Center for US-Mexican Studies

Center for US-Mexican Studies
Name	Center for US-Mexican Studies
Formation	1974
Founder	Gustavo T. Vazquez
Type	Research center
Headquarters	La Jolla, California
Location	University of California, San Diego
Leader title	Director
Leader name	Kenneth E. Bauzon

Center for US-Mexican Studies is an interdisciplinary research center based at the University of California, San Diego with a long-standing focus on bilateral relations among the United States, the Mexico federal government, and subnational actors such as the State of Baja California, the California state government, and municipal authorities in Tijuana. The center links scholarship and policy analysis involving institutions such as the U.S. Department of State, the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, the Inter-American Development Bank, and treaty-era frameworks like the North American Free Trade Agreement and its successor, the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement.

Overview

Founded within the Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies environment at UC San Diego campus in La Jolla, the center conducts research on issues affecting U.S.–Mexico relations, including trade, migration, security, public health, and environmental cooperation. It collaborates with partners such as the Wilson Center, Brookings Institution, Council on Foreign Relations, and Mexican research institutes like the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas and the Colegio de la Frontera Norte. The center engages students from programs linked to the School of Global Policy and Strategy (UC San Diego), the Department of Anthropology (UC San Diego), and the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies.

History

The center emerged in the post‑1970s era of expanding Latin American studies, contemporaneous with institutions like the Latin American Studies Association and initiatives at the Harvard University Carr Center. Early collaborators included scholars associated with the Institute of Mexican Studies (Mexico City) and policy figures from the U.S. Senate and the Chamber of Deputies (Mexico). Its timeline intersects with bilateral crises such as the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, the Zapatista uprising, and economic events like the 1994 Mexican peso crisis, which shaped comparative research on fiscal policy and migration flows examined by think tanks including the RAND Corporation and the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Research and Programs

Research agendas encompass cross-border trade studied alongside institutions like the U.S. International Trade Commission, labor mobility examined with reference to the Migration Policy Institute and the International Organization for Migration, and security cooperation assessed relative to agencies such as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Mexico's Secretariado Ejecutivo del Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Pública. Programs address water resource management in the context of treaties like the 1944 United States–Mexico Treaty on the Utilization of Waters and environmental projects involving the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the World Wildlife Fund. Collaborative projects have included comparative analyses with institutions such as the University of Texas at Austin, the El Colegio de México, and the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Education and Training

The center offers curricular and practicum opportunities for students affiliated with the School of Global Policy and Strategy, the UC San Diego Extension, and fellowship schemes modeled on programs from the Fulbright Program and the Hertz Foundation. Training includes internships with agencies like the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, placements in Mexican consulates such as the Consulate General of Mexico in San Diego, and certificate programs drawing on expertise from the Wilson Center's Mexico Institute and the Mexico Business Forum.

Policy Engagement and Outreach

Outreach activities link academics to policymakers in venues such as the U.S. Congress, the Secretaría de Economía (Mexico), and state legislatures in California and Baja California. The center organizes briefings for officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Mexican counterparts like the Secretaría de Salud (Mexico), and participates in multilateral dialogues with the Organization of American States and the G20 when relevant to regional cooperation.

Publications and Media

The center publishes policy briefs, working papers, and commentary circulated through outlets and partners including the Brookings Institution, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the American Journal of International Law, and networks such as ProPublica and El País coverage. It maintains multimedia programming with podcasts and webinars featuring guests from institutions like the Wilson Center, the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations, and leading scholars from Columbia University, Stanford University, and the University of Chicago.

Organization and Funding

Administratively housed at UC San Diego, the center receives funding from a constellation of sources: university allocations, grants from foundations such as the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, contracts with agencies like the USAID, and donations from private donors and corporate partners including multinational firms operating in border industries. Governance includes advisory boards with members from the Consulate General of Mexico in San Diego, the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, and academic leaders from institutions such as the University of Arizona and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

Notable People and Awards

Faculty affiliates and fellows have included scholars linked to the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Political Science Association, and recipients of honors like the MacArthur Fellowship, the National Humanities Medal, and research awards from the Rockefeller Foundation. Notable associated figures have collaborated with policymakers including former officials from the U.S. Department of State, ambassadors to Mexico, and Mexican secretaries from departments such as the Secretaría de Desarrollo Social (Mexico), as well as prominent academics from Yale University, Princeton University, Johns Hopkins University, George Washington University, University of California, Berkeley, Duke University, Georgetown University, Brown University, New York University, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, Rice University, Vanderbilt University, Cornell University, University of Notre Dame, Oregon State University, Texas A&M University, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Arizona State University, University of Colorado Boulder, Michigan State University, Ohio State University, Boston University, Emory University, Penn State University, McGill University, University of British Columbia, and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Category:Research institutes in California Category:United States–Mexico relations