Welcome!

The Holden Center’s Alternative Breaks (AB) program at the University of Oregon enables students to engage communities locally and internationally as they learn experientially about the value of service, leadership and innovation. Each AB experience is crafted to meet the needs of communities and students in a common purpose that fosters cultural competency, collaboration and social change.  These place-based trips rely on community partners that facilitate service learning projects shaped by the unique culture and social issues of trip locations. Student participants,  student “Site Leaders” and staff spend anywhere from one weekend to three weeks on a local, domestic or international trip and use service-learning as a vehicle for community engagement.  Teams engage in pre-trip planning, preparation and fundraising to set them up for success.  During the trip, students participate in daily reflections, leadership lessons,  evening debriefs and topical discussions; a curriculum that promotes self-awareness, global citizenship and leadership through the experiential learning model.  

The AB experience encourages students to critically analyze their cultural assumptions and mindsets through learning about the complexity of people and the influence of diversity.  The learning occurs for students as they are asked to step outside their comfort zones and be willing to engage in difficult conversations, ask questions, examine their beliefs, make mistakes and confront challenging issues.  The AB program values holistic education and creates opportunities that inspire personal growth with focus on sustainable social change.   

Annually, the AB program offers approximately 18-20 trips that take place during the traditional academic break periods (winter, spring, summer and weekends).  New trip ideas are constantly researched and developed and thoughtful proposals from individual students, student groups, faculty/staff and community partners are considered at any time.  The AB program is supported by a partnership between the Family and Human Services (FHS) program and The Holden Center.