Home Is Where the Border Is

Living in the Space Between Two Countries Forces You to Rethink Your Definition of Community

As soon as I spot the rows of palm trees lining Highway 77, I know I’ve arrived home. That’s the point where I roll down my windows to feel the humid and hot winds of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. When I did just that on a recent trip from College Station, where I live now, my 9-year-old son asked loudly from the back seat, “Papi, why does it smell like steak?” My response was swift: “Because Friday night lights, mijo.”

Where I grew up, we barbecue on beautiful fall Friday …

by Felipe Hinojosa | November 21, 2014

Caught Between Gefilte Fish and Campbell’s Soup

I Loved My Jewish Mother’s Cooking, But I Also Longed for PB&Js and Mallomars

by Hasia Diner | November 7, 2014

When I first gravitated toward writing about food and immigration to the United States as an ostensibly serious academic, colleagues asked me—and, frankly, I asked myself—the obvious question. Why food? …

Searching for Utopia in Illinois

A Massive Limestone Carving From a 19th-Century Mormon Temple Reminds Us of Americans’ Many Quests to Forge New Communities

by Barbara Clark Smith | October 21, 2014

Twelve massive blocks of limestone, each carved with a shining sun and heralding trumpets, once ornamented a temple constructed by the Church of the Latter Day Saints in the town …

I ♥ Life

by Amy Lawless | July 25, 2014

We passed a man by the side of the highway with two I ♥ Jesus signs that were bigger than cars and we laughed because his deep need …

Could I Stop Being Gay?

My Parents and I Desperately Wanted to Change My Sexual Orientation. But Therapy Only Made Me Hate Myself.

by James Guay | July 15, 2014

Would I truly go to heaven, despite being gay?

This question haunted me growing up. My earliest and most influential childhood memory is being 4 years old and “accepting Jesus into …

Who Needs Religion When You Have a Camera?

I Was Looking for Spiritual Transformation. Instead I Found the Work of Minor White.

by Chris Keledjian | July 2, 2014

Minor White believed that photography has the potential to spiritually transform the viewer as well as the practitioner. I can attest to that because it happened to me a long, …

religion

Home Is Where the Border Is

Living in the Space Between Two Countries Forces You to Rethink Your Definition of Community

Caught Between Gefilte Fish and Campbell’s Soup

I Loved My Jewish Mother’s Cooking, But I Also Longed for PB&Js and Mallomars

Searching for Utopia in Illinois

A Massive Limestone Carving From a 19th-Century Mormon Temple Reminds Us of Americans’ Many Quests to Forge New Communities

I ♥ Life

Could I Stop Being Gay?

My Parents and I Desperately Wanted to Change My Sexual Orientation. But Therapy Only Made Me Hate Myself.

Who Needs Religion When You Have a Camera?

I Was Looking for Spiritual Transformation. Instead I Found the Work of Minor White.

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The Border Should Inspire Us, Not Scare Us

Communities Along the U.S.-Mexico Border Point the Way to a Bicultural, Bilingual, and Binational Future

Let Local Residents Govern the California–Baja Border

The People Living with the Mess the U.S. and Mexico Made Have the Best Chance of Cleaning It Up

Bursting the Bubble and Minding the Border

The Neglected 'Third Space'

The Shoe Salesman Whose Name Became Synonymous with Basketball

Chuck Taylor, Though a Mediocre Player, Knew How to Hustle and Perform

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