About Us
Our Mission
The mission of the North American Center for Transborder Studies is to advance greater understanding of border and trilateral issues in North America by supporting scholars who contribute to the development of innovative theory and actionable policy analysis regarding these issues.
Our Vision
The North American Center for Transborder Studies works to promote a safer, more prosperous, more competitive, more cooperative, and more sustainable North American region.
NACTS and the New American University
Arizona State University has a vision to be a New American University, promoting excellence in its research and among its students and faculty, increasing access to its educational resources and working with communities to positively impact social and economic development.
The North American Center for Transborder Studies strives to embody the New American University design aspirations of global engagement, social embeddedness and societal transformation in all of its initiatives. NACTS is a university-wide research center with a trinational Board of Advisors, an ASU Faculty Advisory Council, and partner institutions in Canada and Mexico. The Center is supported by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a number of additional offices at ASU.
What NACTS Does
Areas of Engagement: NACTS focuses its research and policy efforts in the areas of borders, competitiveness, and the environment and works to diffuse the results of these efforts through events and initiatives that build public awareness about North America.
Approach: NACTS accomplishes its mission by building key partnerships among northern and southern border specialists and identifying and educating key constituencies in government, the private sector, and civil society. More specifically, NACTS accomplishes its mission by doing the following:
-Managing grants and contracts awarded to ASU and partner organizations;
-Convening strategic North America- and transborder-related events;
-Representing ASU in a number of research and other consortia;
-Promoting ASU at key research- and policy-related events throughout North America; and
-Hosting visiting scholars from Canada, the United States. and Mexico.
Results: All of this is done with the aim of producing actionable policy analysis and recommendations that benefit citizens of North America.
Support
Video of ASU President Michael Crow addressing the NACTS Board of Advisors, Sept. 11, 2007