Overview
Mission
The Center for the Study of the Southwest at Texas State University-San Marcos aims to enrich learning through the study of the Greater Southwest.
The program engages faculty and students in the richness and diversity of the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico and gives focus to intercultural studies through examining the region's people, institutions, history, and physical and cultural ecology.
An Intercultural, Interdisciplinary Approach
The Center's multicultural and multidisciplinary approach increases awareness of and sensitivity to the diversity of ethnic and cultural traditions of the area. The program examines the Southwest as an arena for cultures in conflict and harmony from prehistory to the present and encompasses such issues and themes as:
- the clash and cooperation of diverse cultures: the Anglo American, Mexican American, Native American, and African American Southwest
- the tension between individual and community
- the interaction of people and environment
- the conflict between environment and technology
- the significance of the frontier in American thought
- the myth and reality of the cowboy
- the geophysical definition and variety of the Southwest
- the distinction between regionalism and provincialism
- the relationship of region and ethnicity
- the concept of region in contrast with the dominant culture
- the social and cultural patterns in a region as expressed through history in literature, art, architecture, theater, film, music, clothing, food, etc.
History
Former University President Jerome H. Supple established the Center for the Study of the Southwest in February 1990. "Through the Center," President Supple said, "we will collect and examine the forms of art and of thought which have over the centuries shaped this region of the world... My hope is that the Center will ultimately receive international recognition for its understanding, promotion, and celebration of this unique culture we call the Southwest."