San Diego State University 
April 7-8, 2023

The U.S.-Mexico border is a site of human suffering and a showcase of human resilience. This conference brings together scholars, practitioners, student organizations, and grassroots movements from the San Diego and Tijuana regions to collectively consider issues of human rights and racialization in our borderlands. The conference will focus on the human tolls and triumphs that flow across this border every day. We will consider the hindrances and costs, the lives and human sacrifice, and the stories of hope and justice that intermingle in the liminal space of the borderlands.

The Tijuana-San Diego border is not only the busiest border in the world, but also one that is teeming with life and productive capacity. We want to recognize and celebrate that also.  This binational conference will focus on scholarly collaboration, community building, and movement of ideas and people in the region. “Race and the Borderlands” will also provide opportunities to hold space, and integrate frameworks for collective activism and set the agenda for new collaborations. 

While the conference is free for anyone to attend, we ask that you register in advance.

This conference is co-organized by the Center for Human Rights and the Fred J. Hansen Peace Chair, with the generous support of The Peacemakers Fund at the San Diego Foundation, as well as the Bruce E. Porteus Professor of Political Science and the Center for Latin American Studies.