B'nai Borderlands: The Development of Jewish Communities Along the U.S. - Mexico Border
My name is Gabrielle Lyle, and I am a fifth year PhD student in the program. I completed my undergraduate studies in International Studies at the Ohio State University in 2018. My master’s thesis entitled “B’nai Borderlands: The Development of Jewish Communities in the Rio Grande Valley” focused on the growth of Jewish congregations in Brownsville, Harlingen, Mercedes, and McAllen from 1920-1990. My dissertation research continues to examine Jewry in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, specifically in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. I am interested in how the migration routes of Jews to the borderlands are reflective of wider trends in Jewish migration during the twentieth century, the ways in which Jews in the region interacted with national and international Jewish entities, and the relationships between Jews and non-Jews in the borderlands.