Mexico-North Research Network First Annual Meeting May 24-30, 1998 Chihuahua, Mexico
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The first annual meeting of the Mexico-North Research Network was held on May 24-30, 1998, in Chihuahua, Mexico. This meeting was attended by sixty-eight individuals affiliated with twenty Mexican and fourteen U.S. institutions.
The meeting formally established the membership of the Network. Thirteen institutions either joined or indicated their intention to join the Network in the near future, and the representatives of a number of other institutions reported that their institutions probably will join in the months ahead. Dr. Susan Deeds of Northern Arizona University was selected to represent the membership on the Network's Board of Directors.
Meeting participants defined a basic vision for the Network and its principal objectives. These objectives are: (1) to promote exchange and collaboration among institutions, professional scholars, students, and the members of local communities on research, educational, and development projects focused on northern Mexico and the southwestern United States; (2) to facilitate the coordination of these and other projects and to ensure that the results are made available to a wide variety of audiences; (3) to increase opportunities for training and education at all levels; and (4) to cooperate with government agencies, other organizations, and local residents in improving the social and cultural conditions in the region.
The participants agreed that, by developing innovative approaches to achieving these objectives and by encouraging the formation of partnerships based on international collaboration among diverse institutions and individuals, the Network will help resolve many of the problems confronting research and education in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States.
They also identified a number of benefits that institutions will receive through membership in the Network, including the opportunity to undertake projects that could not be achieved by single institutions alone, to design projects in line with their particular interests and goals, and to compensate for gaps or weaknesses in their programs without major new financial investments.
The participants addressed basic issues of the Network's organization and defined general goals for three broad program areas: (1) Research, (2) Education, and (3) Funding. They also developed plans for specific projects within each of these program areas.
Planning and implementation of these projects will be coordinated by an office established in Chihuahua City, Chihuahua. This office also will be responsible for ensuring that the Network's members are informed of the Network's activities through a Web page and other media and will develop directories, manuals, informational databases, and similar materials to support their activities.
MEXICO-NORTH RESEARCH NETWORK
REPORT OF THE 1998 ANNUAL MEETING
The first annual meeting of the Mexico-North Research Network was held on May 24-30, 1998, in Chihuahua, Mexico. Sixty-eight individuals affiliated with twenty Mexican institutions and fourteen U.S. institutions participated, the majority as official representatives of their institutions. (A complete list of participants and their institutions appears at the end of this report).
The Holiday Inn in Chihuahua City served as the site for the first three days of the meeting, which began with a reception on Sunday evening followed by two days of general discussions. On Wednesday, May 27, the participants traveled to the Hotel Mansión Tarahumara, located at Areponápuchi on the edge of Chihuahua's Copper Canyon. There they devoted all day Thursday and Friday morning to focused discussions of potential program areas. The event concluded Friday afternoon with an overview of the results of the meeting
The meeting was characterized throughout by a lively exchange of perspectives directed toward defining the objectives of the Network, developing its membership, determining the kinds of projects in which it should engage, and designing strategies for planning and implementing these projects. The accomplishments of the meeting are presented here.
VISION
The participants felt that it is very important to establish from the outset a clear vision of what the Network is and to create guidelines for how it should endeavor to accomplish its objectives. Their conclusions in this regard are as follows:
The Network is a international, non-profit association of institutions whose representatives will determine its activities. It maintains no affiliations with any religious, political, or professional organization.
The Network will insist that all the activities with which it is associated conform to the highest standards of professional conduct and to the laws and regulations of the countries where they take place. It will develop a set of ethical principles to which all its members will subscribe.
It will concentrate on developing projects and programs that are innovative, of high quality, and most effective if based on collaboration among its members. It will encourage team-building and partnering among its member institutions and the individuals affiliated with them. It will undertake projects that complement rather than compete with those of its members and other organizations. It will explore the possibilities of new and emerging technologies but will apply the technology that is most appropriate to the realization of each of its projects.
