Officials at the Department of Transborder Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies are seeking approval to become a new ASU school while plans to launch a doctoral program in about a year move forward, said Maria Allison, dean of the Graduate College.
Carlos Vélez-Ibáñez, professor and chair of the department, said the proposal to become an official school under ASU will go through 12 months of development and planning before a decision about its creation is made.
The proposal is currently being reviewed at the dean’s level and will also need approval from the Academic Senate, provost and Arizona Board of Regents before it is finalized, said Edward Escobar, associate professor in the department.
The school would address the educational developmental needs of the transborder region through instruction, research and community engagement, according to the proposal. There are many pressing issues that arise from a shared history between the U.S. and Mexico, and the school will be providing resources to solve these issues, the proposal said.
The proposed Ph.D. program, which has been through all internal review processes, would focus on transborder concepts and issues, Allison said.
“The pieces are all in place for it to receive final approval from the provost,” she said.
This program has been in mind since the creation of the department in 1996, Escobar said.
Faculty members decided to hold off on a doctoral program until enough time had passed to bring together a strong faculty and a good curriculum, he said.
“[If passed], it will put ASU at the forefront of understanding borders anywhere in the world,” Escobar said.
Vélez-Ibáñez said the proposal has been built from the ground up over the last 18 months as a result of developing interest in transborder issues.
“It’s an organic process,” he said.
ASU is the perfect location for the doctoral program and new school because of its integrated economy, he said. Arizona and Mexico have a co-evolutionary process, where community development, politics, language, culture, arts, education and economies are all interrelated, Vélez-Ibáñez said.
The proposed school would encompass the Department of Transborder Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies, Southwest Borderlands Initiative, Community Action Research Board, Program of Interdisciplinary Comparative Border Studies and Student Social Support Coordinate. It would also form a cooperative partnership with the North American Center for Transborder Studies and the Office of the Vice President for Education Partnerships, according to the proposal.
The school and doctoral program, if approved, will provide students with the skills necessary to serve the communities physically, mentally and economically, Vélez-Ibáñez said.
“They will be unique and they will be transnational in scope,” he said. “This is the wave of the future, and it very much fits within the model of the New American University.”
Reach the reporter at rvanvelz@asu.edu
