College of Arts and Sciences
Department of History
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Borders, Boundaries and Frontiers
The theme of Borders, Boundaries and Frontiers concerns the spaces in which people interact. Borders are sometimes political and defined with legal precision by governments, or they may be geographic, etched into the land by a river or mountain chain. Often vigorously monitored or militarized, borders are transgressed as people migrate and as goods are exchanged. Boundaries may be thought of as cultural or linguistic perimeters that define a people or a nation. They may be "ethnic" in nature, or they may be defined in terms of professional interests. Whenever groups compete over resources or professional and/or cultural interests, boundaries are threatened. Frontiers are sites where interaction, conflict, adaptation, and mixture (mestizaje) take place. Usually imprecisely defined, frontiers can be real sites (as the hinterland of a colonial settlement) or imagined (as the Seven Cities of Gold).
The theme of Borders, Boundaries and Frontiers helps us to conceptualize how groups come into contact with one another through colonialism, imperialism, migration, globalization, and cultural interaction.
Faculty Standing Committee:
Nathan Brooks, Jeffrey Brown, Kenneth Hammond, Elizabeth Horodowich, Jon Hunner, Margaret Malamud, Andrea Orzoff, Marsha Weisiger