The Voices of Fronteridades

In this episode, author and University of Arizona religious studies professor Dr. Alex Nava joins us for a conversation on asylum and humanitarian work along the Arizona border. Drawing from his fieldwork, Dr. Nava reflects on how humanitarian organizations and volunteer networks support asylum seekers amid shifting political climates. The episode explores themes of faith, responsibility, and community care, offering insight into the human impact of border policy and the meaning of solidarity in the borderlands.

In this episode we sit down with Chicana scholar and Ph.D. candidate Juanita Sandoval to explore how migrant shelters along the U.S.-Mexico border can serve as powerful spaces for learning, advocacy, and transformation. Juanita shares insights from her Mellon-Fronteridades Fellowship research, reflecting on her time in Sonora, Mexico, where she examined the role of pedagogy and activism in supporting migrants. Tune in to hear how education, storytelling, and community care come together in spaces often overlooked and how this research can impact both sides of the border. 

In this episode, we return to the fall of 2023 and look back on the Forensic Research conducted by Dr. Robin Reineke during her collaborative project with Madres Buscadoras and the Colibri Center for Human Rights.Through different ways of viewing life, this project examines the ethnographic research, so make sure to stick around and listen to how her discoveries unfold.

In this episode, we return to the fall of 2023 and step into the immersive world of El Tiradito—a powerful play by playwright and professor Elaine Romero, set at a historic Tucson wishing shrine where myth, memory, border crossings, and activism intersect. Through art, myth, and real community voices, we uncover how a single place can hold centuries of hope, grief, and the fight for dignity at the U.S.-Mexico border. 

In this episode we learn about his research and how flood justice has affected communities along the Texas-Mexico border and the Arizona-Mexico border. Comparing both borderlands on their powerful similarities and significant sparks of differences.  Hear about his findings on the overlooked concerns and challenges flooding causes in these borderland communities.

What makes language brokering so powerful? Dr. Genesis Arizmendi's, a Mellon-Fronteridades Faculty Fellow, research reveals the hidden strengths and complexities behind this often-overlooked practice.During her research, she interviewed people across the U.S.-Mexico border, from Tijuana/San Ysidro to Brownsville/Matamoros, and everywhere in between to explore and amplify the power of bilingualism in the borderlands.Tune in to hear about her findings on the underappreciated strengths and complexities within the act of language brokering.

Our first episode talks to the creator of the Fronteridades program and he dives into the merging of fronteras and humanidades, borders and humanities. Dr. Javier Duran is a collaborator and works with numerous scholars, artists, activists and community leaders to elevate the voices and stories of the borderlands. In this episode we explore the beginnings of Fronteridades. Stick around and listen on how we are bridging disciplines, sectors and communities to deepen our understanding of the U.S.-Mexico border.