A Critical Look at Culture: College Students Crossing Violent Borders

• In Event: Roundtable Session 122
  In Roundtable Session: Crossing Borders: Rethinking Culture, Context, and Choice in Curriculum Studies

Abstract

This study explored the experiences and identities of seven students and one professor living on the South Texas-Mexico border. Primary sources of data were collected from 18 semi-structured formal in-depth interviews over a 16-week period. The international border between two national spaces was a tool in identity construction. Even though the culture found in this U.S. border town was largely shaped by its border counterpart, students identified societal points of contrast between countries: neighborhoods, safety, police corruption, poverty, and drug-use. In the midst of a culture that transcends borders, another culture has emerged more recently. The Mexican cartels had created a border plagued with violence. This has caused an interruption in the movement of culture and identities between border towns.

Authors

• Angelica Maria Fuentes, The University of Texas - Brownsville

• Bryant Griffith, Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi

• Corinne Valadez, Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi