Projects / University of Texas Brownsville/Texas Southmost College,
Project Title: Expanding Difficult Dialogues in the Border Wall's Shadow PI: Dr. John Cook, Associate Professor. Location: Communication Program, Department of English.
UTB-TSC’s project grapples with the rippling effect of the United States’s controversial decision to build a wall along the US-Mexico border as a way to stem undocumented Mexican immigration into the United States. At this southernmost tip of Texas, the border wall will physically cut across the campus itself. The proximity of the campus to the border, less than a city block way, and the diversity of the University community (predominately Hispanic but with representation of African Americans, whites, and Asian,) both on campus and in the surrounding city of Brownsville, insists upon regular, sustained dialogue about the impact of immigration, the border wall, and diversity on that community. The UTB-TSC Difficult Dialogues project develops sustained conversation about the impact of U.S. Secured Border Initiative and bridges campus and community through several programs. From monthly topics open for student speeches to theater productions to online social network and blogging projects to regular symposia and a senior capstone course in the Communications program, the UTB-TSC project draws students into conversation with the community.