HIST GR8495

I learnt about the theorization of the borderlands, the limits of state power, the ethics of writing history about the borderlands, and the utility of different methodologies in discussing the borderlands areas.

This course did a lot to widen my perspective on nation-state or 'international' history more broadly. I too learned a great deal about US/Mexico history through this borderlands lense, which I found both useful and fascinating.

The biggest takeaway from the course was its comparative aspect. By complementing, in an interesting dichotomy, Karl's familiarity and specialisation on the US- Mexico border with Manan's own work, expertise, and lived experience, the common fabric from which all borderlands are weaved becomes readily apparent through the explorations of violence, carcerality, social life, environment, and sovereignty detailed by the works studied. The course teaches critical evaluations of the state and state violence, challenges students and candidates to explore non-Western epistemes, and provides a robust understanding of the larger historiography of Borderlands.

Huge amount. Developed my critical reading skills; familiarity with borderlands historiography; pushed myself to consider new modes of historical writing.

This was the best course I took all semester. I learned so much about the Mexican border, colonization in the US, Mexico, South and Southeast Asia. I learned even more about how to do history. Very careful attention to word choice, sources, whether the narratives we read uphold or question state power. There is a great selection of reading from all kinds of fields, from histories, ethnologies, journalism, all kinds of great stuff. Really fun challenging course.

Should be a mandatory course for history candidates. 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Fall 2022 Course: HISTGR8495_001_2022_3-BORDERLANDSHISTORYCOLLOQUIUM : HISTGR8495_001_2022_3 - BORDERLANDS HISTORY COLLOQUIUM Instructor: Manan Ahmed

I learned the historiographical origins of borderlands and how it has been deployed in scholarship overtime. A key part of the course is reading the literature and coming up with one's own definition of what elements are essential to borderlands studies and how they operate in different contexts.

I learned a great deal about borders, borderlands, and bordermaking, especially through our class's framework of regimes and ordering. This was particularly effective for thinking on a transnational/global level and for considering how infrastructure, movement, and bodies become produced through borders.

Thinking about how to talk about the borderlands as a material and analytical framework, how to identify and apply borderland analytics in conversations with race, class and gender.

This course challenged me to question my previous nation-centric perspective of analysis. By adopting a borderlands framework, this course allowed us to analyse the individual, the nation, as well as the state and their relationships to one another. Additionally, through this course I developed skills in spatial analysis - using Google Maps and Google Earth for a time-lapse analysis.