Explore. Serve. Learn.

Lasell's Shoulder to Shoulder Programs are perfect for students looking to explore the world, serve local communities, and engage in other cultures through service.

Apply to Shoulder to Shoulder Programs

"Shoulder to Shoulder" is a cultural immersion and service-learning program in which Lasell students learn about various social justice issues within a global context.

Students live in the style of their host community while learning and working shoulder to shoulder with local partners.

Each of the credit-bearing travel courses consists of approximately 10 to 12 students and two faculty leaders who engage in academic coursework in addition to spending time on the ground in their chosen destination for 7-14 days. Each project shares the ultimate goal of connecting the local with the global and vice versa. 

Shoulder to Shoulder Program in Ecuador (2025)

After participating in a spring semester course, Lasell University students, staff, and faculty will travel to Ecuador for 10 days in May to participate in environmental service-learning.

Students will learn about Ecuador's biodiversity and sustainable agriculture while working to protect Ecuador's gorgeous environment and serving youth in the local community. Participants should expect group accommodations in hostels, homestays and cabins (with and without electricity), and full days of intensive manual labor and reflective intellectual work.

Preparation for the program happens during the Spring semester as a part of SVL203: Environmental Service in Ecuador.  This course is required for all participants and covers the climate, ecology, history, and culture of Ecuador, in addition to addressing pre-trip travel administrative details and some language study.

Shoulder to Shoulder Program in Antigua (2025)

This spring semester course is paired with an international service-learning trip in the Caribbean island nation of Antigua & Barbuda during the summer break. The course provides an opportunity for students to explore the intersection of culture, disability, and teaching in international settings. The service-learning trip includes a school-based experience of 40 hours spent observing, supporting, and teaching students with and without disabilities in the public schools in Antigua & Barbuda. Course activities will focus on reflective intellectual work about intercultural competence in the classroom through written reflections, readings, class discussion, and curriculum development. 

Application deadline: Applications now being accepted for the Spring 2025 Program

Trip Cost: $1,200

Shoulder to Shoulder Program in Mexico (2024)

The Mexico Shoulder to Shoulder is a 20-year partnership with a farming community and students in the coastal state of Veracruz, Mexico. It incorporates a spring semester course and travel for study and experiential learning in Mexico during the month of May.

Participants partner with a non-profit founded by Lasell students, Niños de Veracruz (NDV), that creates elementary school scholarships and microloans in the beautiful colonial town of Coatepec, the host site. Classroom experience immerses students in the study of the history, diverse peoples, and cultures of Mexico, and combines it with service to Niños de Veracruz - Lasell campus and alumni chapter.

The field experience in Mexico introduces students to the community directors and recipients of Niños De Veracruz. It includes homestays with warm, middle-class Mexican families who have hosted Lasell students for many years, manual labor, and reflective intellectual work.

The experience includes transport, lodging, meals, and a minimum of 50 hours of intensive physical labor, reflective intellectual work, including class sessions, and structured and unstructured encounters with business owners, farm workers, university students, city officials in Coatepec, Mexico.  The goal of community service is not to change Mexico, but to learn from Mexicans about Mexico and about the impact of the United States on our neighbors.

Participants are selected each fall through the Shoulder to Shoulder application process and are required to enroll in the spring course HUM207. Course cost: This can be bundled into financial aid. Cost of passport not included.  Trip Cost: $1,200