Santa Clara University

The Justice and the Arts El Salvador Immersion Trip took place during Spring Break 2008 and was the first immersion experience designed for students, staff and faculty of the arts. Through contact with remarkable culture and history of the people of El Salvador, students learned about the ways in which art creates a space for expression and communication, serves as a mode of community building and becomes a catalyst for change. How the artistic process assists in the creation of effective solidarity and what arts relationship is to human development were central questions for the group.

Faculty members Aldo Billingslea (Department of Theatre and Dance) and Renee Billingslea (Department of Art) mentored the students during a planning process throughout winter quarter, accompanied the students on the trip and served as guides for the post-immersion trip reflection. The student artists on the trip developed ways to share the experience of the trip with the SCU community.