In Context with School for Advanced Research

What if the real story of the border isn’t about walls at all? In this episode, we explore how rivers, irrigation projects, and trade routes have bound together and divided the U.S., Mexico, and Canada over nearly two centuries.In this episode, Paul and C. J. discuss: Personal roots in the U.S.–Mexico borderlands and origins of the projectTransformation of the border through massive construction and engineeringParadox of closed-border policing vs. open-border trade and transportationWater infrastructure, irrigation, and the creation of migrant labor demandSystemic flaws, compensatory infrastructure, and the disfiguring of the Rio GrandeKey Takeaways: The U.S.–Mexico border is not a single, uniform place but a 2,000-mile span of diverse ecosystems, cultures, and landscapes that defies simple political narratives.Over the last 175+ years, the border has been physically made visible and “legible” through mega-projects, dams, canals, roads, and fences, layered one atop another.Water engineering and irrigation projects have not only transformed rivers but also generated powerful economic magnets for migrant labor, tightly linking hydrology to human movement.Many contemporary crises at the border stem from earlier grand projects and policies; new “solutions” often serve as compensatory layers that attempt to fix problems those very systems created.The most profound environmental damage along the border has been done to the river itself, especially the Rio Grande, whose flow, shape, and ecology have been radically altered, challenging us to rethink our relationship with the more-than-human world.“The border has always been open, and the border has always been closed. The only question is, to whom and to what and when?” - C. J. AlvarezEpisode Resources:Book: Border Land, Border Water: A History of Construction on the U.S.–Mexico Divide - https://utpress.utexas.edu/9781477319017/ About C. J. Alvarez: Dr. C. J. Alvarez is an environmental historian whose work explores deserts, the built environment, and the U.S.–Mexico border. He is the author of Border Land, Border Water: A History of Construction on the U.S.-Mexico Divide (2019), a deeply researched study that connects border infrastructure, such as survey markers, fencing, and surveillance systems, to the history of river engineering and large-scale hydraulic projects. His current book project, The Arid Heart, traces the history of the Chihuahuan Desert from the end of the last Ice Age, drawing on Indigenous oral histories, archaeological evidence, and environmental data to craft a multi-millennial narrative and experiment with ecocentric approaches to history. His work has been supported by an Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship at the School for Advanced Research, and he has served as a visiting fellow at the Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah. Alvarez earned his doctorate in history from the University of Chicago after studying art history at Harvard and Stanford, and he continues to draw inspiration from his upbringing in Las Cruces, New Mexico.Connect with C. J. Alvarez: Website: https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/mals/faculty/ca29356 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/c-j-alvarez-5935ba37/ Connect with Paul Ryer & School for Advanced Research:Website: https://sarweb.org/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@sarsantafemultimedia LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-ryer-4a4889156   Show notes by Podcastologist: Francine PobleteAudio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

In this episode, Paul, Carl, and Heidi discuss:What it feels like to live in Minneapolis amid intensified ICE and Border Patrol operations.The role of legal observers and rapid response networks in documenting enforcement activity.The power and limits of social media in organizing, surveillance, and public accountability.How churches, small businesses, musicians, and neighborhood groups are reshaping civil society in real time.Key Takeaways: Minneapolis residents describe the current ICE presence as feeling like a “military occupation,” yet alongside fear and exhaustion, there is a profound sense of solidarity and shared purpose.Legal observers play a critical role in documenting law enforcement actions, providing evidence for court cases, and countering official misinformation.Social media has become both a democratizing force for transparency and a potential tool for surveillance and misinformation, highlighting the need for in-person organizing alongside digital tools.Universities and institutional leadership may lag behind grassroots movements, even when faculty, students, and community members are deeply engaged.“Everybody just wants to figure out some way to help, and all you have to do is give them some opportunity to do that, and they will leap in happily, willingly.” - Carl Elliott“There is so much power in people standing up for their rights and supporting their neighbors.” - Heidi Reynolds-StensonEpisode Resources:Cultures of Resistance: Collective Action and Rationality in the Anti-Terror Age by Heidi Reynolds-StensonThe Occasional Human Sacrifice: Medical Experimentation and the Price of Saying No by Carl ElliottAbout Carl Elliott: Carl Elliott is a professor of philosophy at the University of Minnesota, where he joined the Center for Bioethics in 1997. Originally from Clover, South Carolina, he trained in both medicine and philosophy at Davidson College, the Medical University of South Carolina, and the University of Glasgow. A Guggenheim Fellow and recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar Award, Elliott has also held fellowships at the Library of Congress, the Rockefeller Center in Bellagio, and the School for Advanced Research. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times, Mother Jones, and The American Scholar. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife, Ina, and their three children.About Heidi Reynolds-Stenson: Heidi Reynolds-Stenson earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Arizona in 2018 and soon after joined the faculty at Colorado State University Pueblo. Her research focuses on social movements, protest, and policing, and she is the author of a book and several scholarly articles on these topics. Her current projects examine the impact of Black Lives Matter protests on police reform, historical shifts in protest policing, and legal consciousness surrounding family responsibilities discrimination.Connect with Carl Elliott: Website: https://www.carl-elliott.com/ More Information: https://cla.umn.edu/about/directory/profile/ellio023 Connect with Heidi Reynolds-Stenson: Website: https://www.dr-hrs.com/ More Information: https://www.csupueblo.edu/profile/heidi-reynolds-stenson/index.htmlThis is a link to download a PDF that includes Rapid Response Phone Numbers for all 50 states if you ever need assistance: https://www.cliniclegal.org/file-download/download/public/80156 Connect with Paul Ryer & School for Advanced Research:Website: https://sarweb.org/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@sarsantafemultimedia LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-ryer-4a4889156   Show notes by Podcastologist: Francine PobleteAudio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

