New Course on U.S.-Mexican Border Encourages Critical Thinking on Divisive Issues

Rutgers professor investigates history of the border, offers unbiased approach to tackling immigration issues

New Brunswick, N.J. (Sept. 18, 2019) – What shifted over the past 30 years that changed perceptions of the U.S.-Mexican border? Are current policies working? Will barring illegal immigration decrease crime and unemployment?

These are some of the issues that Camilla Townsend, a distinguished professor of history at Rutgers-New Brunswick, will discuss in a new fall course, Wars, Wayfarers, and the Wall: A History of the U.S.-Mexican Border.

“I am not insisting that the students draw a certain and definitive conclusion to these questions, but I do want them to look at real evidence and think seriously about it before they make political decisions.” said Townsendwho wants to challenge students to understand the border’s tangled history and find research-based solutions for ongoing, apparently intractable immigration issues.

Townsend said the 2016 presidential election, in which America’s political divides seemed to reach a breaking point, inspired her to create a course that would encourage critical thinking about hotly contested issues, like the border wall and the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that will allow asylum-seekers at the U.S. Mexico border to be turned away.

Read the full story on Rutgers Today.

Download photos of Townsend at this link (please credit Nick Romanenko): https://rutgers.box.com/s/jq1mdokuodejo6mfxyvwpju59y66pmcm

Watch as Townsend dissects how the perception of the U.S.-Mexican border has shifted from its inception to today’s political climate: https://youtu.be/TnzzxzIknxc

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