Monday - Friday 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Mary Graydon Center, Room 273 on a map
Center for Community Engagement and Service 4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington, DC 20016 United States
For questions please contact altbreak@american.edu
Fill out our Alt Break Interest Form to receive email updates
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The Winter and Spring 2022-23 Alternative Break application deadlines for student participants have passed. To learn more about how to propose an Alternative Break program as a student leader during the Fall 2023 or the Winter/Spring of 2024, please scroll down.
The Alternative Break Program is a student-focused initiative that organizes international and domestic immersive learning opportunities with a social justice perspective during Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer breaks. We depend on strong student leaders to envision justice topics that they would like to illustrate and highlight for the campus community, and they are empowered to propose, develop, and implement travel programming with service-learning rooted in solidarity and justice.
Through deliberative and reflective dialogues, direct service, and meaningful education on critical global and domestic social issues, student participants will exchange, evaluate, and take action towards different ideas and approaches that challenge specific social, political, and economic structures. Direct service with community partners will demonstrate how students can turn their learning into action and activism that is community-centered, ethical, and sustainable. Participants will be prepared to engage with the community through pre-departure trainings, discussions, guest speakers, service, and other activities.
Alternative Break Programs are service-learning experiences designed to heighten participants' awareness of critical social issues, enhance their individual growth, and prepare them for lifelong social action.
If you are interested in applying to lead an Alternative Break program, the applications to lead a Fall 2023 or a Winter or Spring 2024 program will open in March of 2023.
Interested in applying to lead an Alternative Break program? The applications to lead a Fall 2023 or a Winter/Spring 2024 program will open in March of 2023.
Fill out our Alt Break Interest Form to receive email updates.
Email us for more information!
Program costs include group airfare, food, lodging, and all activities, including cultural visits. Not included are visa and immunization costs.
Alternative Break Travel Grants are available. Students can apply for these limited travel grants at the time of application to the program, as part of the same program application form.
More questions? Check out our FAQ page below.
Examine xenophobia in South Africa, a little-discussed but very pertinent national issue, and explore the intersections with historical apartheid and racism.
Examine the history of period poverty and stigma, abortion rights, contraception methods, and join current efforts to promote sexual health and reproductive rights in Texas.
Examine youth empowerment, community-led advocacy, access to clean water, environmental conservation, and climate justice.
Examine how universities are the hub for social movements in places like the University of Accra and connect with students looking to pursue higher education in the United States.