The ASB experience involves the following components:
- Winter Quarter 1-unit course facilitated by the ASB leaders in consultation with a faculty sponsor
- Spring Break trip experience
- Spring Quarter reflections and reunions
Review the courses and trips highlighted below and consider applying to be part of this Stanford tradition! For additional program information, please visit the FAQ page
Alternative Spring Break Programs 2015 - 2016
California
What does it mean to be “Asian American”? Do “Asian” and “Asian American” mean the same thing? Is the term “Asian American” a paradox?
These questions reveal that the term “Asian American,” while seemingly simple and all-encompassing, often casts Asian Americans as a homogeneous group—rendering...
California
"Beyond the Plate" will take students through the life cycle of their food, from fertilizer production, through growth and harvest, animal feed manufacturing, ranching, meat processing, transportation, consumer markets, food culture, and waste management. Students will gain hands on experience...
East Coast
Over Spring Break students will travel to the East Coast to interact with peers their age in the military, from both the enlisted and officer corps to college students at U.S. military academies. In addition, students will learn from civilians serving in the State Department and the Pentagon....
San Francisco Bay Area
The HIV epidemic is far from over: 37 million people currently live with HIV/AIDS across the world, with an additional 5,600 people contracting HIV each day. However, HIV disproportionately affects some populations more than others. For instance, over 20% of gay and bisexual men in San Francisco...
Bay Area (summer exchange Japan opportunity)
Design-thinking has taken Stanford and the global innovation community by storm. Social innovators and educators in both the US and Japan are asking whether design-thinking has the potential to make real impact. This spring break we will be using design-thinking to contribute to social change...
Bay Area
How can Palo Alto and East Palo Alto exist so close geographically, yet so far socioeconomically? What are the ethical obligations for policymakers, tech start ups, grassroots organizations, and everyday citizens? This one-unit course and accompanying Alternative Spring Break trip present an...
California
After spending winter quarter exploring and discussing issues relevant to Filipino communities here and abroad, we will take a spring break trip through northern and southern California visiting historical sites important to Filipino-American history, as well as engaging with organizations that...
Washington D.C.
The recent antiimmigrant rhetoric espoused by some powerful players in the political arena has brought to light a sentiment that has been present throughout American history. Nativism has caused immigrant communities to feel threatened, and rightfully so, as policies that target specific immigrant...
Washington D.C.
America is often thought of as the archetypal democracy. While most democracies have surprisingly short lifespans, America has persisted for 238 years. In the 21st century, however, we have grounds to question the quality of our democracy. Turnout of the Voting Age Population hovers around 50...
Lakota Nation, SD
The Rosebud Indian reservation faces staggering challenges: fewer than 20% of students graduate high school, unemployment is over 80%, and life expectancy rates are among the lowest anywhere in the US, despite having universal health care. As usual, however, statistics tell only part of the story...
Bay Area
Innovators in the intersection of education and technology promise radical improvements in the way we teach and learn, and their products are surfacing in schools around the nation. At the same time, voices of concern abound. On one hand, how might education technology (even when “free”) accentuate...
California Bay Area
Over the course of our 7-day spring break trip, the class will engage in conversations surrounding the topics covered in the course such as poverty, income, and gentrification. We will be speaking with non-profit organizations that have a presence in the Bay Area focusing on more narrow topics such...
California
Teaching kids about nutrition, learning to cook on a budget, volunteering at food banks and school gardens, touring startups and cafeterias, getting to really know a group of passionate individuals, jamming out to music in the car, building a close-knit community, reevaluating your beliefs: these...
The Central Valley and Northern California
In central California, hundreds of thousands of farmworkers stoop over rows of vegetables, harvesting the fresh produce that supplies our grocery markets. Most are migrant workers, laboring under backbreaking conditions for low wages, with minimal political and legal protection due to their...
Bay Area
Throughout history and across various social movements, the arts have been a powerful tool for the expression of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, political beliefs, faith and all the many facets that form a person's identity. Particularly for youth, and even more so for youth of minority...
