Explore the sites that have forever shaped the history of our nation.

For years the Center for Social Concerns has organized and led an immersive spring break journey through the American South to significant sites from the Civil Rights movement as well as other meaningful stops at sites related to racial justice in the US. The experiences have brought together a diverse community of Notre Dame students, faculty, and staff who are interested not only in learning this important history, but who also want to engage in critical dialogue on the implications of this history for our shared work in racial justice today. Now the experience is available to Notre Dame alumni along with students, faculty, and staff.

On this journey you’ll walk in the steps of the foot soldiers of the Selma Voting Rights movement; hear the first-hand stories of those who participated in the march; and walk over the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge. You’ll explore the horrors of historic and modern forms of incarceration at Whitney plantation and Angola Prison. You’ll consider the broad scope of US history at museums across the South, including the National Civil Rights Museum, the Mississippi Civil Rights museum, the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum, and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. These sites have forever shaped the history of our nation and have a lot to teach us about our shared future.

Further details:

• Open to all Notre Dame alumni, current Notre Dame students, faculty, and staff
• Dates: March 9–16, 2024 (tentative)
• Cost: For alumni is $2,250 (plus travel to/from Notre Dame). This covers the entire cost of the trip (minus personal discretionary expenses) and sponsors a current Notre Dame student’s participation in the program.

Contact:

If you are interested in signing up for the trip, or learning more, please contact Suzanne Shanahan at sshanah2@nd.edu.

“I had a visceral reaction to the sculptures,” said Annie Moran, a senior from Chicago. “They made me consider the risks that so many people took to protest — not only the physical cost, but the mental and emotional toll of having to fight for your dignity.”

Read more about experiences Notre Dame students had on a previous trip.