Borderlands: Immigration, Policy, & the Pursuit of Justice

This winter intensive offers students an immersive, interdisciplinary exploration of the U.S.–Mexico border through a week long learning experience in El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Students will examine the historical and contemporary forces shaping U.S. immigration policy, including the racialized structures that influence enforcement, access, and public perception. Through daily reflection, guided inquiry, and encounters with individuals and families on the move, participants will critically analyze how narratives are constructed, how systems create vulnerability, and how communities like Abara respond with resilience, hospitality, and hope. During our time, students will visit a migrant shelter in Juarez where we will connect with migrants on the move. Students will walk along the border wall and hear from leaders of a nonprofit organization, Abara, serving migrant communities at the border as well as border patrol. Students will visit other historic sites related to migration in El Paso and Juarez. By the end of the course, students will be exposed to a more nuanced, humanizing, and justice centered understanding of immigration and the borderlands.

Academics

Credits: 2

Course: CORE 231