eye on las fronteras

Earlier this year I had the idea to create a Wiki (a collaborative tool) on the US Borderlands, highlighting the politics, race, gender, problems, precursors to the US/Mexico Borderlands or Las Fronteras.  I thought a Wiki would be a great resource and pedagogical tool, collaborative and all, and one that is needed for students and scholars of the US Borderlands.  There is not a Wiki anywhere on the intergoogler which highlights the situation of the US Borderlands.  There is a consortium and society of Borderland Studies, but there is no where on the web where one can find detailed and scholarly information pertaining to the US Borderlands.  And, since I want to develop a competency in US Borderland Theories, I thought of creating this resource.

Last fall I met a Chicano in one of my classes who is also interested in US Borderlands.  When I decided to actually pursue this idea, I decided to approach him by asking him to be a partner in collaboration, contribution, and general editing.  Thankfully, he agreed!  We have had only 2 meetings–one in the Spring quarter and one just this past weekend.  Our first meeting we did a lot of brainstorming together–finding a platform, hosting service, etc.  The domain name had already been bought (by me), but we needed a wiki platform to explore.  We have decided on MediaWiki (which is what Wikipedia uses).

We are using a Wiki platform, but are creating the Wiki in the vein and spirit of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.  We will have invited contributors who are scholars in the field of Borderland Studies/Theories and maintain all the permissions.  The published content will be protected by the Wiki, and will not be able to be edited by just anyone who discovers the site.  Authors of content will gain permissions to their page to post content.  This is how it differs from Wikipedia.  There, everyone has access to alter the content.  We are choosing to manage the content a little differently.  My Chicano colleague-friend and I will be the General Editors of this Wiki and will have contributors who have permissions (we *think*).

While we are still trying to figure everything out, it is exciting to know that I just finished a conversation with Profesora AnaLouise Keating of Texas Woman’s University.  She has agreed to contribute to the Gloria Anzaldúa page, a Borderland scholar who has greatly affected both my Chicano colleague-friend and myself.  I am completely stoked to have talked with AnaLouise (on a Saturday evening at that) and excited about her scholarly support of this project!

Soon, I will list the domain for the Wiki.  By the end of the year, it will be live!  Stayed tuned to have an eye on las fronteras.  Currently we have a twitter feed that we will import into the Wiki, posting relevant articles highlighting the the US Borderlands.  We will likely utilize other social media tools, like FaceBook, to get the word out.  Certainly, our own personal websites will serve as vehicles for publicizing the domain name, and hopefully people like you who read our sites.

If you read this blog with any frequency, then you know that I am passionate about the US Borderlands, the space/place and the people who inhabit and traverse las fronteras.  My colleague and I truly think this Wiki might be a great pedagogical resource for students learning about the US Borderlands and overall great tool for anyone interested in learning more about the US Borderlands.  We plan to provide suggested reading(s), key people who are experts in the field, and suggested sites (if we find any).

Stay tuned!  Feel free to contact me via this site by leaving a comment, or if you are connected with me via FB, feel free to send me a message if you are interested in this project in any way.  ¡Podemos hablar!

Saludos, colegas, R.

Tags: Research