Walling Off the World: Border Walls in the Age of Globalization

When the Berlin Wall was torn down in 1989, many people believed that border walls were a thing of the past and that globalization and a “borderless world” was dawning. Today, however, nation-states appear to be engaged in a frenzy of wall-building, with over 70 wall building projects along borders and contested zones, and even within countries.  We see them on the borders of Mexico and the US; India and Bangladesh; Greece and Turkey; Hungary and Croatia; Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and between populations in Israel-Palestine and the Spanish-Moroccan enclaves in North Africa.  In an age when globalization was supposed to bring populations and the world together, why are we seeing so many border walls?

This all-level international studies program will explore the explosion of border walls around the world today by examining dozens of border walls around the world and then theorizing why we see such a significant rise in wall-building today. Students will engage in case-study research about particular border walls, learn about the leading theories of the rise of border walls and then develop their own theories about why we are seeing such a proliferation of border walls today. Is this a local or global phenomenon? Are these border walls being driven by the rich walling off the poor, the rise of conservative nationalism, xenophobia and racism or by legitimate concerns about preserving cultural heritage and economic stability?

The program will also examine various forms of critical action alongside and on these border walls, with a particular focus on how diverse artists have sought to question, challenge and even write over these walls.  Students will learn about different forms of border art and engage in their own creative activity in response to a world of walls.