Hostile Terrain
Hostile Terrain 94
Hostile Terrain 94 is a participatory exhibition created by the Undocumented Migration Project, a non-profit organization that focuses on the social process of immigration and raises awareness through research, education, and outreach.
In 1994, the United States Border Patrol implemented the “Prevention Through Deterrence” (PTD) strategy. This policy heightened security at urban points of entry, forcing undocumented migrants to traverse the Sonoran Desert in Southern Arizona, known as “Hostile Terrain.” More than six million people have attempted this perilous journey since the 1990s. The harsh desert environment has resulted in the deaths of more than 4,000 migrants due to dehydration and hyperthermia. PTD remains the primary border enforcement strategy today.
The Participatory Exhibit:
Hostile Terrain 94 is an immersive exhibition featuring approximately 4,000 handwritten toe tags representing migrants who died crossing the Sonoran Desert from the mid-1990s to 2023. These tags are geolocated on a wall map of the Arizona-Mexico border, pinpointing where human remains were found. By writing out the names and information of the deceased, participants are invited to reflect, witness, and stand in solidarity with those who lost their lives in search of a better one.
This exhibit is displayed at over 120 institutions across six continents, aiming to raise awareness about the humanitarian crisis at America’s southern border and to foster global conversations about migration.
How it Works
Volunteers at each hosting location participate in tag-filling workshops (come attend one, see schedule below), writing the details of the deceased and placing the tags on the map. Some tags include QR codes linking to migrant stories and related content, accessible via cellphone.
Want to learn more as a student? Interested in working on the exhibit? Register for the Spring Intermediate Learning Community (ILC) class: ‘The Body and Communities’ (AN291, AH/AH 221, HI 240)
Wagner’s Workshop: What to Expect
In April, Hostile Terrain 94 will be featured in Wagner’s Spotlight gallery. Volunteers will be notified in advance and may assist in the installation and the exhibit’s opening. Join us in this vital project to honor lost lives and engage in meaningful dialogue about migration and its impact.
- Workshops will be held on Wagner’s campus and across the Staten Island community in Fall 2024 and Winter 2025; see schedule below.
- Volunteers will fill out the toe tags using data provided by our hosts. This process helps participants bear witness to the humanitarian crisis at our southern border.
- The workshop aims to foster emotional connections, memorialize lost lives, and encourage participation in the broader migration conversation.
- Resources and dialogue will be offered to support participants through the emotionally challenging work. Please see below for resources.
Hostile Terrain
Hostile Terrain
Hostile Terrain
You can register for a workshop on GivePulse, or register on arrival.
Wed 10/9 2:40 – 3:50 Union 201
Wed 10/16 2:40 – 3:50 Union 201
Thurs 10/17 4:40 – 5:40 Union 201
Wed 10/23 11:20 – 12:30 Manzulli Boardroom, Foundation Hall
Thurs 10/24 4:30 – 5:40 Union 201
Tues 10/29 2:40 – 3:50 Main Hall 41 (top floor, Union side of bldg)
Tues 11/5 2:40 – 3:50 Main Hall 41 (top floor, Union side of bldg)
Wed 11/6 2:40 – 3:50 Union 201
Tues 11/12 2:40 – 3:50 Main Hall 44 (top floor, Union side of bldg)
Wed 11/13 11:20 – 12:30 Manzulli Boardroom, Foundation Hall
Thurs 11/14 4:30 – 5:40 Union 201
Should the content of these workshops be at all triggering to any participant, we would like you to know there is support available on campus within the Center for Health & Wellness.
The Center for Health and Wellness is located in Campus Hall, Room 127 and can be reached by calling (718) 390-3158 or emailing studenthealthservice@wagner.edu during hours of operation as displayed below.
- Monday through Thursday from 8:30 AM to 10:00 PM
- Friday from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM
- Saturday and Sunday from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Available On-Campus Support
The Center for Health & Wellness staffs various counselors available by appointment from Monday through Friday. Counselors are only available during the semester; from the first to the last day of classes.
The best way to schedule an appointment is to call (718) 390-3158 during hours of operation to discuss your schedule and the counselors’ availability. Counseling sessions are free-of-charge and can be as often as once weekly. Referrals for a Psychiatrist or Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner are available upon request.
If you are in crisis or are concerned for your immediate health and well-being, contact the Center for Health & Wellness and you will be triaged accordingly by a Registered Nurse or Nurse Practitioner.
You can reach out to the Center for Health & Wellness with any questions or concerns you may have.
Sept 17 – Nov 7, exhibition “Mexican Heritage: Costumes, Masks, and Photos” – Union Gallery, Hosted by eh Visual Art Department, with support from Staten Island Aets’ DCA Art Fund Grant, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. In this exhibition, Dr. Bohórquez-Geisler, DPhil features a selection of color photographs from her long-term ongoing documentary series, Simple Moments of an Emerging Presence, which capture simple yet profound moments of everyday life of the Mexican immigrant community in Staten Island. The installation showcases traditional dance costumes, including dresses, masks, and headdresses that represent the rich cultural heritage of Mexico, particularly from the states of Morelos, Tlaxcala, and Puebla. These costumes, used in Day of the Dead dances and festivities, will be displayed for limited periods, with permission from their owners who use them during performances. The exhibit also includes photographs of home altars honoring deceased loved ones and the preparation of pan de muerto (bread for the deceased) both at home and at local bakeries.
