Read the participants' updates from the Borderlands and follow their experiences throughout the semester at our Border Studies blog.
Resources page is updated with links to recent BSP students' final projects. Books, zines, and cds based on their experience in the borderlands have all been produced by recent participants. Look here to find photos from the current BSP semester and instructions for applying to the program too.
BSP Instructor Katie Sharar recently wrote a piece for NACLA's Border Wars blog on immigration enforcement in Texas' Big Bend region.
Click below to check out our Facebook & Twitter pages and follow what the BSP is currently up to!

Courses

The Roots and Routes of Migration Seminar (4 Credits)

This class addresses the structural and historical roots of migration as well as the most pressing human impacts of this phenomenon. The establishment and enforcement of borders and immigration policy are additional central themes in this course. Students explore a wide variety of alternatives/solutions proposed by distinct sectors of society in Mexico and the United States. An important component of the course is an extended travel seminar (3-4 weeks) to sites in Guatemala and southern Mexico.

Field Study in the Borderlands (4 credits)

Field study placements are central to the student experience in the Border Studies Program. Students complete an average of 10-15 hours per week with an organization or school in Tucson. This component of the program gives students professional and practical experience while also providing an opportunity to be directly involved in the community. Field studies also act as a bridge between academia and community based work aimed at addressing the needs of society.

Identity, Privilege, & Social Change (4 credits)

This course is designed to be a forum to help students process the successes and challenges of working at their field study sites specifically, and their experiences in the program more broadly. Students discuss substantial issues such as privilege, power, identity, and what it means to work for social change and in different cultures, nations, and communities.

Critical Issues in The Borderlands (4 credits)

In this course students engage relevant and pressing social and environmental issues in the broader border region through visits to and discussions with organizations and individuals who engage border realities daily. In addition, multiple angles of addressing the issues that are confronted here are presented to gain a more complex understanding of the region. Sample visits may include an immigration detenion facility and immigrant-rights organizations; a border rancher and the Sierra Club; a permaculture/border justice center; and/or teachers and students in Ethnic Studies classrooms. Students are required to reflect critically and throughtfully; individually and collectively; and orally and through written expression on these visits.

Spanish Language and Borderlands Culture (2 credits)

A course that blends an examination of borderlands culture and the themes touched on in the other program coursework with Spanish language instruction.