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ASU to celebrate new School of Transborder Studies


April 27, 2011

Official launch ceremony at 11 a.m. May 11
Tempe Center for the Arts

The community is invited to a ceremony and conference May 11 to officially launch Arizona State University’s new School of Transborder Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

“The launch represents the beginning of a strong educational determination to bring the best minds to the development of intellectual and technical innovation to the long standing issues and problems of the transborder region,” said Carlos Vélez-Ibáñez, founding director of the school.

ASU President Michael Crow will be among the speakers at a launch ceremony that is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. in the Tempe Center for the Arts, 700 W. Rio Salado Parkway. Other speakers include Elizabeth D. Capaldi, ASU executive vice president and provost; Quentin Wheeler, university vice president and dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; Linda Lederman, dean of social sciences; and Vélez-Ibáñez.

A keynote address by Jorge Durand, professor of anthropology at the University of Guadalajara, Mexico, is planned for noon.

Also scheduled is a conference from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. titled “A Public Conversation’ Beyond the Present, Thinking the Futures of Economy, Migration and Citizenship into the 21st Century.” It is co-sponsored by Azteca America and builds on Azteca America television network’s multi-media public service campaign “I too am America.” Armando Guzmán, Azteca America correspondent, will serve as master of ceremonies for the conference.

School of Transborder Studies faculty members participating in the conference include associate professor Eileen Diaz McConnell, associate professor Lisa Magaña, professor Paul Espinosa, assistant professor Francisco Lara Valencia and professor Vélez-Ibáñez. ASU Senior Vice President and General Counsel José A. Cárdenas will moderate.

The School of Transborder Studies was established Sept. 1, 2010. Its mission is to develop cutting edge transborder knowledge for and with the populations of the U.S. Southwest-northern Mexico region, and beyond, through socially embedded scholarship, applied research and rigorous instruction.

Within the school are 17 faculty members and several more affiliated faculty who represent a wide range of disciplines and are organized into three specializations:

* Transborder Migration, Health and Applied Social Policy.

* Transborder Media and Expressive Culture.

* Transborder Culture, Language and Learning.

The launch ceremony and conference are free and open to the public, through registration is requested since seating is limited. Registration and additional information are online at http://sts.asu.edu or at 480-965-5091.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Irma Arboleda, arboleda@asu.edu
480-965-0071
Carol Hughes, carol.hughes@asu.edu
480-965-6375 direct line | 480-254-3753 cell