Trans-Border Institute
Trans-Border Institute
The University of San Diego's Trans-Border Institute (TBI) is an institute that carries out research and provides training on cross-border issues, in particular between Mexico and the United States.
The University of San Diego's Trans-Border Institute (TBI) promotes lasting peace in Mexico and in the border region, through applied research, innovative educational practices and cross-border partnerships. For twenty years, the TBI has been a source of information on cross-border issues and the relations between Mexico and the United States. The TBI publishes data from surveys and reports on police reforms, arms trafficking and the application of the immigration laws.
The TBI runs a certain number of programmes research and teaching programmes and projects in favour of peace in the border region.
Firstly, the TBI undertakes educational activities through awareness-raising projects, education fairs and field-based learning. The TBI organises peacebuilding seminars interactive educational and capacity building programs in the areas of Mexico hardest hit by the drug war and the dislocations of the border. It also organises a Trans-Border Opportunities summer certificate programme. This academic offering is designed to help working professionals, students and aspiring civic leaders gain the knowledge and tools they need to engage with the border region. Tapping TBI's network and expertise, the certificate gives participants hard facts and data about the border and allows them to interact with leading regional policymakers, stakeholders, and experts.
Secondly, the TBI runs a project known as the Freedom of Expression Project. This project aims to translate and distribute journalists' work to an international audience so that everyone can gain a clearer picture of a region in crisis. The project also issues periodic findings on violence against reporters and media censorship, interviewing journalists directly about their experiences.
Since 2007 TBI has hosted Border Film Week, an annual documentary film festival that brings together more than 500 people each year for screenings, workshops and critical discussions with filmmakers, academics and teachers and outside experts. Border Film Week gives students, educators and the greater community an chance to observe the people and culture of the Americas up close, adding diverse voices and faces to our conventional research methods.
The TBI is tackling the crisis between Mexico and the border areas. Thanks to education, collaborative research and public outreach, they are empowering students and partners on both sides of the border to find their own solutions. Thanks to their expertise, they are raising students' awareness of the need to protect the most vulnerable populations and to encourage innovative local alternatives to the war on drugs and the militarisation of the border.
Daniel López-Pérez, PhD
Everard Meade, Professor of Practice, Faculty Director, Trans-Border Institute
Greg Prieto, PhD, Faculty Fellows