Crossing Borders connects cultures for University of Wis. students.

• Date: 13 August 2007
• Author: Zemlicka, Jack

Byline: Jack Zemlicka

Long lines, scorching temperatures and an eye-opening experience are things one might expect at Summerfest. But for seven students the combination came more than 1,500 miles south of Wisconsin in a significantly more surreal setting. The students enrolled in the University of Wisconsin summer course, "Crossing Borders: Environmental Justice at the Mexico/U.S. Border," a month-long experience which included extended stays in Brownsville, Texas and Matamoros, Mexico. Both cities are hotbeds of cultural, environmental and economic strife and provided exposure to the essence of environmental justice. In addition to working on service learning projects, including a tour of an updated landfill in Matamoros, the experience shaped perspectives on immigration. "Making the crossing everyday takes incredible effort, time, and patience; something for which I was not accustomed to as an American," said Susana Valdez-Shogren, a native of South America who attends Edgewood College in Madison. "At the end of the day, taking...