Immersion Program

The Bellarmine Immersion Program reflects an important principle of Jesuit education, “that Jesuit education is world affirming” (Go Forth and Teach, The Characteristics of Jesuit Education). That is, immersion into the culture and daily reality of those living in other countries offers unique learning opportunities to the members of our Bellarmine Community.   It is through our contact with other people, in other cultures, that we can better prepare our students, and members of our community, to be “a new kind of person in a new kind of society” (Go Forth and Teach, The Characteristics of Jesuit Education). Through the immersion experience, a world in which each individual has the opportunity to be fully human and accepts the responsibility of promoting human development in others becomes possible.

The nature of immersion is transformative in that through this experience we can enter into the daily reality of “the other” in a more deeply personal way as to be changed by the experience. In the spirit of Ignatius, the immersion experience provides greater opportunity for this lived experience to be internalized and formalized into action that makes the world more peaceful, more just and more loving.

Bellarmine has several kinds of immersion opportunities. There are solidarity immersion trips, service immersion trips, and cultural/language immersion trips. While any immersion experience provides opportunities to learn about the daily living reality of people in other cultures and to witness different ways to be in the world today, each type of immersion trip has a unique focus and main purpose.

Solidarity immersion trips seek to serve the poor first and foremost. The purpose is to develop in our students an understanding of the daily reality of the poor and the context within which their poverty is rooted. Furthermore, this understanding developed through service to and direct experience with the poor, manifests itself in action to redress the causes of their poverty. Through our direct experience with the poor it is hoped that a relationship develops that calls for a long term response that is based in compassion, concern and genuine caring for those with whom we regularly visit.

Service immersion trips seek to provide service to the poor through specific work and service projects. The service immersion experience raises the questions about many structures that perpetuate the conditions of marginalization and suffering by others, especially the poor. Through our service immersion experiences, whether done locally or abroad, the seeds of concern and compassion are sown in ways that lead to a re-action to what is experienced.

Cultural/language immersion trips focus on the general experience of being in another country.   The cultural immersion experience places the main emphasis on language experience, historical sites and experience and on contemporary issues and concerns. Cultural immersion trips may have a service/experience component in which the group does a service project and or has direct experience with the poor and marginalized in that country.