Hostile Terrain is a Pop-UP Exhibition about America's Humanitarian Crisis at the Southern Border. This participatory political art project is organized by the Undocumented Migration Project (UMP), a non-profit research-art-education-media collective, directed by associate professor of anthropology Jason De León.

Construction of Hostile Terrain Pop-UP Exhibition
MARCH 27-28, 8 AM-4 PM, 2ND FLOOR, MASON HALL, OUTSIDE ROOM 2436

In shifts on March 27-28, 2019, several hundred student volunteers will construct a border wall map on a blank wall space on the second floor of Mason Hall. The map will show the death locations of 3000 migrants. Toe tags will be hand-filled out and plotted on a giant grid, representing recovered bodies from the Arizona desert. Please contact jpdeleon@umich.edu if you are interested in being involved with the installation. The exhibit will remain in Mason Hall through the first week of April 2019.
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Screen preview followed by a panel Q&A: A documentary on the work of Jason De León
MARCH 28, 4 PM, ANGELL HALL, AUDITORIUM A

Join us for a test screening of a documentary about the work of Jason De León and the Undocumented Migration Project. This film focus on clandestine migration from Central America and the North American Migrant Trail.

Panelists: RAÚL O. PAZ PASTRANA (Director, Producer, Cinematographer); JASON DE LEÓN (Producer, Advisor); JOHN A. DOERING-WHITE (Field Producer, Advisor and Sound)
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Round-table: Exploring Border Security and Migration in 2019
MARCH 29, 12-2 PM, ANGELL HALL, AUDITORIUM B

We will discuss the realities currently experienced by migrants along the US/Mexico border and the history of America’s border security paradigm known as “Prevention Through Deterrence.” Given the heightened discussion in recent months about the supposed dangers posed by migrants and the potential role that a border wall would play in securing America’s southern geopolitical boundary, this roundtable seeks to facilitate an open and frank discussion about what migration currently looks like, who is migrating, and why. In addition to facilitating a conversation about the lives of migrants, our panelists will also discuss the important roles of history, storytelling, art, and film in the telling and (re) presentation of nuanced information about America’s current border crisis. Of particular interest is how the panelists seek to tell new and impactful stories about about a social process that has a deep history and often overdetermined by simplistic tropes such as the “noble migrant” and “foreign invader.”

Moderator: DANIEL NEMSER, Romance Languages and Literatures

Panelists: JASON DE LEÓN, Anthropology, Director of Hostile Terrain Exhibition; LUCY CAHILL, Curator of Hostile Terrain Exhibition; RAÚL O. PAZ PASTRANA, Filmmaker, Director of Border South film; JOHN A. DOERING-WHITE, Anthropology and Social Work
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This event series is sponsored by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and the International Institute with generous support from a Title VI grant from the US Department of Education. Special thanks to our co-sponsors: Department of Anthropology, Department of History, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, Department of American Culture, Donia Human Rights Center, Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies, Latina/o Studies Program, Rackham Interdisciplinary Workshop on Migration and Displacement