OVERVIEW

Boundaries and Borderlands - Mexico and the United States

This program, Boundaries and Borderlands, introduces the case study approach of the course. Here we examine the borderland region between the regions of North America and Latin America. A journey to Anapara and a Campestre near Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and then across the Rio Grande to EI Paso, Texas, highlights concepts of geography that are central to the course: relative location, regions, scale, and the spatial perspective.

The first case study, Twin Cities, Divided Lives, follows the story of Concha Martinez as she crosses between the U.S. and Mexico in order to make a life for herself and her children. It investigates how the relative locations of border cities influence economic development and migration.

The second case study, Operation Hold the Line, follows up the question of cross-border migration raised in the first program. It takes a look at how U.S. border policy is shaping the lives of not only the people living in this borderland region, but in more distant U.S. and Mexican locations as well.

Video Key Words

Twin Cities, Divided Lives

• Size and Scale
• Relative Location
• Regions
• Spatial Perspective
• Maquiladoras
• Economic Development

Operation Hold the Line

• Relative Location
• Formal and Informal Regions
• Scale
• Spatial Perspective
• Migration Patterns

View Video