Ronald Rael visits UTRGV to deliver keynote at Sawyer Seminar Series
By María González
RIO GRANDE, VALLEY -?Dr.?Ronald Rael, a UC Berkeley professor known as an applied architectural researcher, author, and thought leader in additive manufacturing and earthen architecture, delivered a keynote address on the first day of the Sawyer Seminar Series at UTRGV Tuesday, March 7.?
During his keynote, Rael discussed how the borderlands are a place of unity despite the overarching understanding that they are a place of division.
"Las fronteras nos dividen pero la tierra nos une, is a sign I saw thrown alongside a pile of wood at a migrant shelter in Nogales, Arizona," he said. "I thought, what a beautiful sentiment that the border divides us, but the earth unites us."?
Rael is internationally recognized as one of the designers of the 'Tetter Totter Wall', three pink seesaws which bridged across El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez in México, extending to both sides of the wall, where children from both countries could connect playfully through three bright pink seesaws. In 2020, the?Teeter-Totter Wall won?the overall prize at the Beazley Designs of the Year, one of the world's most prestigious awards.
During the keynote address, Rael shared that as a designer, he likes to think about "all the way that things come together and how things are separated in the borderlands" as a productive way of being an artist.
"You can think about how we define a border; we can think that a border is defined as a place that divides two countries, or we can think of the border as a place that unites two countries, and we can decide how we move through the world thinking about it from that perspective," he said.
After his remarks, Rael facilitated a Q&A discussion.
PARTNERSHIPS & COLLABORATIONS
The two-day Sawyer Seminar Series, held March 7th – 8th, was organized by Dean of Social Work Dr. Luis R. Torres-Hostos , in collaboration with?Dr. Carrie Preston, associate director of the Center on Forced Displacement and director of Kilachand Honors College at Boston University.
领英推荐
The seminar was funded by an?Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Sawyer Seminar Grant?awarded to Boston University for the project entitled?U.S. and E.U. Border Externalization Regimes: Ethics, Identities, and Impacts.
"We began to develop a partnership with UTRGV and organizations working on the border in the region last year, and we decided to focus our grant proposal on the US-Mexico and EU-Balkans Border Regimes,"?Preston, the project's principal investigator and Professor of English and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at BU, said.
"When we won the grant, we knew we wanted to host one seminar in the Rio Grande Valley and another in Belgrade. That was only possible because UTRGV was receptive to the idea and has been a tremendous partner in organizing the seminar," she said.
The series consisted of panel discussions that drew together researchers, practitioners, activists, community members, and artists – from the U.S. and Mexico to speak about art and protest inspired by border regimes, the environmental impact, hospitality and services, and the trauma and resilience of migrants.?
"These cross-sector, interdisciplinary, wide-ranging conversations are crucial to solving the challenges and appreciating the cultures and creativity of border regimes," Preston explained.?
The series concluded with a workshop in which students had the opportunity to learn from RGV community leaders and scholars working on border-related issues, migration, and mobilities.
Preston expressed her gratitude to Dr. Caroline Miles, UTRGV professor of English and Office of Global Engagement and IPP Border Studies coordinator, UTRGV co-sponsors, the Mellon Foundation, and the grant co-PIs:
ABOUT UTRGV
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) was created by the Texas Legislature in 2013 as the first major public university of the 21st century in Texas. This transformative initiative provided the opportunity to expand educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley, including a new School of Medicine, and made it possible for residents of the region to benefit from the Permanent University Fund – a public endowment contributing support to the University of Texas System and other institutions.
UTRGV has campuses and off-campus research and teaching sites throughout the Rio Grande Valley including in Boca Chica Beach, Brownsville (formerly The University of Texas at Brownsville campus), Edinburg (formerly The University of Texas-Pan American campus), Harlingen, McAllen, Port Isabel, Rio Grande City, and South Padre Island. UTRGV, a comprehensive academic institution, enrolled its first class in the fall of 2015, and the School of Medicine welcomed its first class in the summer of 2016.