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Conferences and Workshops

USMEX continues to have a strong tradition of promoting original and policy-relevant research through conferences and workshops. Led by faculty experts at GPS and across campus, while often drawing on insights from outside scholars and practitioners, these activities also enrich classroom learning.

Upcoming Events

There are no upcoming conferences or workshops at this time.

Featured Past Events

Cátedras INEGI

Cátedras INEGI
Nov. 6-9, 2023 | Video 1 | Video 2

The Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at UC San Diego, in collaboration with the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), orchestrated a series of conferences in San Diego, CA from Nov. 6 to 9.

The primary objective of these conferences was to scrutinize the content of various surveys conducted by INEGI. Throughout these academic sessions, scholars and students convened to explore topics related to economic resources, gender-based violence, land cover maps, natural capital valuation, discrimination, household dynamics, and economic censuses, among other pertinent subjects.

Mexico and Israel: Lessons on Our Respective Relationship with the U.S.

Mexico and Israel: Lessons on Our Respective Relationship with the U.S.
Sept. 22, 2022 | Agenda [PDF] | Report [PDF]
Israel and Mexico have much to learn from each other as some of the major U.S. international partners. On Sept. 21, 2022, the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy and Reichman University coordinated a conference titled “Mexico and Israel: Lessons on Our Respective Relationship with the U.S.” to bring together some of these countries’ academic and public leaders to discuss consular diplomacy, diaspora lobbying, public opinion and the economy.

Conference on USMCA and Global Supply Chains/Global Leaders Forum

Conference on USMCA and Global Supply Chains: An Assessment After One Year
Oct. 21–22, 2021
The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) went into effect on July 1, 2020, during unprecedented global uncertainty. The pandemic, trade wars, natural disasters and rising geopolitical tensions affected the resilience, robustness and reliability of regional and global supply chains. The purpose of this conference was to assess the USMCA after its first year of operation, to generate actionable responses to the unanticipated challenges and opportunities it has faced. Co-sponsored with the Center for Commerce and DiplomacyThis conference was organized with the support of Otay-Tijuana Venture, L.L.C.

Leaders weigh in on North American trade policy during Global Leaders Forum
Oct. 29, 2021 | By Virginia Watson | GPS News
Former U.S. ambassador Christopher Landau and former head of World Bank Robert Zoellick share insights on the pandemic, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and how North America can position itself in the global economy.

The Opportunities and Pitfalls of Legalizing Drugs: Lessons from California

The Opportunities and Pitfalls of Legalizing Drugs: Lessons from California
Aug. 27, 2020
As Mexico prepares to legalize cannabis, several questions remain on the impacts it will have on other drug markets and violence. This webinar brings together experts from academia, government, and the private sector to discuss what are the lessons that the largest legal cannabis market in the world offers to Mexico. It will also address questions around the legal economy of prescription opioids in the US and challenges with poppy licencing in Turkey and India.

Presenters:
- Emilio Camacho, Deputy City Attorney Sacramento
- Vanda Felbab-Brown, Brookings Institution
- Catalina Pérez-Correa, CIDE
- Tania Ramírez, México Unido Contra la Delincuencia
- Joshua Veal, Lumpy's Flowers
- Rafael Fernández de Castro, Director, USMEX

Beyond COVID-19: The Future of California-Mexico Relations

Beyond COVID-19: The Future of California-Mexico Relations [Webinar]
July 14, 2020
The University of California, through the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies and Alianza UCMX, invites you to a conversation with California's Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis. Lt. Governor Kounalakis will discuss health cooperation at the border, economic cooperation and essential workers in California and the decision made by the state to assist undocumented immigrants throughout the state.

Diálogo con Eduardo Porter

Diálogo con Eduardo Porter [Webinar, in Spanish]
April 30, 2020
Diálogo con Eduardo Porter, Reportero de New York Times sobre "Veneno Americano: Cómo el Racismo Destruyó el Sueño Americano", con comentarios de Julia Preston, quien fue corresponsal de asuntos migratorios de The New York Times durante diez años.

Latin America 2020 with Former President of Costa Rica Laura Chinchilla

Latin America 2020 with Former President of Costa Rica Laura Chinchilla
Feb. 20, 2020 | Agenda [PDF]
Across Latin America, countries are faced with limited economic growth and growing political polarization and instability. During the keynote address by former Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla Miranda and the expert panel, we will discuss pathways to improving citizen security and human rights across the continent to provide a basis for a new wave of prosperity. The talk will be followed by a tango music performance by San Diego’s Camarada with special guest Raul Jaurena, tango master and accomplished bandoneonist.

