Greetings from the city of immigrants and movie stars, where the 
proliferation of urban violence and gated communities spawns so many 
miles of visible and invisible border regions that it's no wonder 
people say there's no "here" here...and the only respite is escaping 
to the ultimate border, the end of these not-so United States and the 
beginning of the Pacific. Greeting from Los Angeles, California.

Ah, yes, it's time to introduce myself. I've been enjoying 
the mailing list a long time but have been a bit 
meek about presenting my own issues...
I'll do a little background and then make a few queries so if you're 
in a hurry, zip down to the questions section and send me a line or 
two of response if you can.

My name is Tatiana Harrison and I have an undergraduate degree 
(graduated June 98) in 
Radio-TV-Film from Northwestern University (in Chicago). What began 
as an interest in Wall-era Berlin grew into a facination with the US-
Mexico border towns and eventually finds me now reading entries from 
the 
Encyclopedia of International Boundaries as bedtime-stories-of-sorts 
and chasing leads on any institution remotely devoted to border 
research such as this one.
My definition of border region is roughly (and open to amendment) 
"any space of transition" and my fantasy (i.e. 10-year-plan) is to 
direct/oversee a sort of serial 
documentary show on some far-flung cable network that would showcase 
a different "border region," as per my definition each week. For 
example: week one, the case of the murder of women working at 
maquiladoras on the border near Ciudad Juarez; week two, someone 
coping with the last days of their life as 
they make the transition from living to dying; week three, exploring 
ecotones (the region where two ecosystems meet, like meadow and 
forest) and the unique interaction of life forms in this region; week 
four, learning about the tropopause and other atmospheric phenomenon 
(the tropopause being why you see clouds cut off making them look 
like anvils...it's at this place that the atmosphere meets 
the stratosphere-- uh-oh, that might be a bit off...I need more 
research); week five, following a scientist and policy maker as they 
work to delineate maritime boundaries; week six, report on the 
refugee camps in Albania 10 miles from Serb troops; week seven, a 
child of parents of different races or religions talks about 
negotiations of identity taking place in the household...
I could go on and on but that's enough, don't you think. Scott 
Michaelsen in his book Border Theory: the Limits of Cultural Politics 
stated my interest best; I want to study "negotiation of identity in 
liminal regions." How does one form his/her/its identity and sense of 
self and definition of self in border regions. I'm not just talking 
about if you're going to call yourself Chicano or American or Los 
Angelino but also how does a meadow creature adapt itself in a space 
where its near forest creatures, as in ecotones. In a sense, I think 
I'm intested in studying balance, as in balance struck between two 
distinct tendencies (those "tendencies" could be countries, etc.): 
how is it achieved, how is it lost, 
what kinds of different balances can there be. The image of the 
surfer, the ice skater are useful to me: these athletes, as others, 
speak about being in "the zone," finding "the sweet spot" where they 
are in 
perfect balance with the elements, neither two far left nor too far 
right nor front nor back, and can thus harness the energy and 
the potential of these elements. Border regions can be edges we can 
fall off or meeting places with unparalleled capacity for 
communication. It may seem quite unorthodox to mention Kosovo 
refugees and surfers in the same paragraph and under some quasi-
heading but I'm throwing it out there for consideration.

Now, onto questions:
given the "border" category that I have defined above (under some 
classification scheme perhaps unheard-of-as-yet), does anyone know 
somewhere I could study this? I would assume that 
sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, geography-- all these are 
possible departments I could look into. Do you think the MA in 
International Boundaries at the University of Durham would be useful 
so I could understand the lexicon and 
discipline of geographical boundary research? Basically, I feel it 
would be a matter of finding a techer or a few teachers who could 
help me shape my major into the border subject. While I am interested 
in boundaries from a literary, cinematic, documentary pov I do 
realize I can't do all this until I have a strong background into 
something a little less-shall we say-abstract. Or does anyone have 
ideas on organizations that do a lot of work in border regions that I 
could volunteer with? The IBRU perhaps? Is anyone working on a 
project, scientific or otherwise, they need some help with? 
Tagging onto this line of questioning, does anyone know any 
sociological, philosophical, etc. texts that specifically track the 
issue of liminality, otherness, border "creatures", or any theory in 
this area. For instance, I have found french philosopher Jacques 
Derrida's concept of "aporia" very useful to my work.

Only one last thing, I promise:
I will be taking a month and a half long photo-essay/research trip to 
South America and hope to travel up from Cape Horn to the US criss-
crossing the borders of as many countries at as many spots as 
possible. I am really 
hoping to make some contacts of people to talk to, interview even, 
who 
live and work in this area. Even if you don't know anyone, has anyone 
travelled or done work in the area? I plan to combine some flying 
with mostly bus or train and I really would like to be pointed to 
interesting border towns, striking aethetically or historically or 
both or for any other reason. I would like this to be a trip where I 
study subtle changes in the shades and tones of the southern 
hemisphere bleeding into the northern, in the political, cultural, 
economic, sociological, you name it, arena. I am looking specifically 
for a spot I heard of on the border of Ecuador and Peru I think in 
which two rivers of two different colors come together and you have a 
striking contrast of colors in the same stream. Has anyone visited 
this place?

I find it difficult to find out info about travelling in border 
regions so I will certainly be hoping for some replies and will 
undoubtably rephrase and condense my request if it seems I haven't 
been clear.

I hope all is well with you all out there, good luck with your own 
work and write back soon.
Tatiana

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