The initial focus of the Network's activities will be northern Mexico and the southwestern United States, with an emphasis on the social sciences and humanities. It is hoped that scholars affiliated with its member institutions who specialize in the natural sciences and other disciplines also will begin collaborating on projects in the region and that the Network will facilitate the development of broad, cross-disciplinary and post-disciplinary approaches to research and education. Because membership in the Network is not limited to institutions with interests in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States, it is possible that the geographical focus of the Network's activities will eventually be broadened to include other areas.
The Network's activities will be coordinated by an office currently located in Chihuahua City, Mexico. This office will provide logistical support and coordinate fund-raising for the Network's projects and will ensure that the Network's members are informed of its activities through a Web page and other media. It also will work closely with its members institutions to develop internships, training workshops, and similar programs, and will serve as a clearinghouse for information on these and other educational opportunities available through the Network or its members. The staff of the coordinating office will include the minimum number of people needed to fulfill these functions. The Network will avoid creating an elaborate infrastructure that would limit its flexibility and increase its operating costs, relying as much as possible upon its member institutions to provide or develop the facilities and expertise required to realize its projects and programs.
The Network will endeavor to organize activities at as many of its member institutions as feasible and will collaborate with its members to develop financial resources to support the participation of their students, faculty, and staff in these activities.
On the basis of this vision, the objectives of the Mexico-North Research Network were defined as follows:
The participants agreed that, by developing innovative approaches to achieve these objectives, the Mexico-North Research Network will contribute in important ways to resolving a number of problems affecting research and education in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States, including primarily:
ORGANIZATION AND MEMBERSHIP
The Mexico-North Research Network was incorporated in the state of Virginia on January 14, 1998. The creation of a parallel organization in Mexico (to be known as "México-Norte/Red de Investigación y Educación") is currently underway. Copies of the Network's Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws were distributed to meeting participants. Additional copies can be requested from México-Norte, 16 de septiembre No. 402, Col. Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, Chihuahua 31020 México; tel: (14) 11-15-61; fax: (14) 18-00-60; e-mail: mexnor@chih1.telmex.net.mx.
Membership in the Network is restricted to institutions, each of which is required to pay an annual membership fee of $2000. By the conclusion of the meeting, thirteen institutions either joined or indicated their intention to join the Network in the near future. They are, in alphabetical order:
Centro Alameda (San Antonio,
Texas)
Centro del Futuro (Garza García, Nuevo León)
Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia (Chihuahua, Chihuahua)
Grupo Imperial (Ciudad Júarez, Chihuahua)
Hampshire College (Amherst, Massachusetts)
Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey
(Chihuahua,
Chihuahua)
Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff, Arizona)
Our Lady of the Lake University (San Antonio, Texas)
Smithsonian Institution (Washington, D.C.)
Sul Ross State University (Alpine, Texas)
Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez (Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua)
Universidad Regional del Norte (Chihuahua and Ciudad Juárez,
Chihuahua)
University of Texas at San Antonio (San Antonio, Texas)
Representatives of most of the other institutions who participated in the meeting indicated that they were convinced that membership in the Network would be of benefit to their institutions and that they would likely join in the months ahead.
The Network is governed by a Board of Directors, composed of one director elected by the membership and six directors elected by the Board itself. During the course of the meeting, Dr. Susan Deeds of Northern Arizona University was elected by the membership to the Board of Directors. Because the membership of the Network is in the process of being developed, Dr. Deeds's term will be restricted to one year and a new election will be held at the next annual meeting of the membership, at which point she or some other representative of the membership will serve for a three-year term. The other members of the current Board of Directors are Dr. J. Andrew Darling, Lic. Mónica Iturbide, Dr. William L. Merrill, and Prof. Luis Urías. Two additional board members will be selected in the near future.
In their discussions of the organization and membership of the Network, the meeting participants focused on four topics: (1) benefits of membership; (2) individual memberships; (3) organization of the Board of Directors; and (4) the annual membership fee.
