Patricia Covarrubias, associate professor in the Communication and Journalism Department, is involved in a research project entitled "Enfoqué Mexico," which will analyze political issues important to politicians of Hispanic descent. She collaborated with fellow UNM faculty and faculty from Loyola Marymount and Notre Dame Universities, as well as director of the Southwest Hispanic Research Institute Manuel García y Griego and doctoral student Joseph Garcia.
Daily Lobo: Could you give us a summary about the research project?
Patricia Covarrubias: The name of the project is "Enfoqué Mexico" or "Focus Mexico." The project involves identifying and analyzing the political priorities of leaders of Mexican heritage living in the United States . The group is composed of advisers to the Instituto de los Mexicanos en el Exterior of the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (Secretary for Foreign Affairs in Mexico City), and they advise the Mexican government on issues between Mexico and the U.S. The advisers are all living in the U.S. and are all leaders in their communities.
DL: What are some of the goals you would like to reach with this research?
PC: This has been going on since 2000, and the bulk of the data has been collected through focus group interviews that have taken place both in the U.S. and Mexico. I kicked in in April to go to Mexico City to do some of the focus group work. . Ultimately, the goal is to produce a book. . I want to take a look at the specifics of a communicative phenomenon like metaphors.
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DL: Why do you think it's important to include faculty from other universities across the country?
PC: For their expertise. Manuel is a graduate of Princeton, and if you want to study Latin American relations, that's the top school in the United States. So these are people that have been involved in this field for all of their careers. They not only know the ins and outs of the issues but they know the people. . They were in Mexico City and the day after I flew out - they were going to be meeting with the President of Mexico, with Calderon. . I don't mean just in terms of status but in terms of the influence . there are lots of possibilities and given what the others do, they're in positions of making differences.
DL: Are there any specific ways you would like this to affect the UNM community?
PC: My hope would be that there would be a greater awareness of some of the things that are going on. . Because even though we are so close to the border, even though the Latino population is as vast as it is in this state there's still a lot of unawareness. . So if it affects Latinos, it affects the community at large, and then possibly promote some kind of action . to have this bridge building in some way not just between the U.S. and Mexico, but our people here even. We might be closer if we understood each other better. . You know, I'm always looking for things that make us unique communities, distinctive communities, what we have in common and also divergences, what makes us very different people.
