A recent World Economic Forum report demonstrates a consistent increase of international migrants over the past 10 years is due to economic hardship, climate change, conflict and political instability. The "involuntary migration" of millions is expected to continue and is ranked as a long-term concern worldwide.
New Mexico State University is offering a Ph.D. in Transborder and Global Dynamics to help a new generation of students gain the tools to research these issues. Applications will be accepted through Dec. 1 for the first cohort to begin in fall 2025.
"This doctorate is designed to allow students to focus on important issues that transcend borders, such as migration, asylum, human rights and environmental pressures, while encouraging field work that can lead to not only academic careers but also careers in nonprofit organizations, local and state government and other areas," said Neil Harvey, NMSU government professor and department head.
"From its inception, the program has privileged the humanities and the social sciences for its perspectives and content area," said Glen Fetzer, professor and head of the Department of Languages and Linguistics. "Although the U.S.-Mexico border is perhaps the key focus area, the program welcomes applicants whose expertise and experiences center on other borders worldwide: those in Africa, Europe, the Americas, and so on. There is truly a broad international dimension to the program, and we hope that the students enrolled will embody that plurality.
NMSU's government, anthropology and languages and linguistics departments collaborated to sponsor the new Ph.D."
"The idea was to create a program that would be interdisciplinary and yet at the time, be focused on the strengths of the programs here at NMSU," said Lois Stanford, anthropology professor and department head. "We have regional strengths. and then we also have faculty strengths."
Stanford explained the Ph.D. in Transborder and Global Dynamics aligns with NMSU's physical proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border and the region surrounding it.
"The area shares so much in terms of history, language and historical experiences," Stanford said. "The whole experience of migration is not just something that we're dealing with now in terms of refugees. We have a long history in the Paso del Norte, it's a pass. It's an area where people have come through for hundreds of years. From my perspective in anthropology, it's often those zones where things are open that there are dynamics influencing change and transformation."
The program has limited residency requirements, since doctoral students will perform research in the field, but come together to participate in colloquia at NMSU. Credits for fieldwork, archival work and community engagement may involve transborder internships and experiences
at universities, policy institutes, archives and think tanks supervised by the student's committee.
Interdisciplinary focus areas:
Cultural and linguistic translation, interpretation, literature and heritage
Refugees, asylum-seekers and migration
Transnational public policy and human rights
Environmental justice, landscape, archaeology and heritage management
Food security, water and energy security, human health and sustainability
Power, inequality and racial injustice.
Harvey expects research from the program may result in new interpretations, solutions and understandings of relevant issues for scholars and students living and studying in the U.S.-Mexico transborder region. The findings may have implications not only for this border region, but also for other border communities around the world.
"Given the increased attention to borders in the U.S. and many other countries today, it is important to support research that can address problems and help create solutions that recognize the diverse perspectives and voices of communities in borderland regions," Harvey said.
Adding a new, interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in the humanities and social sciences also will assist NMSU in achieving R1 status. The R1 Carnegie Foundation classification of very high research status is dependent on a university's research expenditures and the number of its doctoral degrees.
"This program brilliantly demonstrates how different disciplines can come together to shape an innovative opportunity for graduate students," said Enrico Pontelli, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "The development of this program is a remarkable example of creativity, collaboration and teamwork on the part of faculty and department heads."
The full article can be seen at https://newsroom.nmsu.edu/news/nmsu-offers-new-ph.d.in-transborder-and-global-dynamics/s/8827b9b6-a6fa-469d-97e6-1b1ab463fd9c