Benefits of Membership
Individual Members
The participants considered whether membership in the Network should be opened to individuals who are not affiliated with any institution or whose institutions are not members of the Network. Because a fundamental goal of the Network is to be as inclusive as possible, they felt there is some justification for allowing such individuals to join. However, by doing so the Network risks becoming associated with individual projects that violate local laws or regulations or otherwise are unethical. As more acceptable alternatives, they suggested that (1) individuals interested in the Network should either seek an affiliation with one of its members or convince their institutions to join the Network and (2) the Network should consider creating a category of subscribers or supporters for individuals who, for a modest fee, would receive information on the Network's activities and other products it generates but would have no voice in determining these activities and could not associate their projects with the Network.
Board of Directors
The participants suggested that two changes to the by-laws of the Mexico-North Research Network would make its Board of Directors more effective. The first is that a limit should be placed on the number of successive terms that an individual can serve as a member of the Board of Directors; currently there is no limit. The second is that two directors rather than one should be elected by the membership, one affiliated with a Mexican institution, the other with an institution in the United States.
We anticipate that the first change will be readily approved, but the second will require more deliberation because adding another director will result in a Board of eight rather than seven members, creating the possibility of a deadlock. Also, if the two directors elected by the membership must be affiliated with institutions in Mexico and the United States, representatives of institutions from other countries would be excluded from participation on the Board. The current Board of Directors will consider these matters soon.
Annual Membership Fee
Participants agreed that the value of the benefits that institutions will receive as result of their membership in the Network will far exceed the $2000 annual membership fee, but they expressed concern that smaller institutions that have much to contribute to the Network will lack the resources to pay this fee. The possibility of charging smaller institutions a reduced fee was considered but rejected by most participants because of the difficulties involved in determining which institutions would qualify. A more acceptable alternative was to encourage smaller institutions to form associations among themselves to share the cost of the membership fee. Although each such association would have a single vote, the participation of their members in the Network's activities would not otherwise be affected.
PROPOSED ACTIVITIES
During the course of the meeting, the participants discussed a wide range of projects and programs that the Network could develop and devised a preliminary plan of action for the short and long terms. They agreed that the Network should focus on creating projects and programs that meet as many of the following criteria as possible: they cannot be easily undertaken by any single institution; they build on the strengths and compensate for the weaknesses of the member institutions; they are both innovative and practical, resulting in concrete products; they combine elements of research and education and contribute to the advancement of theory or method in both areas; and they involve inter-institutional and international exchanges as well as the participation of members of local communities in the region.
The proposed activities can be grouped into three distinct but interrelated areas: (1) Research, (2) Education, and (3) Funding.
Research
The participants concurred that Network's coordinating office should not generate its own research projects but should focus on promoting and facilitating collaboration among the Network's members on the research projects they create. During the meeting, they identified a number of significant projects that could best be undertaken through collaboration among Mexican and U.S. scholars. On Thursday and Friday (May 28-29), three of these projects were discussed in detail and initial plans for organizing them were made.
The first project is the "Archaeology of Northern Mexico," for which Dr. Barbara Mills of the University of Arizona will serve as the contact person. The participants agreed that this project should begin with a conference to determine the current state of archaeological research in northern Mexico and to set priorities for future research. They proposed that this conference should be held within the next year or so and that efforts to secure funding for it should begin immediately. They expressed interest in organizing a tour of major archaeological sites in northern Mexico in conjunction with this conference and will consult with the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia regarding the regulations governing such activities. They also indicated they will attempt to locate funding to allow Mexican students and professional archaeologists to participate in on-going archaeological projects in the United States.
