The Border: Race, Politics, and Health in Modern Mexico

GENED 1089 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

If we want to understand our own history we need to look at the fringes, in this case the ongoing tensions and violence at the U.S.-Mexico border illustrates what we value and fear as a society.

Our southern border is continuously covered in newspapers, social media, and political debates. Why does the Mexico-U.S. border continue to be a space of discussion and controversy? In the twenty-first century, as nations across the world militarize or rebuild their borders, the U.S.-Mexico border serves as a vital case study to understand the ongoing trend of tightening national borders—it also allows us to better understand our own history, politics, and how we shape our view of the world. In addition to examining the creation of the U.S.-Mexico border in 1848 to the present, this course examines how ideas of public health have historically been used in border debates. For many, the border served (and serves) as a protective barrier from poverty, violence, and, especially, disease. By the early twentieth century many Mexican bodies were perceived as “alien,” “illegal,” and in need of patrolling. Yet these descriptions were also used by Mexican politicians to describe and isolate Indigenous groups and the Chinese within Mexico. By examining, for example, border ecological disasters, response to epidemics and a pandemic, and how ideas of race and health played out within Mexico and the U.S. we can better understand borders in general.

Course Notes

This course counts for the Certificate for Civic Engagement. The Certificate for Civic Engagement recognizes Harvard College students who have demonstrated sustained participation in public service and civic involvement during their undergraduate experience.