6th Annual International Conference on Border Studies - Transborderism: Imagining Social Space: November 8th - November 10th
- Home & Pre-Registration
- Sessions, Bios, & Abstracts
- Conference Program and Conference Posters
- Keynote, Plenary, and Guest Speakers
- Previous Border Studies Conferences
The theme of the Sixth Annual International Conference on Border Studies is “Transborderism: Reimagining Social Space.” We solicit proposals that contribute to the new and critical thinking on global borders and that further the growing field of transborderism, focusing on both actual borders and/or their relation to the social imaginary. With this conference theme, we seek to offer a critical exchange concerning borders and border theory that, according to Norma Iglesias-Prieto, “refers to the frequency, intensity, directionality, and scale of crossing activities ... associated with greater cultural capacity and richness, increased complexity in the ways people perceive the border, as well as richer concepts of self-identity.” We aim to examine the complexities of transborder space and the citizens and identities that occupy that space and explore what Iglesias-Prieto calls the diversity and dynamics of the border zone. We invite papers from researchers, teachers, and activists that focus on transborderism, the border, border identities, and the social imaginary as a site of cultural, political, and legal contestation.
We are excited to see such growing interest in the conference. Last year, the conference hosted 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 Nicolas De Genova as our keynote speaker this year.
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.
The organizers welcome proposals from all disciplines. Those proposals with interdisciplinary, critical, and global approaches are especially welcome. Panels are also encouraged.
For any questions, contact Caroline Miles at caroline.miles@utrgv.edu or call (956) 457-3083
Students attending this conference also have the opportunity to: Request Support
View the Call for Proposals below:
Please submit your proposals below:
Pre-Registration (For Presenters only)
Portal for Pre-Registration
The portal to pay pre-registration fees online can be accessed by clicking here.
For help navigating through the pay portal please review the First-Time User Guide.
Panel Sessions & Roundtable Discussions
Title: To be announced.
Bios: To be announced.
Abstract: To be announced.
Click below or (Here) to view the 2021 Border Studies Conference Program
The Fifth Annual International Border Studies Conference Program
Click below or (Here) to view Conference Posters
Conference Posters
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Conference Keynote Speaker: Nicholas de Genova, Ph.D.
- Nicholas De Genova www.nicholasdegenova.com is Professor and
Chair of the Department of Comparative Cultural Studies at the
University of Houston. He previously held teaching appointments
in urban and political geography at King’s College London, and in
anthropology at Stanford, Columbia, and Goldsmiths, and
University of London, as well as visiting professorships or research
positions at the Universities of Warwick, Bern, and Amsterdam. He
is the author of Working the Boundaries: Race, Space, and
"Illegality" in Mexican Chicago (2005), co-author of Latino
Crossings: Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and the Politics of Race and
Citizenship (2003), editor of Racial Transformations: Latinos and
Asians Remaking the United States (2006), co-editor of The
Deportation Regime: Sovereignty, Space, and the Freedom of
Movement (2010), editor of The Borders of “Europe”: Autonomy of
Migration, Tactics of Bordering (2017), co-editor of Roma Migrants
in the European Union: Un/Free Mobility (2019), and co-editor of
Europa/ Crisis: Nuevas Palabras Claves en “la Crisis” en y de
“Europa” (2021). - Professor De Genova’s work has received international attention
and he has been invited to speak in more than 35 countries. He has
conducted extensive ethnographic research among transnational
Mexican/ migrant factory workers in Chicago during the 1990s.
More recently, his research has investigated the politics of
immigration, race, and citizenship in the United States, as well as
the securitization of human mobility and the diverse experiences of
migrant labor and borders on a global scale. He is also interested in
the intersections of migration, racialization, border struggles, and
the production of urban space in the European context. - In collaboration with Sandro Mezzadra, political theorist at the
University of Bologna, Professor De Genova has also initiated a
multi-disciplinary research network on “The ‘European’ Question:
Postcolonial Perspectives on Migration, Nation, and Race.” More
recently, he has served as Project Advisor and a participant in a new
collaborative international network involving more than 70
researchersin 24 countries.
Previous Border Studies Conference
Border Studies Conferences:
Border Studies 2020
- Postponed due to pandemic
Border Studies 2019
Border Studies 2018