The Building Bridges Collaborative Program

An Inter-University Research Initiative to Expand Research Experience for Undergraduates and Underrepresented Minorities in Sociology.

Funding provided by the Pathways to the Doctorate Collaborative Grant, Graduate and Professional School at Texas A&M University.

What is the Building Bridges Collaborative Program?

The Building Bridges Collaborative Program seeks to improve and expand existing mutually beneficial relationships between the Department of Sociology at Texas A&M University and Social Science/Sociology Departments at Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in Texas to increase the application, acceptance, and graduation of doctoral students from underrepresented groups. The program was created to develop multiple collaborative research projects to funnel undergraduate students into the National Science Foundation’s Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program and ultimately into the Department of Sociology at Texas A&M University’s graduate program.

Goals of the Building Bridges Collaborative Program

The goals of the Building Bridges Collaborative Program are to develop good working relationships with sociologists at Black and Hispanic serving institutions and to bring undergraduate students into the ongoing research projects to get experience and to develop networks for graduate school. The program seeks to establish long-term network connections to facilitate multi-year projects and maintain a research pipeline for graduate students and faculty.

Participating Universities

• Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU)
• Texas A&M University (Texas A&M)
• Texas A&M University-San Antonio (A&M-San Antonio)
• Texas Southern University (TSU)
• The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)
• The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV)

2022–2023 Projects

In partnership with researchers from PVAMU, Texas A&M, A&M-San Antonio, TSU, UTEP, and UTRGV, the Building Bridges Collaborative Program is launching two collaborative research initiatives in 2022–2023. These research initiatives are:

• Student and Community – Microaggressions Project (SAC-MP)
• Immigration, Attitudes, and Race/Ethnicity in the Borderlands

The Building Bridges Collaborative Team

• Dr. Pat Rubio Goldsmith, Professor and Principal Investigator of the Building Bridges Collaborative Program at Texas A&M University
• Dr. Mary Campbell, Professor and Co-Director of the REU Site at Texas A&M University
• Dr. Alex Hernandez, Instructional Associate Professor and Co-Director of the REU Site at Texas A&M University
• Dr. Ernesto Amaral, Associate Professor at Texas A&M University
• Megan Bodily, Graduate Student at Texas A&M University
• Dr. Farrah Cambrice, Associate Professor at Prairie View A&M University
• Dr. Daniel Delgado, Associate Professor at Texas A&M University-San Antonio
• Dr. Steven Foy, Associate Professor at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
• Dr. Troy Harden, Professor of Practice and Director of the Race and Ethnic Studies Institute at Texas A&M University
• Dr. Chaddrick D. James-Gallaway, Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University
• Dr. Allegra Midgette, Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University
• Dr. Cristina Morales, Professor at The University of Texas at El Paso
• Dr. Salvatore Restifo, Associate Professor at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
• Marla Sarmiento, Researcher at Texas A&M University
• Dr. Brittany Slatton, Professor at Texas Southern University
• Lauren D. Williams, Undergraduate Student at Prairie View A&M University

Contact Information

For more information about the Building Bridges, Collaborative Program contact the PI, Dr. Pat Goldsmith (pgoldsmith@tamu.edu).

For more information visit the NSF REU Site at Texas A&M University or contact Dr. Mary Campbell (m-campbell@tamu.edu) or Dr. Alex Hernandez (aahernandez@tamu.edu).