The second project focuses on archival resources for the study of the social and cultural history of northern Mexico and adjacent areas of the United States. The participants in this project will begin by preparing a directory of all public and private archives around the world that contain relevant materials. This directory will provide the basis for organizing a conference or series of conferences to assess the holdings of these archives and to organize projects to address their organizational and conservation needs. Because of the scope of this project, they suggested that the Network should try to raise funds to hire a coordinator for it. In the meantime, participants will compile preliminary lists of archives by September 1, 1998. Dr. Cecilia Sheridan of the Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social agreed to incorporate the list of Latin American archives into a database; Dr. Susan Deeds of Northern Arizona University agreed to do the same for archives in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Efforts also will be made to link existing archival database projects with one another, like the Unidad de Información y Documentación de los Pueblos Nativos del Noroeste de México (Colegio de Sonora and Instituto Nacional Indigenista), the Acervo de Documentación Arqueológica, Histórica y Ethnográfica de la Sierra Tarahumara (Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Chihuahua, and the Smithsonian Institution), and the Documentary Relations of the Southwest (Arizona State Museum).
The third project encompasses a wide range of topics (health, migration, urban social problems, labor relations, the impact of tourism on local Indian communities and the environment, etc.) that the participants grouped under the label "Applied Anthropology." The contacts for this project are Dr. Duncan Earle of the University of Texas at El Paso and Lic. Mónica Iturbide of the Mexico-North Research Network. The participants who focused on this project suggested that an inventory of previous and on-going applied anthropology projects in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States should be prepared to enable researchers to build upon existing knowledge and identify the areas most in need of further work. Because of the potential impact of applied projects in the communities where they take place, they emphasized that the Network should ensure that any projects in which it becomes involved are organized in close collaboration with the members of these communities and the government agencies and other organizations which already have or intend to develop projects there. They also encouraged researchers affiliated with Network members to make themselves available to students at the Network's institutions who are interested in engaging in applied projects in the region and to serve as consultants to government agencies and other organizations in their areas of expertise. They suggested that the Network's coordinating office should consider preparing a directory of these researchers and their areas of expertise to be able to respond efficiently to requests for such assistance.
The participants mentioned several additional projects that the coordinating office could undertake to support the research efforts of its members. It could, for example, prepare manuals or guides for students and professional scholars who intend to study or conduct research in Mexico or the United States; translate the laws and regulations governing archaeological research in these two countries; and compile directories of Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia and similar organizations. The possibility of coordinating efforts to develop new models for collaboration between researchers and the members of local communities also was proposed.
Education
The participants suggested that the Network should focus first on promoting educational exchanges between its Mexican and U.S. members and facilitating the participation of the students, faculty, and staff of these institutions in their existing programs. Representatives of the member institutions will provide the Network's coordinating office with detailed information on their educational programs, which will be analyzed to determine how these exchanges can best be achieved. This information and analysis will be made available to individuals affiliated with the Network's members. Possibilities for scholarships and fellowships to support these exchanges also will be explored as will the procedures required to ensure that the participants receive full credit from their home institutions for their participation. In addition, mechanisms for creating or increasing the exchange of publications and other research and educational materials among Network members will be considered.
The Network also will begin developing its own separate education program. This effort will be directed by the Network's coordinating office, which will first determine the legal requirements for establishing an education program in Mexico. Once these requirements are met, a series of educational packages will be designed that address the educational needs of the Network's members. Particular emphasis will be placed on developing internships and semester- and year-abroad programs that combine classroom instruction with participation in the projects of the Network's members. Other packages will vary in format, length, and level of complexity to meet the needs of distinct audiences, non-specialists, undergraduates, graduate students, and professionals.
The meeting participants felt that the Network should base its education program initially in Chihuahua and, while encouraging the participation of all Network institutions, it should depend primarily on Network members located in the Chihuahua area to provide the expertise and infrastructure required to develop its first offerings. As soon as possible, educational activities should be developed in other places and possibilities for making this program even more widely available for example, through distance-learning technology should be explored.
The participants agreed that a wide range of educational activities could be offered but that it was premature at this point to designate specific topics. They did, however, express considerable interest in intensive language courses in Spanish, English, and local Indian languages, especially Rarámuri and Ódami, to be taught by native speakers of these languages. There also was enthusiastic support for the idea of developing courses in which the members of local communities, especially Indian communities, who would serve as professors to present information on themselves and their societies and cultures from their own perspectives.
