By Nathan Ellstrand, Ph.D. Candidate, History Department, Loyola University Chicago
Borders in North America have changed and transformed over the course of centuries, from indigenous boundaries to the militarized Mexican-United States border that currently exists today. The “Mexico-United States exhibit” of United Fronteras is an excellent example of a collaborative driven digital humanities project, featuring over 100 web resources from both countries which engage the changing border in different and exciting ways.
The exhibit highlights projects relating to history, literature, art, migration and more. Whereas some projects are more academic in focus, others encourage wide audiences who want to learn more about the border. As a historian of twentieth century transnational U.S.-Mexican history, I am looking forward to engaging with this exhibit as a place to encounter more sources of information. Although I was aware of some sites, I did not knew about the large majority of resources featured on the exhibit.
Digital collections, in particular, are more vital now than ever, increasing accessibility to sources previously difficult to access because of travel or monetary means. I am also excited to utilize this exhibit as a teaching tool. It is a great starting point for students to learn about a plethora of subjects, whether they be deportation, the Southern Colorado borderlands, indigenous lands, California newspapers or rural migration. These resources themselves open the door to students to cultivate an interest in the Mexican-U.S. border and work around borders, which matters more now than ever.
In an age of increasing nationalist and xenophobic rhetoric pushing for the hardening of borders, it is our duty as scholars to demonstrate the contested nature of boundaries more than ever, as it is stated in United Fronteras, and through its “Mexico-United States exhibit”, that does just that.