Digital Borderlands Podcast – Digital Borderlands

About the Podcast

The Digital Borderlands Podcast highlights a range of library resources and services that create culturally responsive opportunities for collaborative research and data-intensive, digital storytelling about the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. By focusing on stories of diversity, resilience, and counter-narratives, the main goals of Digital Borderlands is to provide tools and services that can represent a more complete and nuanced image of the borderlands.

This podcast was produced by Digital Borderlands in the Classroom interns. Under the direction of Alana Varner these four graduate interns came together to design, produce, and publish four episodes as part of the Digital Borderlands Podcast.

Each episode addresses the following questions:

How can we increase engagement with library tools through the diverse academic curriculum taught at our institution?
How can students, faculty, staff and the community benefit from these resources throughout their academic journey?

Join the digital borderlands in the classroom interns in speaking with library professionals, instructors, and researchers to explore the heart of the borderlands, engage in community building, and learn more about how library services can foster creative intercultural exchange while making a difference in the borderlands.

Episodes

Episode 1– Borderlands in the Archives: Teaching with Place and Memory In this episode, we learn about the University of Arizona Special Collections, and how it partners with instructors to bring archival materials into the classroom, creating hands-on learning experiences that enrich student engagement and understanding. This episode features two guests: Melanie “Mele” Martinez, a Digital Borderlands Faculty Fellow and instructor of Borderlands English 101. We also hear from Maggie Dwenger, Assistant Librarian, Public Services and Instruction Lead and her work with Mele in engaging her students in rare and distinctive materials found in Special Collections that are reflective of the borderlands. This episode was produced by graduate intern Elena Calderon, PhD candidate in the Higher Education program.

Episode 2– CATalyst for Change: Designing Public-Facing Research This episode explores CATalyst Studios, a makerspace at the University of Arizona Libraries that is open to students, faculty, staff, and the broader community. Our two featured guests Digital Design and Fabrication Specialist, Niko Sanchez, and Assistant Professor in Public/Applied Humanities, Jacqueline Jean Barrios discuss how to bring innovative projects to and how to integrate resources from CATalyst Studios into the classroom. This episode is brought to you by Digital Borderlands, a multi-phase grant project housed within the University of Arizona Libraries and funded by the Mellon Foundation. This episode was produced by graduate intern Andres Caballero, MFA candidate in Photo, Video & Imaging at the School of Art.

Episode 3– Research Engagement: Digital Storytelling & Transborder Thinking This episode explores the Research Engagement department at the University of Arizona Libraries and the role of digital tools in transborder thinking. Featured guests include Sylvia Fernandez Quintanilla, Assistant Professor in Public and Digital Humanities at the University of Texas in San Antonio and Digital Borderlands Institute keynote speaker. We also hear from Megan Senseney, Research Engagement Department Head. Tune in to learn more about how students, faculty, and the community can utilize digital technologies and tools with humanities research, pedagogy, and knowledge production. This episode is brought to you by Digital Borderlands, a multi-phase grant project housed within the University of Arizona Libraries and funded by the Mellon Foundation. This Digital Borderlands podcast was collaboratively created by Digital Borderlands interns. Dugan Meyer conducted interviews and supported early production, Paullette Nevarez contributed as a segment host, and Elena Calderon led the editing and final production of the episode.

Episode 4– DISCAPAZ: Reimagining Accessibility in Borderlands Research In this episode, we learn about the University of Arizona’s Digital Borderlands project, which from 2020–2023 supported open access humanities research on the U.S./Mexico borderlands. We feature the DISCAPAZ project, led by the Sonoran Center for Excellence in Disabilities, with guests Jacy Farkas, Director, and Celina Urquidez, Senior Coordinator of Education and Training, who share their work advancing accessibility and inclusion in borderlands research. This episode is brought to you by Digital Borderlands, a multi-phase grant project housed within the University of Arizona Libraries and funded by the Mellon Foundation. This episode was produced by graduate intern Paulette Nevarez, Ph.D. student in Educational Policy and Leadership.