Indian participants in the meeting felt that their communities would be very interested in working with the Network to organize such courses and that the Network should prepare a proposal to be distributed to the members of their communities to request their assistance in planning these courses and their suggestions of ways in which the Network could reciprocate their cooperation. They indicated that the lack of educational opportunities for Indian people in the Sierra Tarahumara was one problem that the Network, in collaboration with state and federal agencies and other organizations, could consider addressing as a form of reciprocity.
The participants also discussed the important role that museums can play in the Network's educational activities. A number of museums have joined or likely will join the Network, and many already have projects underway that are directly related to the Network's goal of making information about northern Mexico and the southwestern United States available to broad audiences. The participants suggested that the Network should facilitate collaboration among these projects, foster cooperation on future endeavors, and work with its members to develop innovative programming in museum studies. Such programs should be directed toward enhancing linkages between museums and university-based museum studies programs and offering students and professionals the opportunity to gain experience in diverse areas of museum practice in a wide variety of settings. It is likely that one or more museum training fellowships for Network members will be created for example, at the Smithsonian Institution's Center for Museum Studies and additional funding to support these activities will be sought.
Funding
The meeting participants emphasized that the most important resource available to the Network is the knowledge and energy of the individuals affiliated with its member institutions. At the same time, they recognized that the Network must have access to financial resources if it is to achieve its objectives.
The participants agreed that the Network should develop a coherent fund-raising strategy as soon as possible and offered a number of ideas on how to do so. As an initial step, they proposed that the Network's coordinating office should: (1) organize a systematic campaign to expand the Network's membership; (2) determine whether the Network's non-profit status limits the kinds of fund-raising activities in which it can engage; (3) complete a survey of potential funding sources in Mexico and the United States (granting agencies, public and private foundations, corporate and individual donors, etc.) and an analysis the kinds of projects they are most likely to support; and (4) begin applying for funding for specific projects, preparing packets of materials for each project.
The meeting participants proposed four projects as priorities for fund-raising: (1) the exchange of students, faculty, and staff between Network members in Mexico and the United States; (2) a conference on the archaeology of northern Mexico; (3) a coordinator for the archives directory project; and (4) an annual conference or symposium on a topic of broad interest to the Network's members. The Network's coordinating office will collaborate with Network's members to develop funding for these projects. It also will consult with them to ensure that its fund-raising activities do not compete with theirs.
Several participants cautioned against the Network undertaking certain kinds of activities that tend to be costly and complex, for example, administering grants and publishing. Nonetheless, because all the participants regarded the diffusion of information as a basic function of the Network, they encouraged the Network to explore cost-effective approaches for doing so.
CONCLUSIONS
The first annual meeting of the Mexico-North Research Network produced a number of important results. The membership of the Network is now formally established, with a diverse mix of institutions from Mexico and the United States that have much to offer one another and the Network. The mission of the Network is clearly defined and the directions for its development in the immediate future are charted. Initial steps for enhancing collaboration in research and education across international, institutional, and disciplinary boundaries have been taken and the relationships among individuals upon which the activities of the Network will be based have been created. A series of projects have been outlined that are both innovative and practical and which promise to result in significant, concrete products.
In the weeks ahead, the Network's coordinating office and Board of Directors will establish the non-profit organization in Mexico, formulate strategies for fund-raising and membership development, begin applying for grants, and initiate the specific projects identified by the meeting participants as priorities. The goal is to maintain the momentum generated during the meeting and to begin producing results that will benefit the Network's members and further the Network's mission.
