The Rutgers Institute for Transnational Mexican Studies (RITMoS) is the first and only university-based institute on the east coast of the United States dedicated to research and pedagogy on Mexico, its international relationships and transnational connections.

The importance of the Rutgers Institute for Transnational Mexican Studies (RitMos) is closely tied to Mexico's importance to the United States, not only in terms of the two nations’ vast trade relationships and well-known migration flows, but also given the intensity of the transnational social integration and transculturation already underway.  Institute scholars study all aspects of Mexico's social, economic, political and cultural life, as a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural nation, and the bilateral relationships between Mexico and the United States in all their complexity.

RITMoS is founded upon the idea that Mexico, the United States and Canada constitute a regional configuration now emerging as: a) a continental bloc of asymmetrically interdependent economies and migratory flows moving toward normalization; b) a geo-political bloc exhibiting varying degrees of democratic development; c) a geo-strategic bloc of interlocking national securities; and d) a bloc of shared international concerns, united by a common interest in peace, protection of the environment, the battle against organized crime and narco-terrorism, conventional and nuclear disarmament, defense of human rights, and the consolidation of open societies.

The Rutgers Institute for Transnational Mexican Studies is developing courses, research activities, colloquia and cultural events within three seminal projects: 1) Creation of a research project on the historic conditions of the transition to democracy in Mexico, and the structural difficulties in its economic development.  This research will include a detailed history of the period from 1994 to 2006, using an exceptionally precise historical record, accompanied by construction of a computer database and intelligent search engine.  This database will provide a rich archive of source information for researchers and scholars interested in the reality of Mexico.  2) Establishment of a research project on Mexican emigration to the United States and its transnational consequences: geo-economic, geo-political, geo-strategic and geo-cultural.  The research is planned as a multi-disciplinary exercise that will theoretically revolutionize our understanding of migratory flows.  3) The Rutgers Institute for Transnational Mexican Studies will promote academic exchange between Rutgers University and the public and private universities of Mexico.

As part of its ongoing efforts, RitMoS has developed (with Dr. Jorge Jimenez of the Houston-based Atención Medica a Mexicanos en el Exterior A.C.) a research project on the health of undocumented Mexican communities after the passage of health-care reform.  This multidisciplinary project hopes to create "Clinicas de Barrio" (Neighborhood Clinics) that are based on the philosophy of prevention as the best strategic tool, and a new transcultural relationship between patients, doctors and nurses.

Rutgers Institute for Transnational Mexican Studies (RitMoS) is being coordinated by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Director, RitMos. He can be reached by phone at 347.926.1189.