The recently expanded and renamed Transborder Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies Department at ASU focuses on U.S. and Mexican regional immigration policy and economy, media literature and arts, and transborder community development and health – areas that have a significant impact in the Latino community.
“In the first decade of the 21st century, 40 percent of the U.S. Mexican-origin population was born in Mexico,†says Velez-Ibanez. “Moreover, Mexican Americans now live in every state of the union, and large numbers of other Latino groups now live in close proximity to what were formerly nearly exclusive Mexican urban concentrations in cities such as Los Angeles, Phoenix and others.â€
According to the U.S. census bureau, by 2050 more than 24 percent of the country’s population will be of Latina/o origin, of which at least 65 percent will be of Mexican Origin.
…In order to be current with the trends of the country, this academic unit in ASU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will take special interest in the scholarship and research of transnational and transborder economies, societies and cultures of Mexico and Latin America with emphasis on how these are inexorably tied to the United States.
The department, previously named Chicana and Chicano Studies, was established more than a decade ago as an interdisciplinary academic field to study the history and current circumstances of Mexican Americans in this country.
Now, under its new name, the department will maintain a primary focus on Mexican origin populations and the Mexico-U.S. border region, yet also will offer opportunities for students to understand how Latinos are changing and will change the face of this country, says Velez Ibanez.
To celebrate its new name and expanded field of study, the Department of Transborder Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies will present the Inaugural Wells Fargo Distinguished Transborder Lecture, “Understanding America’s Immigration Crisis,” by Douglas J. Massey, the Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University….
