Beyond the Border

About Beyond the Border

Beyond the Border is a semester-long international and cross-cultural student reporting project developed by Dr. Celeste González de Bustamante, from the University of Arizona School of Journalism, and Prof. Yvonne Latty, from the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University. The project aimed to give undergraduate and graduate students hands-on journalism experience in areas of historical and contemporary conflict.

The collaborative university project between the UA and NYU started when 17 NYU students and three faculty members traveled to Arizona-Sonora from Oct. 15-18 to report on issues and problems affecting the peoples of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, such as migration, violence, environmental degradation, and ethnic and racial conflict.

On Nov. 7-10, eight UA students and two faculty members traveled to New York City to report "beyond the border," alongside freelance mentors from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, on issues and problems facing Latino communities, including ethnic and racial tensions in emerging Mexican and Mexican-American enclaves in New York City neighborhoods.

This cover package is the result of the work by UA students who traveled to New York City.

Photos and multimedia packages found online at TucsonWeekly.com tell stories of immigrants, some of whom crossed through Arizona, and others who came as young children with their parents. These are the faces, the voices and the lives of those who now live, struggle and thrive in the bustling boroughs of New York City.

González de Bustamante and UA adjunct professor Rogelio Garcia mentored students on broadcast pieces; Profs. Jay Rochlin, Maggy Zanger and Terry Wimmer mentored on print stories; and John deDios, the project administrator, worked with the students' photography. In addition to the students' work, González de Bustamante and Garcia are producing a film that documents the project and the students' stories.

If you are interested in donating to the project and/or the documentary production, e-mail celesteg@email.arizona.edu.

Aside from the Tucson Weekly, support for the project came from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the Marshall Foundation of Tucson, the UA College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, UA Student Affairs, the NAHJ-UA Student Chapter, and the UA School of Journalism's Journalism Student Advisory Council.