Courses designated Mercy Experience (ME) in the catalog are a key component of Mount Mercy's Core Curriculum. They engage students in an active learning environment, with course themes derived from critical social justice and global concerns of the Sisters of Mercy.

The 2012-13 Portal Courses are:

• Rogues, Rebels and Accidental Discoveries
• Ethnic Iowans
• Immigrants and Literacy
• Avatars of Good and Evil
• Why a Mercy Education?
• Poor Women, Poor Family, Poor Work
• Water - A Shared Responsibility
• Law Ungendered: History of the Legal Status of Women