Supervised Field Studies

This seminar is designed to introduce Border Studies students to field study methods and theory and to draw upon the particular interests of the individuals in the group. Students become active participants in community organizations and research projects on both sides of the border, working approximately 15 hours a week at their site. Readings, reflections, and a significant final paper are requirements of the course.


Annunciation House, El Paso: www.annunciationhouse.org Close to 100 years old, located on the fringe of ‘El Segundo’, El Paso’s biggest barrio, and some 10 blocks from the United States/ Mexican border, the original Annunciation House building continues to serve as a house of hospitality for the undocumented and refugees. Because of increased border enforcement and a change in the political environment in Central America, there are fewer guests passing through the House than during the 1980s, but the population continues to average between 40 and 50 people each night.The work is carried out by a community of full time volunteers who make a commitment of at least one year (with an exception to border studies students) to live and make themselves available to the poor who continually come to the doors of our houses.

TierraMadre: http://www.geocities.com/tmadre/
Located in Sunland Park, New Mexico, Tierra Madre is a project in sustainable development that was founded to provide affordable housing for low-income families. It resembles Habitat for Humanity in that the families who will be living in the houses participate in their construction, and none of the 5-family teams moves in until all five houses are ready. The Tierra Madre project utilizes ecologically-friendly building methods, including straw-bale construction and passive solar technology.

Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services (DMRS), El Paso: DMRS provides legal services to those who wish to become legal permanent residents (LPR) or citizens of the U.S. It advocates for the rights of the immigrant community in El Paso and Southern New Mexico and educates the immigrant community about their legal rights. Legal services pertaining to VAWA (Violence Against Women Act), family based immigration, adjustment of status, and visas for religious workers. Naturalization and citizenship classes are also offered. Interns will likely do client intake and process cases. http://www.elpasodiocese.org/dmrs/dmrs.htm

El Paso Empowerment Zone:www.elpasoez.org
The El Paso Empowerment Zone is a non-profit organization that works to promote employment and recreation in the Empowerment Zone. They have been granted funding to distribute within these designated zones. The goal is to empower people who live in this area through employment and housing, and by doing that to help the whole city of El Paso. There are several areas of the city that have been designated as part of the Zone. One of the things the organization does is to give grants to people who are buying a home in the Empowerment Zone. They also provide loans to businesses in the Zone. Students working in the Empowerment Zone will work in their office.

Centro de Estudios y Taller Laboral (CETLAC) This center serves workers in the maquila plants in the most important maquila zone in Mexico where some 230,000 are employed in approximately 400 plants. CETLAC's mission is to educate the workers of their rights, provide legal legal assistance to promote the development of workers' organizations, and to put forth a vision of how unions should and can operate in order to lay the groundwork and provide technical assistance in unionization. Staff have developed materials about a variety of labor related issues, and are often called upon by the media as expert authorities to discuss the conditions of workers in the maquilas. CETLAC also works with other local organizations in a network to defend women's rights.

Casa Amiga: www.casa-amiga.org
Casa Amiga is the only center in all of Ciudad Juárez that offers legal aid and other service to women who have been assaulted by their partners, family members, or strangers. With a population of close to 2 million to serve and with a complete lack of funding from the city government, Casa Amiga has a great need for volunteer labor. Headed by outspoken organizer Esther Chavez Cano, Casa Amiga has taken a leading role in seeking to create cultural institutions that will enhance both women's autonomy and their safety and well-being.

Procuraduría de la Defensa del Menor, la Mujer, y la Familia: DIF is a government agency, similar to Child and Family Services in the U.S. The Procuraduría de la Defensa del Menor, la Mujer, y la Familia works with children and their families, in situations where the children have been removed from the home. The children are placed in a shelter, where they have the option of receiving psychological counseling and therapy. There are also psychological services available for the families if they wish. While there are many places a student could help within this organization, former students have worked in the shelter. This is very difficult work, because this shelter serves children from birth to six years old, and many of them have survived physical, verbal, and sexual abuse. Students could also work doing psychological evaluations with the families.

Texas Rural Legal Aid: www.trla.org
Texas Rural Legal Aid, Inc. (TRLA) provides legal assistance in many civil cases to low-income residents in South and West Texas. The El Paso office is the migrant and seasonal farm worker division, which also has a section devoted to assisting garment workers who were displaced by NAFTA. TRLA specializes in cases involving abuses against agricultural laborers in wage-rates and working conditions. Students who work with TRLA have basic paralegal responsibilities.

Maternidad La Luz: www.maternidadlaluz.com
This is a community-based birthing center and midwifery school founded in 1987. The birth center is located in a comfortable two-story house with three birthing rooms, which provide a warm, home-like atmosphere for a diverse community in the border region of Mexico, Texas and New Mexico. Maternidad La Luz not only offers safe and supportive individualized care for birthing women and their families, but also provides excellent midwifery education and training.

Maryknoll Missioners: home.maryknoll.org
This year, the Maryknoll Missions association of the Faithful, a Catholic lay organization is coordinating the Border Pilgrimage. The purpose of this pilgrimage is to increase awareness about the costs and injustices of U.S. immigration policies. The pilgrimage will end with a bi-national Mass to remember those who have died in their attempts to cross this border. This organization works on different projects each year.

Las Américas Immigrant Advocacy Center
Las Américas Immigrant Advocacy Center was founded in 1987 when a great number of Central Americans were fleeing persecution during the war and needed assistance in pleading their cases for political asylum. Since then the focus has shifted to serving international refugees and reaching out to the local immigrant community, especially by offering legal representation to undocumented immigrants. The two projects that students might work with are the Justice for Women and Children Project, and Poder de la Mujer.

Vilas Elementary School
Vilas is one of the many bilingual schools in the El Paso area. Most of the students speak some degree of both Spanish and English. The school strives to work with this bilingualism of its students. Walking down the hallways, one can hear Spanish being spoken in one area and English being spoken in another. Students who work at Vilas would be working as tutors, helping various students from several classrooms.

Border Network for Human Rights
This is a non-profit organization dedicated to monitoring and documenting abuses of the undocumented population in the border region and to working to protect and enhance the rights of all migrants and immigrants. Students who work here will likely be involved in fundraising and outreach activities.

Opportunity Center
The Opportunity Occupational Center for the Homeless in El Paso seeks to provide free services to those in need, regardless of issues such as legal documentation or mental or emotional disabilities. The Center is one of a few in the entire United States that aims to help not only those who are capable of improving their situation, but also those who, for a variety of reasons, are not capable of upward mobility in society. The Opportunity Center is headed and largely staffed by people who were formerly homeless themselves.

"Be aware of your background, your privilege and your status as an outsider, but don’t let it keep you from entering into the community and culture. You don’t have to try to pass as Mexican or Mexican American, if you’re not, but there’s also no rule that you have to dress, talk, act, etc.. the exact same way you do at home or school." - program participant

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