Bridging Borders: SDSU Students Tackle Real-World Policy in Tijuana Community

For San Diego State University students pursuing a career in public policy or service, what’s better than analyzing data and proposing changes for a community?

Public Affairs 485: Planning and Public Policy in U.S.-Mexico Border Region allows students to do just that while traveling across the border to interact with new communities.

“No other PA course that I have taken while at SDSU has been so hands-on in its teaching,” senior urban studies major Michaelangelo Walter said. “Actively visiting communities across the border and learning their history, listening to their needs, and then designing a project to help them, there just isn’t quite anything like it at SDSU.”

As part of the course, students visited the community around Alamar Creek.

“The population lives in an area with open sewage, just a very underserved area of the city,” Kristofer Patron-Soberano said. “So students talked with the community leaders and talked with a project leader from CETYS University (to) try to figure out why they are in that (underserved) state.”

All 13 students in the course will submit some kind of proposal by the end of the semester, detailing an idea to improve waste management or quality of life in the Alamar Creek area.

“Many public affairs classes I have taken focus on American perspectives with mentions of Europe and Asia,” senior urban studies major Luciano Wells said. “I would like to work in urban planning after graduation, and this class helps give me experience on how to listen to the local community when thinking of solutions.”

This course also helps connect students with an international community that is just a short drive away.

“Hopefully, (this course) gives the whole region more opportunities to collaborate,” Patron-Soberano said. “The students are actually producing proposals and data analysis that's going to lead to something positive, and improve quality of life.”

Before this trans-border course, Walter had never crossed the border.

“To finally see for myself what it was like, was eye-opening,” Walter said. “I had only ever heard from co-workers or in other classes what it was like, but to see for myself was enlightening.”

This course also serves as a resume builder. In addition to the end-of-semester proposals, students in this course participate in and analyze focus groups, create reports, and collaborate with community leaders across the border.

“The main objective of the course is to have the students learn about US-Mexico public policy through real-life projects and real-life collaborations,” Patron-Soberano said.

PA 485 is available to second through fourth year students majoring in Criminal Justice, Geography, Geological Sciences, Economics, History, Social Work, Political Science, Public Administration, Sociology, and Urban Studies.