One city, two cultures, much to learn

(July 9, 2002)--Researchers and scholars are moving forward in their exploration of San Antonio's transnational culture. Led by UTSA faculty members Harriett Romo, Jose Macias, Ellen Riojas Clark and Robert Milk, the Rockefeller Foundation-funded study focuses on U.S.-born Mexican American residents and Mexican immigrants who also maintain a strong ethnic and cultural bond with Mexico while also living in the United States.

UTSA students, other San Antonio-area and Texas scholars, as well as national researchers are assisting in the one-year project. Their findings will be incorporated into new theoretical models of the way a city with a strong, dual Hispanic culture is formed.

"We are looking at the social and personal lives of San Antonio's native Mexican American residents and immigrants on both sides of the border," said Romo, co-principal investigator.

The project's National Advisory Board recently met at the Downtown Campus for an overview of the group's work to date and to refine questionnaires used in field interviews conducted for the study. Board member Philip Kasinitz, chairman of sociology at City University of New York Graduate Center shared his experiences in conducting similar studies in the New York area.

The transnational city project was featured Sunday, July 7 in San Antonio Express-News columnist Ed Tijerina's "Around the Town."

----------------------------------------------------------

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

Lecture discusses Mexican American middle-class identity
UTSA Archives to collect flood photographs and stories
One city, two cultures, much to learn
Institute of Texan Cultures presents "Tornadoes: Into the Storm"
July 19 selected as make-up day for class hours lost due to weather
UTSA ID = free admission to San Antonio Museum of Art

UTSA Today Front Page

----------------------------------------------------------