To undertake these activities efficiently, the Network's coordinating office requests that meeting participants send descriptions and other information on their institutions as soon as possible, along with suggestions of funding sources and the names and addresses of individuals who should be contacted to determine if their institutions will be interested in joining the Network. Participants are encouraged to contact potential new members on their own, indicating to them that institutions that join now will have a much greater impact on defining the activities of the Network than those which join later on. To avoid duplication of efforts, they should inform the coordinating office of their membership development efforts. Those participants who agreed to serve as the contacts for specific projects also should notify the coordinating office of the progress of their projects. Finally, it is hoped that participants whose institutions are in the process of deciding whether to join the Network will encourage them to reach a decision soon and to pay their annual membership fees promptly. The Network's coordinating office should be contacted for information on the proper procedures to follow in making these payments.
The members of the Network's Board of Directors are very grateful to the meeting participants for sharing your ideas and time with us. We are excited by the prospects for the development of the Network and look forward to prospect of continuing our collaboration with you in the years ahead.
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
Archivo Histórico del Supremo
Tribunal de Justicia del Estado de Chihuahua
Marco Antonio Martínez Benavides
Arizona State Museum
Paul Fish
Suzanne Fish
Centro de Estudios Sociales y
Humanísticos
Martha Rodríguez García
Centro de Información del
Estado de Chihuahua
Elsa Rodríguez García
Lourdes Pérez
Centro de Investigación y
Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social
Cecilia Sheridan Prieto
Colegio de Sonora
Macrina Restor
Coordinación Estatal de la
Tarahumara
Manuel Suárez González
Miguel Carrillo Frías
Alejandro Rivas Vega
Council of American Overseas
Research Centers
Mary Ellen Lane
Edge of the Cedars Museum
K. Renee Barlow
Electronic Publishing, Chihuahua
María Eugenia Falomir
Escuela Nacional de
Antropología e Historia, Chihuahua
Francisco Mendiola Galván
Eugeni Porras
María Luisa Reyes Landa
Juan Luis Sariego
Hampshire College
Alan Goodman
Debra Martin
Independent Scholars
Don Burgess
Albino Mares Trías
Instituto Chihuahuense de la
Cultura
Leonel Durán
Cecilia Calderón Puente
Federico Mancera
Instituto Mexicano del Seguro
Social, Chihuahua
María del Carmen Rodríguez Loya
Instituto Nacional de
Antropología e Historia, Chihuahua
José Luis Perea
Claudia Molinari Medina
Silvia Ortiz Echániz
Instituto Nacional de
Antropología e Historia, Durango
Arturo Guevara Sánchez
Instituto Nacional Indigenista,
Chihuahua
Laura Anchondo
Instituto Tecnológico y de
Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Campus Chihuahua
Eduardo Flores
Alexandra Ayala Delgado
New Mexico State University, Las
Cruces
Marilyn Norcini
Northern Arizona University
Susan Deeds
Janneli F. Miller
Carla Paciotto
Claudette Piper
Our Lady of the Lake University
Steve Blanchard
Mexico-North Research Network
Françoise Brouzès
Rodolfo Coronado Ramírez
J. Andrew Darling
Mónica Iturbide Robles
William L. Merrill
Luis Urías Hermosillo
Joseph Bagby (intern)
Arturo Márquez-Alameda (intern)
Secretaría de Agricultura y
Ganadería
Armida González Carrasco
Smithsonian Institution
Francine C. Berkowitz
J. Michael Carrigan
Nancy J. Fuller
Margaret Pulles
Sul Ross State University
Andy Cloud
Robert J. Mallouf
Rubén Osorio
Universidad Autónoma de
Chihuahua
Emma Escobeda Chávez
Frank Malgesini
Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad
Juárez
Carlos González
Ricardo León
Dizán Vázquez
Mónica Villegas
Universidad Nacional Autónoma
de México
Clara Bargellini
Universidad Regional del Norte
Edmundo Treviño Fernández
University of Arizona
Barbara Mills
University of Texas, El Paso
Duncan Earle
University of Texas, Panamerican
Stacy B. Schaefer
University of Texas, San Antonio
Robert J. Hard
Viajes Dorados, Chihuahua
Manuel Jurado
