The theme of this year’s 5th  Annual International Conference on Border Studies, hosted by the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and the Autonomous University of Tamaulipas, is “Everyday Borders.” The theme encourages a focus on the ways in which individuals, communities, and institutions significantly challenge and resist borders and policies related to borders and migration even as the current world is seeing increasing opposition to migration and immigration. The idea of resilience aims to emphasize the subtle and everyday ways in which people living on borders and crossing borders effectively respond to the impact that borders have on their lives. It highlights that while frontier inhabitants and migrants face conditions of vulnerability, social marginalization, insecurity, discrimination, and exploitation, they not only resist and overcome these obstacles but even come out stronger and more resilient.  

We are excited to see such growing interest in the conference in its fifth year. This year, the conference hosts speakers from 15 countries (US, Mexico, Chile, Peru, the United Kingdom, Demark, The Netherlands, France, Austria, Turkey, India, Indonesia, South Africa, Cameroon and Kuwait) and from over 30 academic institutions. We are especially pleased to have Ather Zia as, keynote speaker, Kathryn Cassidy as plenary speaker and Juan Manuel Mendoza Guerrero as guest speaker.   

The proximity to the border of our locations in Mexico and the US is a special opportunity for scholars and researchers from around the globe to collaborate in a unique geographic region and present multidisciplinary research on the important and timely issues related to borders. The conference aims to encourage working together across borders and developing lasting collaborative relationships to find solutions to some of the most important international economic, social, and ecological problems we face today.  

For any questions, contact Caroline Miles at caroline.miles@utrgv.edu or call (956) 457-3083

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