The Graduate Interns

Andrés Caballero (he/him) Originally from Mexico City and currently based in Tucson, my research as a visual artist explores the complex realities of migration, surveillance, and marginalization across the US/Mexico border. I interrogate dominant narratives imposed by mass media and institutions, asking how visual technologies are designed for control, and how they can be reclaimed to foster agency and social justice. Through ethnographic research and constant travel along the borderlands, I aim to present these regions not as sites of conflict, but as places of community and cultural heritage. As a native Spanish speaker, I build these projects in collaboration with the Mexican community of Arizona, prioritizing public presentations in non-institutional spaces. As a final-year MFA candidate in Photo, Video & Imaging at the School of Art, I initially examined Mexican wrestling along the borderlands. Supported by the Mellon Fronteridades Graduate Fellowship, I led a research project with four families, embracing an open exchange of ideas and prioritizing their agency in self-representation. This culminated in a solo exhibition at the Lionel Rombach Gallery featuring photography, screenprints, and 360° VR videos. Rather than depicting Lucha Libre merely as spectacle, the exhibition emphasized its significance as a living tradition fostering belonging, reaffirming cultural identity, and creating visibility and pride for Mexican families.

Elena Calderón (she/her) Elena is a first-generation Latina college graduate and higher education professional. She was born in Mexico, raised in Washington State, and currently calls Arizona home. Elena is a strong advocate for access to higher education, with specific experience in advocating for undocumented students, in-state tuition access, and supporting transfer pathways. Elena’s professional expertise includes teaching student success college courses, working one-on-one with students, and motivating students through public speaking and storytelling. Elena is the author of the blog “UndocuJoy” where she shares stories of growing up undocumented, while focusing on aspects of joy which can often be overlooked within immigration narratives. Additionally, Elena is the producer and host of the podcast “The Daily Elena” where she shares stories of first-generation immigrants in the US. Elena is a PhD student in the Higher Education Program at the University of Arizona where she utilizes qualitative arts-based research methods such as collage, poems, and narratives to understand undocumented students’ experiences of navigating higher education. Elena hopes to use her findings to effect change on college campuses and assure that all students, regardless of legal status, can succeed.

Dugan Meyer (he/him) Dugan Meyer is a geographer and artist whose work focuses on policing and (in)security in the United States. He is especially interested in the infrastructural dimensions of police power, particularly how policing produces and shapes social landscapes in a variety of contexts, from border regimes to housing markets to a range of affective economies. He is currently a PhD student in the School of Geography, Development & Environment.

Since 2023, Dugan has been studying and documenting the rapidly expanding ‘system of systems’ of U.S. border surveillance and security infrastructure along the length of the U.S./Mexico border with the aim of producing a visual archive of police power in the borderlands.

Through collaborations with migrant justice groups, other researchers and artists, journalists, and educators, he tries to help raise awareness about the impacts of policing on borderlands communities and contribute to a broad movement for justice on behalf of all of us who move throughout this region. You can see samples of this work on his website at www.duganmeyer.com.

Paulette Nevarez (she/her/Ella). Paulette is a proud Latina raised in San Luis, Arizona. Growing up in a border town profoundly shaped her perspective on higher education and inspired her commitment to serving border communities. She earned her Master’s in Public Health from the University of Arizona and will begin her Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Leadership in Fall 2025. Her goal is to advance educational initiatives that center student success, ensuring that Latine and all students have access to the resources, culturally relevant support, and equitable education they need to thrive and build bright futures.

Paulette has recently launched a social media platform called Grads Sin Fronteras, a space dedicated to building community, providing support, sharing resources, and increasing representation in higher education. She has worked on projects focused on amplifying the disability experience in the borderlands, assisting in the development of trauma-informed curricula for healthcare professionals working with individuals with disabilities, engaging with Hispanic-Serving Institutions, connecting asylum seekers with essential resources, and participating in fellowships that prepare community advocates for educational leadership and potential roles like running for school board. Through all her work, Paulette remains committed to creating inclusive, justice-driven spaces where historically marginalized communities can thrive.