Her goal is to preserve these precious traditions, which have been transplanted to Staten Island neighborhoods, while creating opportunities and building bridges that enrich the lives of the Mexican-American community and the broader New York City community. Dr. Bohórquez-Geisler’s mission is to continue to preserve, promote, and share Mexican traditions, ensuring the regional diversity of customs from different states of Mexico is passed on to younger generations of Mexican-Americans. Her work also seeks to introduce these cultural practices to the broader New York community through the richness of Mexican folk arts, music and dance.
Wed Oct 23, 4:30-6:00pm talk “Discussing hate speech in the Digital Age” – Manzulli Room Foundation Hall, Hosted by the Holocaust Center. Dr. Tim Corbett, is an award-winning historian, writer, translator, and editor based in Vienna, Austria. His research and publishing activities focus on modern Austrian history and the former Habsburg Empire, with a particular focus on Vienna’s Jewish history. He is currently affiliated as a research associate with the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna and serves as a permanent member of the Academic Advisory Board of the Austrian Society for the Study of Exile. He has held numerous fellowships and visiting positions at institutions around the world including the Museum of Jewish Heritage and the Center for Jewish History in New York, Vienna University and the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies
Mon Oct 28, 6pm screening of Nazi Town – Manzulli Room Foundation Hall, Hosted by the Holocaust Center. Nazi Town, USA tells the story of the German American Bund, a pro-Nazi group which in the 1930s had scores of chapters across the country, representing what many believe was a real threat of fascist subversion in the United States. Screening followed by discussion with Dt. Steve Snow.
Tues, Nov 12, 6pm screening of LYD – Manzulli Room Foundation Hall, Wagner International Film Festival. As the film unfolds, a chorus of characters creates a tapestry of the Palestinian experience of this city and the trauma left by the massacre and expulsion, while vivid animations envision an alternate reality where the same characters live free from the trauma of the past and the violence of the present. Using never-before-seen archival footage of the Israeli soldiers who carried out the massacre and expulsion, the personified city explains that these events were so devastating that they fractured reality, and now there are two Lyds — one occupied and one free. As the film cuts between fantastical and documentary realities, it ultimately leaves the viewer questioning what future should prevail.
Thurs, Nov 14, 6:15pm talk “Islamophobia and Islamic Youth” – Manzulli Room Foundation Hall, Hosted by the Holocaust Center. Dr. Nadia Ansary, Professor of Psyschology, Rider University will explore: 1) bullying and victimization, particularly with Muslim targets, 2) Muslim youth and young adult mental wellbeing and community-based outreach, and 3) the association between problem behaviors and achievement particularly focusing on affluent youth. Her research also includes a focus on cross-cultural issues including acculturative stress and family conflict. In 2008, she was appointed by Governor Corzine to the New Jersey Commission on Bullying in Schools.
Thurs, Nov 21, 8:30pm screening of On the Way to School – Manzulli Room Foundation Hall, Hosted by Wagner College’s Amnesty International Chapter. This documentary by film maker Pascal Plisson follows Jackson, Zahira, Samuel and Carlito, who are forced to surmount a multitude of obstacles in order to get to school. On taking their amazing paths that lead to learning, they will leave childhood behind and begin a journey fraught with pitfalls and surprises.
La Colmena
Catholic Charities Community Services
Wagner’s Student Chapter of Amnesty International
Celeste Marie Gagnon
Professor and Division Chair
718-390-3126 celeste.gagnon@wagner.edu Parker Hall 110pronouns: she, her
Sarah J. Scott
Professor
718-420-4528 sarah.scott@wagner.edu Main Hall 35 (top floor)A specialist in Ancient Near Eastern Art History, Dr. Scott teaches a range of courses covering ancient and global cultures.
- Further Information
- Support Resources
- Organizations, Groups & Aid
- Hear from Jason De León, professor of anthropology and Chicana/o Studies at UCLA and executive director of the Undocumented Migration Project on NPR ‘On Point’.
- Donate to the Florence Project to help provide free legal services, social services, and advocacy to immigrants facing detention
and potential deportation. - Join the Detention Watch Network (DWN) in working together through advocacy, community organizing, and strategic communications to reform immigration detention policies in the United States.
- The Colibrí Center for Human Rights promotes healing and change by working with families of disappeared migrants to identify and honor those who have lost their lives on the US-Mexico border.
- Learn more about the history of border sands and policing in the Sonoran Desert.
- Additional recommended reading.
Wagner Center for Health and Wellness
For additional information, please call 718-390-3158 or email our office at studenthealthservice@wagner.edu.
Mobilizing Organizations
- Mijente @conmijente
- Families Belong Together @fams2gether
- No More Deaths @nomoredeaths_nomasmuertes
- Fronteristxs @fronteristxs
- Pueblo Sin Fronteras @pueblosinfronteras
Advocacy Groups
- RAICES Action Fund @raicesaction / @raicestexas
- Sin Fronteras @sinfronterasiap
Legal Aid
- Al Otro Lado @alotrolado_org
- Immigrant Defenders Law Center @immdef_lawcenter
- Immigrant Justice Network @immjusticenetwork
- Innovation Law Lab @innovationlawlab
- National Immigrant Justice Center @immigrantjustice
- National Immigration Law Center @nilc
This Project is funded by the Wagner College/Archaeological Society of Staten Island Endowment and Project Pericles.