Issues of border-crossing and citizenship, which intersect in complex ways with gender, sexuality, family, race, and religion, have taken on pressing importance in our contemporary world, affecting people around the globe, though often in very different ways according to local context. 

The Borders Research Initiative (BRI) in Women and Gender Studies at MIT brings together an interdisciplinary group of MIT faculty in the humanities, arts and social sciences who are dedicated to examining issues of border-crossing and citizenship, especially as they intersect with gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, class and religion. We seek to understand national borders and border crossings in historical and comparative perspective, in order to explore how concepts of citizenship, identity, gender and race have evolved over time, and to gain clarity on the contemporary manifestations of these issues around the globe.