Population: Program is limited to 10 students; all students are welcome to apply
Faculty / Staff Leader(s): Chris Jorgenson, Morrigan Villa, and Kallie Adell Friede
Corresponding Course: None
Cost of Participation: None
Additional Attributes: R1
Abstract: Q-Fest is an ongoing program at UW‐Eau Claire built upon the strong foundations of what used to be the Eau Queer Film Festival. The Gender & Sexuality Resource Center will bring 10 students and 3 faculty / staff to San Francisco to attend the Frameline Film Festival (the world's oldest and largest LGBTQ+ film festival). Over a two week period, the Q-Fest cohort members will each screen a minimum of 25 films, with the ultimate goal of choosing which films to bring back to UW‐Eau Claire. All films will examine the lived experiences of marginalized people across race, sexuality, gender, dis/ability, class, etc. The film festival will anchor Q-Fest, which will also include a concert featuring queer artists, a half‐day admissions visit for prospective LGBTQ+ students and their parents / guardians, and a National Coming Out Day celebration. Q-Fest will partner with numerous campus and community partners, and all efforts will be led by the Q-Fest student participants.
Program Location: Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico
Program Dates: June 1 - 13, 2025
Frequency: Program runs every year.
Target Student Population: Program is limited to 12 students; preference to students in the Honors Program, but all students are welcome to apply!
Faculty / Staff Leader(s): Heather Fielding and Greg Kocken
Corresponding Course: None
Cost of Participation: $225 special course fees (includes meals) + $390 (food) and $100 (personal expenses)
Additional Attributes: R1; 15 hours of service-learning credit
Abstract: This Immersion program engages students with the history of American Indian experience throughout the presence and influence of non-indigenous people in the art world of early twentieth-century New Mexico. We’ll focus in particular on the Santa Fe Indian School (now the Institute of American Indian Arts), which played a unique role in the history of the struggle for American Indian rights and was and continues to be a major site for art education and art production. We’ll also examine the work of non-Native American and European writers and artists who came to Taos in this period, seeking inspiration and renewal in American Indian cultures. While these modernist artists learned from and promoted indigenous art, they also profited from appropriating American Indian culture.