The Mexico-California and Mexico-Texas Relationships

The Mexico-California and Mexico-Texas Relationships
Oct. 18, 2019 
If Texas and California were countries, they would be the second and third most important international relations for Mexico and many of its sub-State Governments (SSG). Mexico is the most important country for these two U.S. states and shares a border with both. However, the academic work on the relationship between Mexican and U.S. SSG is very scarce, and between the Mexican and U.S. federal governments and the SSG of the other country, it is practically nonexistent. This workshop served as a place to explore ideas and proposals for the chapters of a book.

From NAFTA to USMCA: The New Deal and What's Missing

Nov. 19, 2018
With the impending signature and ratification of the United States, Mexico and Canada Agreement (USMCA), the conference provided a comprehensive review of what wins and losses in the new trade deal. Additionally, the conference provided a forum for discussion and debate as well as explore some missing elements such as the aspirations and emerging importance of indigenous peoples and the role of states, provinces and municipalities in promoting and defending the North American trade agenda.

López Obrador's #1 Campaign Pledge: Ending Corruption

Oct. 19, 2018 | Agenda [PDF]
The campaign platform of Mexico’s President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador included vows to end corruption in the Mexican government and drive out the political mafia running the country. As the Dec. 1 inauguration nears, his anti-corruption strategy continues to take shape. We discussed the challenges and opportunities ahead with academics and members of civil society.

Mexico's 2018 Elections: Institutions, Polls and Party Platforms

March 12, 2018
In four months Mexicans will elect 629 federal officials — including the president, 500 representatives and 128 senators — and close to 2,800 local officials, including 9 governors. A half-day roundtable examined the current institutional context and party platforms of the main political coalitions in the country: PRI, PAN-PRD and Morena.

Rethinking the War on Drugs and U.S.-Mexico Security Cooperation

Feb. 9, 2018
An international conference, in partnership with the University of San Diego Justice in Mexico Program, examined Mexico's security challenges, evaluated the status of current U.S.-Mexico security cooperation and proposed practical solutions for policymakers in the U.S. and Mexico.

Challenges for Dreamers in Trump’s America

Dec. 4, 2017 | Slideshow | Agenda
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program allowed young people who had either entered or remained in the U.S. without a visa to receive a work permit and a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation. As of 2017, approximately 800,000 individuals — often referred to as Dreamers — were enrolled in DACA. This event highlighted the integration and political mobilization of the Dreamers, as well as the significant challenges that they face as a result of President Trump’s decision to rescind the program.

Mexico’s 2018 Elections: What is at Stake?

Nov. 2, 2017 | Fact Sheet
In July 2018, Mexicans will go to the polls to elect a new President and both houses of Congress, as well as thousands of state and local officials in 30 states. The half-day conference addressed the significant challenges that Mexico’s electoral authority faces, and speakers discussed crucial issues of campaign finance, re-election and the vote of Mexicans abroad.

Redefining Relations for North American Prosperity

Sept. 18, 2017 
Attendees joined us for a presentation of the report by COMEXI on "Redefining Relations for North American Prosperity” that outlines a series of specific recommendations for each of the main components of the U.S.-Mexico relationship: trade, security, migration and diplomacy.

Housing Across Borders: Mexican and U.S. Housing in Perspective

May 26, 2017 | Additonal Information
The aim of this conference was to discuss housing in Mexico and the U.S. together: looking for connections, identifying elements for comparison, and exploring common processes shaping housing—broadly construed—on both sides of the border. 

The Political Life of Cultural Production in the 21st Century

April 19-21, 2017
This workshop started off with a keynote by political theorist and assistant professor at University of Oregon Anita Chari who discussed the aesthetics of political hysteria. The keynote was followed by an all-day workshop and then the Center’s quarterly Frontera Friday, which focused on art and cultural institution at the border.

Free Trade in the Age of Trump

March 30, 2017 | Slideshow | Agenda (PDF)
This workshop will provide an opportunity to critically evaluate the distribution of the pressures that globalization and free trade have placed on particular groups or industries in North America and analyze the ways in which U.S. policymakers can approach future structural adjustments to limit and more equitably distribute these pressures across society.

