Santa Clara University

The heart of the Casa program lies in the opportunity to accompany people within the local community. Based on your academic and personal interests you are paired up with fellow classmates and assigned a praxis site, which is a local marginal or poor community. For two days a week during the entire semester, this accompaniment and immersion with people in need gives you the chance to develop genuine relationships with the poor.These interactions facilitate and deepen your learning about the reality of their lives.This experiential learning is then intentionally integrated with traditional classroom-based academic study.

Praxis Sites

Part of your Casa experience will include field placement or what we refer to as a praxis site. Praxis, a term originating from the Greek, is the process by which a concept, lesson, or skill is practiced or enacted. In the praxis site, you will be placed within a small community where you will accompany and develop unique relationships with the local people. Learning amidst the gritty reality of these poor communities will be one of the most important aspects of your immersion experience.

"Personal involvement with innocent suffering, with the injustice others suffer, is the catalyst for solidarity, which then gives rise to intellectual inquiry and moral reflection." Peter-Hans Kolvenbach S. J., Former Superior General of the Society of Jesus