Seminar in Border Politics 5343/Dr. Kathleen (Kathy) Staudt
915 747 7975/kstaudt@utep.edu Benedict Hall 303; Office Hours: MW 1:30-3, W 4:30-5:30; S 8-9 am
This seminar will introduce students to borders from a comparative and international perspective,
focusing on the U.S.-Mexico Border. We examine multiple borders, land and maritime, multiple parts of
the US-Mexico borderlands, governance and democracy along with comparative politics concepts plus
concepts in border studies such as bordering/debordering, hybridized/polarized borders, and hard
versus soft borders. Students should be aware of contemporary international and border politics. (I
read LOTS, plus have a subscription to one of the best sources on global news, The Economist.)
Outcomes
*Knowledge about land and sea borders worldwide with a focus on the U.S.-Mexico border
*Capacity to evaluate and propose changes in public policies that impinge upon borders
*Application of border concepts and research tools, culminating in a paper and presentation
Books
Reece Jones, Border Walls: Security and the War on Terror in the United States, India, and Israel (Zed 2012)
Tony Payan, Three U.S.-Mexico Border Wars (also e-book) 2006 (Praeger Security International) (Library Reserve)
Suggested (not ordered for the bookstore; available as e-book and/or very cheaply, used, online):
Kathleen Staudt & Irasema Coronado, Fronteras no Más: Toward Social Justice at the Border, 2002
Joan Anderson and Gerber, Fifty Years of Change at the U.S.-Mexico Border (available free on UTEP Library website
as electronic book; also on library reserve for LABS 5301)
Selections from Social Science Research Council (free on line): www.borderbattles.ssrc.org (BB)
Evaluative Criteria
*One research paper (focusing on borders), ~20 pages (5,000 words): 30% of the grade
*Two exams, short-answer and essay questions, each worth 15% of the grade
*Two short papers: 10% each
*Seminar participation: 20%. For each class, send 3 points by Tuesday, noon to kstaudt@utep.edu, and be
prepared to discuss in the seminar. Attendance is required. If more than two classes are missed, the overall
assessment will be reduced by one alphabetic grade. An ungraded map quiz must be passed. Begin keeping a
journal in which you pose observations, insights, and relevant items for contemporary media relevant to paper #2.
Academic dishonesty is prohibited and is considered a violation of the UTEP Handbook of Operating Procedures. It includes, but
is not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, and collusion. Cheating may involve copying from or providing information to another
student, possessing unauthorized materials during a test, or falsifying research data on laboratory reports. Plagiarism occurs
when someone intentionally or knowingly represents the words or ideas of another person's as one’s own. And collusion
involves collaborating with another person to commit any academically dishonest act. Any act of academic dishonesty
attempted by a UTEP student is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Violations will be taken seriously and will be referred to
the Dean of Students Office for possible disciplinary action. Students may be suspended or expelled from UTEP for such actions.
Students with Disabilities: In Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) of 1990, if a student needs an accommodation then the Office of Disabled Student Services located at UTEP need to be
contacted. If you have a condition, which may affect your ability to perform successfully in this course, you are encouraged to
discuss this in confidence with the instructor and/or the director of the Disabled Student Services. You may call 915.747.5148
for general information about the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the rights that you have as a UTEP student with a
disability. You also can visit the DSSO website at www.utep.edu/dsso or the DSSO office in Room 108 East Union Building.
Individuals with disabilities have the right to equal access and opportunity. It is the student's responsibility to contact the
instructor and The Disabled Student Services Office at The University of Texas at El Paso.
Schedule/Reading Requirements
January 23
Introduction/Comparative Borders and Political Geography
PBS on Syria-Turkey borders and on KS-MO border wars:
Maps!
January 30
Historical and Conceptual Perspectives
Map Quiz (Identify 60 countries correctly on a blank map)
Documentary, Los Braceros (shown in class)
Mae Ngai, “How Grandma got Legal” in BB
Payan, Foreword, Preface, and Ch 1
Oscar Martínez, excerpts from Border People 1994 on 4-point typology of borders (pdf)
February 6
Border Theory; Research Methods at Borders (Start your journal!)
Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly, “Theorizing Borders: An Interdisciplinary Perspective,”
Geopolitics 10, 2005 (UTEP Library e-journal)
David Newman, “The Lines that Continue to Separate Us: Borders in our Borderless
World” Progress in Human Geography 30, April 2006 (e-journal)
Jones, Introduction and Ch 1
February 13
Nations, Nationalism and Imagined Communities
Benedict Anderson, “Censuses, Maps, Museums” from Imagined Communities (pdf)
Jones, Ch 2
1st SHORT PAPER: After studying the world maps for its hundreds of borders, identify three of
interest. In Oscar Martínez’s terms, would the borderlands be characterized as “alienated, coexistent,
interdependent, and/or integrated?” Also identify at least six quantitative indicators of ‘difference’ using nationstate data from the annual yearbooks of the World Bank or the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Human Development Report. (Comment on the shortcomings of data bases using national units of analysis for the
study of regions at borders.) What research questions might be posed about these borderlands? (~1,000 words)
February 20
Cultures: Transnational elites, grassroots activists, popular culture (film)
Josiah Heyman, “Culture Theory and the US-Mexico Border.” In A Companion to Border
Studies, ed. Thomas M. Wilson and Hastings Donnan (London: Blackwell, 2012), Library e-book
Staudt, The Border Performed… (for the Journal of Borderlands Studies), to be sent
Staudt and Rosalba Robles, “Violence Against Women at the Border: Binational
Problems and Multilayered Solutions,” in Social Justice in the US-Mexico Border Region, 2012 (pdf)
Jones, Ch 3-4
February 27
Cross-border Governance: Border Security and/or Human Security?
Jones, Ch 5-7
Payan, Ch 4
Anderson & Gerber, Ch 7, “Income, Equity and Poverty,” Ch 8 “Living Standards” and Ch
9, “Human Development….”
March 6
Cross-Border Trade/Economies and ‘free trade:’ Legal, Illegal (Drugs and Guns)
Anderson and Gerber, Ch 4, “Trade, Investment and Manufacturing” and Ch 6, “Formal
and Informal Labor”
Payan Ch 2
Prohibition in the Borderland: http://texaspbs.texas-programming/prohibition-in-theborderland/ and Baker Institute Viewpoint video
Should NAFTA be renegotiated? http://www.fas.usda.gov/itp/policy/nafta/nafta.asp
(read 3 of the recent links) AND read http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/07/us/twenty-years-laternafta-remains-a-source-of-tension.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0
On maritime borders, Akihiro Iwashita, “An Invitation to Japan’s Borderlands: At the
Geopolitical Edge of the Eurasian Continent,” and Yukiko Kuroiwa, “Northern Challenges: The JapanRussian Border Dispute and Local Voices,” in Journal of Borderlands Studies, 26, 3 2011 (e-journal).
March 13
Cross-Border Governance: Civil Society/ies
Liam O’Dowd and Bohdana Dimitrovova, “Promoting Civil Society Across the Borders of
the EU Neighbourhood: Debates, Constraints and Opportunities,” Geopolitics 16, 2011
Staudt & Coronado, Ch 1-3 (be prepared to write a SHORT PAPER update, post 9/11)
MIDTERM
Happy Spring Break! March 28-23
March 27
Public Policies: Spanning borderlines?
Romo & Burnett, from Ringside Seat
Trailer, Contagion
Nuria Homedes, “Achieving Health Equity and Social Justice in the U.S.-Mexico Border
Region” and Sara Grineski and Patricia Juárez-Carrillo, “Environmental Injustice in the US-Mexico Border
Region,” in Lusk et al. Social Justice in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region.
Research proposal DUE, w/question(s), brief review of literature, and method(s),
presented in class (3 pages). No separate grade, but may be pasted into your final paper.
April 3
Cross-Border Movement: Immigration, authorized or not, English-Language Learners
Payan, Ch 3
Wayne Cornelius, “Impacts of Border Enforcement on Unauthorized Mexican Migration
to the United States,” in BB.
Pauline Dow and Kathleen Staudt, “Education Policies: Standardized Testing, EnglishLanguage Learners, and Border Futures.” In Social Justice in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region, 2012 (pdf to
be sent)
Citizenship test: http://usgovinfo.about.com/blinstst.htm Could you pass?
Cato Journal thematic issue, “Is Immigration Good for America?” 32, 1 (Winter 2012)
free on line at www.cato.org
Lost in Detention documentary (shown in class)
April 10
Draft paper due: send to 3 peers (No class)
April 17
Binational Problems: Toward Binational Solutions?
Eva Moya et al., “Border Health, Inequities, Social Determinants, and the Case of TB and
HIV,” in Social Justice in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region, 2012, Lusk et al. (pdf to be sent)
2nd SHORT PAPER DUE: Update a part Fronteras no Más, using at least 6 sources from
the syllabus, 6 independent/credible academic/official sources, and 6 from your journal of
media, observations, conversations, etc., focusing on a policy area (environment, labor or
business, and human rights). (1,000 words)
April 24
Closure
Jones, Ch 8
Payan, Ch 5, “The Panopticon Border”
Rey Koslowski, “Immigration Reforms and Border Security Technologies”
May 1
COURSE RESEARCH PAPERS DUE, PRESENTATIONS BEGIN
May 8
PRESENTATIONS CONTINUE
NOTE: Syllabus may change at the discretion of the instructor
Border Journals: Antipode, Citizenship Studies, Environment and Planning D, Eurasian Review,
Geopolitics, International Migration Review, Journal of Borderlands Studies, Progress in Human
Geography
Border Compendiums, with 30+ state of the literature reviews: Ashgate and Blackwell (2011, 2012
respectively)