Conversations on the Future of the North American Economic Partnership

Feb. 27, 2017 | Additional Information
This daylong set of conversations featured thought leaders from policy circles, industry and academia on the future of the North American partnership. Sessions focused on: The Future of the North American Economy, The Spillovers of NAFTA: Diplomacy and Security and The Road Ahead.

Circulation, Transfer and Adaptation of Knowledge, Norms and Techniques in Environmental History between Europe and the Americas

Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies Workshop
April 15, 2016 | Agenda (PDF)
This workshop discussed the internationalization of environmental knowledge, focusing on the creation, transmission, circulation and adaptation of expertise, norms, experience and technological innovations in Europe and Mexico and the Americas between the 17th and 20th centuries.

Nahuatl Across Borders” (“El Nahuatl Cruzando Fronteras”)

April 4, 2015 | Slideshow | Additional Information
A colloquium on the Nahuatl language and cultural revitalization in Mexico and the U.S., with participation from American and Mexican scholars, educators, activists and community organizers.

Citizenship, Security & Human Rights in Mexico and Central America

Jan. 15 – Jan. 16, 2015 | Additional Information
In this two-day conference, we examined the consequences of insecurity, as well as citizen and policymaker reaction to violence.

International Diaspora Engagement Alliance – Diaspora Tour

Oct. 13, 2014 | Slideshow | Additional Information
Part of a series of events hosted by the International Diaspora Engagement Alliance, UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla joined USMEX for this daylong conference aimed to highlight the role of diaspora communities,and to engage with them in collaborative efforts with the private sector, civil society and public institutions.

Libertad Bajo Palabra: Censorship, Satire and the Press in Mexico

May 1, 2014 | Slideshow | Additional Information
This daylong conference brought together papers that will enrich our understanding of both the past and the present of Mexican journalism, from the experience of the PRI regime to the process of democratization and the contemporary specter ofnarcoviolence.

A Reporter's Journey through Mexico's Drug War

April 30, 2014
Speaker: Alfredo Corchado, Mexico bureau chief, Dallas Morning News and author of "Midnight in Mexico"
Alfredo Corchado is a noted expert on immigration, drug violence and foreign policy between the United States and Mexico. Corchado presented the keynote address to the May 1 conference "Libertad Bajo Palabra: Censorship, Satire and the Press in Mexico."

Territoriality, Conflict & the Polis in New Spain: The Creation of Colonial Communities after the Great Death

Jan. 23, 2014
This conference studied the massive relocation of indigenous populations by the Spanish crown at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries, generally known as the reduccionesor congregaciones de Indiosin the Americas. We brought together a multidisciplinary group of archaeologists, historians, art historians, demographers and political scientists.

New Perspectives on Corruption in Mexico

May 16 - 17, 2013 | Additional Information
This two-day symposium on "Transparency, Democracy, and Reform: New Perspectives on Corruption in Mexico" brought together scholars working on different aspects of corruption to provide valuable new perspectives on both the history and implications of PRI and PAN-era venality in the 20th and 21st centuries.

USMEX Associates Conference

April 25 - 26, 2013 | Additional Information
A two-day conference that promoted discussion and dissemination of some of the most promising new scholarship on Mexico. In addition, a roundtable discussion focused on the recent comparisons in the general media and policy debates between Mexico and China.

Crime and Justice in Mexico

May 26 - 27, 2011 | Additional Information
One of the major challenges facing Mexico today is the construction of efficient and reliable judicial institutions that are also respectful of laws and individual rights. This two-day workshop sought to address these concerns while bringing works from different disciplines and approaches together in addition to accounting for statements and experiences in the administration of justice.

Space and Place in Latin American History

May 20, 2011 | Additional Information
Historians of Latin America are increasingly turning to questions of space to understand how localities, regions and territories have been transformed under different circumstances and in different periods of time. The workshop provided a dialogue for spatial historians of Latin America who are working on diverse topics using different methods.

Mexican Independence between the Pacific and the Atlantic

April 1, 2011 | Additional Information
In 2010, Mexico celebrated the Bicentennial of its independence and at the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) meeting in Toronto that year, a lively discussion amongst scholars took place on the nature of Mexican and Latin American Independence and the Atlantic. This workshop built upon that theme of Mexican Independence and its legacies, between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.