New Mexico State University has launched a new doctoral program in Transborder and Global Human Dynamics, welcoming its first cohort of seven students this fall. The program, housed in the College of Arts and Sciences, is designed as an interdisciplinary effort involving 10 departments across two colleges, with participation from various campus centers and programs.
The university will mark the start of the program with a public event on August 27 at Domenici Hall. The evening will feature a keynote speech by Alejandro Lugo, an NMSU anthropology alumnus who holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University and has led border studies programs at major universities. Lugo said, “A Ph.D. program in transborder and global human dynamics at NMSU has the potential to study all of the border zones, which are impacting people’s lives and specific nations within and across continents.”
Neil Harvey, professor and head of the Department of Political Science, Public Law and Administration at NMSU, highlighted the unique collaborative nature of the program: “It’s not every day that we have a new Ph.D. program starting at NMSU,” Harvey said. “This one particularly is unique because it’s interdisciplinary. It involves 10 different departments across campus, two different colleges and many faculty who are involved in making it happen.We are also collaborating with researchers at the University of New Mexico, the University of Texas at El Paso and in Ciudad Juárez. It’s not just about this border region, but in general we are interested in the nature of borders and transborder activities, connections and flows worldwide.”
The inaugural group includes students with backgrounds ranging from education to engineering to communication studies. Each brings experience relevant to issues faced by border communities or transnational populations.
Enrico Pontelli, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, noted the broad collaboration behind creating this new academic opportunity: “This program brilliantly demonstrates how different disciplines can come together to shape an innovative opportunity for graduate students,” Pontelli said. “The development of this program is a remarkable example of creativity, collaboration and teamwork on the part of faculty and department heads.”
The curriculum allows students who already hold master’s degrees—like those in this first cohort—to count up to 30 credits toward their doctorate. This may shorten their time to completion to about three years instead of five.
Harvey emphasized research as a core element: “The point of doing a Ph.D. is for our students to be the creators of new knowledge through a structured program like this,” Harvey said. “The sooner you get into the field work and data collection and analysis, the better. There’s plenty of opportunity for our students in this program to provide research for third sector non-profits. We have done research with our undergrad students in the summer. With Ph.D. students, we will have a longer commitment to the research itself, which can have a bigger impact.”
Students expressed hopes for both academic advancement and community engagement through their studies:
Megan White stated: “I am interested in continuing research in border and migration issues, possibly within the non-governmental organization sector, where I believe I can combine advocacy with research and community engagement,” White said. “I have also considered self-publishing and pursuing public-facing scholarship to make research findings more accessible and contribute to broader conversations about migration and border dynamics.”
Lourdes Olivas commented: “This is the perfect fit for me,” Olivas said. “With this Ph.D. program, I’m hoping that it can help me to become more of an advocate for policy changes but also continue my job at that grassroots level and hopefully be able to make a bigger impact.”
Amanda Glendening shared her aspirations: “I hope to be able to fuse all these interests together,” Glendening said. “But if I get pulled in a direction where I get to find some awesome advocacy opportunities or I would love to have opportunities to go to Mexico. Ultimately if I can become full-time faculty here, I would love to continue teaching.”
Esther Korsah described her goals: “After completing my Ph.D., I plan to advance scholarship through teaching, mentoring, and collaborative research in higher education, while also working alongside policymakers, NGOs, and international organizations to translate research into actionable community change,” Korsah said. “My ultimate goal is to bridge the gap between academic knowledge and real-world solutions that improve quality of life across borders.”
Alejandro Flores discussed his focus areas: “I got to experience what it’slike living in different places, all the different things that we deal with, but nothing compares to living on the border,” Flores said. “I find my passion is working in city government… My focus area is in sustainability, human health,in food securityand water… My research will include finding new technologiesand opportunities…to make policies that will bring changeand improvementsin these areas…to our communityand hopefully other cities alongthe border.”
Lugo concluded by underscoring interdisciplinary learning: “A lotof learning takes place when different disciplines interact,” Lugo said.”It’s extremely importantthatthis transborder doctoralprogram rigorously brings together different geographical area studiesand different disciplinary fields…With thenewprogramandPh.D.inTransborderandGlobalHumanDynamics,NMSUwllbeatthecuttingedgeof21stcenturyhighereducation,bothnationallyandinternationally.”
