March 17, 2008 by Mario A. Montes NMSU News Center
In a presidential election year, the U.S. faces immense questions about border security issues.
New Mexico State University has a $65,000 grant to tackle this sensitive and controversial topic and on March 31 and April 1 NMSU, in partnership with the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College, will host a colloquium covering “Borders, Technology and Security: Strategic Responses to New Challenges.” Presentations and lectures will begin at 8 a.m. both days at the San Agustin conference room at the Hotel Encanto in Las Cruces.
“We’re working on a number of strategic initiatives on border security, technology, immigration and related issues,” said Jason Ackleson, assistant professor in the Government Department in the College of Arts and Sciences.
“Top scholars around the world will be in dialogue with people from the Army, intelligence and homeland security, proposing creative new insights into these problems,” said Yosef Lapid, Regents professor in the Department of Government.
The two-day colloquium will feature keynote speakers Michael O’Hanlon, Senior Foreign Policy Analyst at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., John A. Agnew, a prominent political geographer, and Susan Ginsberg, a Senior Fellow at the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, DC and counsel to the 9/11 Commission.
Scholarly papers will be presented on such topics as “The Changing Role of the Military in Border and Homeland Security,” presented by David McIntyre, professor at Texas A&M University; “Rethinking Security: New Conceptual Approaches,” presented by Mathias Albert, professor at Bielefeld University, Germany, and “The Ethics of Homeland Security and Border Control,” presented by Kathleen Staudt, professor at the University of Texas at El Paso.
A full schedule on the colloquium can be accessed online at http://research.nmsu.edu/border/program.pdf.
Registration deadline for the colloquium is March 20, 2008. A $125 registration fee is required and covers attendance to all panels and meals. A few waivers will be available.
For more information please contact Marcia Mundt or Jason Ackleson at (575) 646-4935.