In this episode, Paul, Maurizio, Parker, Steven, and James discuss:How AI and machine learning have changed the approach to archeological research.Understanding the paradigm shift AI brings to archaeology.Multi-factorial and the human factor.Ethical considerations surrounding AI, indigenous communities, and cultural heritage.Key Takeaways:We are currently in a stage of experimentation where we are figuring out what AI and machine learning are good at doing. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.Multi-factorial analysis allows for gathering and analyzing information at scale, generating new knowledge and opening up lines of questioning.AI is not an all-seeing eye to identify all archaeological sites. It will not replace the human archaeologist with human-interpretive skills. We need to be intentional about how we engage with AI technology and the types of questions we ask of it.“If we leave technology to the technology or to the technologists, we miss the point, which is ethical analysis, discussion of different ontologies and human interpretation, which is necessary in many terms.” - Dr. Maurizio ForteEpisode Resources:Artificial intelligence rethinks the past: How computers are reconstructing Etruscan and Roman landscapesVision Foundation Models in Remote Sensing: A surveyAugmenting field data with archaeological imagery survey: mapping hilltop fortifications on the north coast of PeruAbout Dr. Forte: Dr. Maurizio Forte is the William and Sue Gross Distinguished Professor of Classical Studies, Art, Art History, and Visual Studies at Duke University. He is a pioneer in digital archaeology, integrating technologies such as virtual reality, AI, and neuroaesthetics into the study of ancient civilizations. As the founder of the Dig@Lab at Duke, he leads interdisciplinary research at the intersection of cultural heritage and emerging technologies. Dr. Forte currently serves as an AAAS-SPTF Fellow and advisor for cultural heritage and neurodiplomacy at the U.S. Department of State.Connect with Maurizio:Website: maurizioforte.comAbout Dr. VanValkenburgh: Dr. Parker VanValkenburgh is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Brown University and Interim Director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. His research focuses on the long-term impacts of colonialism and imperialism on Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Andes. Utilizing archaeological methods, GIS, and remote sensing, he co-directs projects like the Paisajes Arqueológicos de Chachapoyas (PACha) and the Geospatial Platform for Andean Culture, History, and Archaeology (GeoPACHA).Connect with Parker:Website: vivo.brown.edu/display/pvanvalkAbout Dr. Wernke: Dr. Steven Wernke is a Professor and Chair of Anthropology at Vanderbilt University, where he directs the Spatial Analysis Research Laboratory and the Vanderbilt Institute for Spatial Research. His work centers on the lived experiences of Indigenous communities during the Inka and Spanish colonial periods in the Andes. By combining archaeological and documentary datasets within geospatial frameworks, he explores how new communities and landscapes emerged from colonial encounters.Connect with Steven:Website: stevenwernke.comAbout Dr. Zimmer-Dauphinee: Dr. James Zimmer-Dauphinee is an archaeologist specializing in computational archaeology, GIS, and machine learning. Affiliated with Vanderbilt University, his research applies AI and remote sensing to understand the spatial dynamics of colonization and Indigenous land use in the Andes. He has contributed to projects like GeoPACHA, enhancing large-scale archaeological surveys through AI-assisted satellite imagery analysis.Connect with James:Website: as.vanderbilt.edu/anthropology/bio/james-zimmer-dauphineeConnect with Paul Ryer & School for Advanced Research:Website: sarweb.orgYouTube: youtube.com/@sarsantafemultimediaLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/paul-ryer-4a4889156