Introduction to Border Studies

Catalog description

Borders and borderlands define territories and identity while simultaneously calling them into question. Utilizing an interdisciplinary perspective that includes ethnic studies, Chicana/o studies, anthropology, border studies, history, political science and other disciplines, this course explores both physical and conceptual borders and borderlands with an emphasis on first person narratives, generalizing to universal themes of change, globalization, conflict, motivation and movement across borders. Using the US/Mexico borderlands as our foundation, this course explores borders and borderlands through a range of ethnographic, narrative and theoretical works. We will analyze specific borderlands and borderland identities while considering the themes of hybridity, gender, sexuality, marginalization, economics, immigration, labor flows, travel, pollution, environmental change, media, conflict and cooperation.