The school’s unique location also enabled the group to travel to Tijuana, Mexico, to understand the border’s role in trade and migration
The UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS), led by Dean Caroline Freund, was the setting for the 2025 Deans and Directors Meeting, assembled by the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs, or APSIA. In addition to the meeting’s regular business, it also included a trip to Tijuana, Mexico, so that school leaders could see the U.S.-Mexico border, visit a manufacturing plant, speak with immigration experts and hear from migrants themselves about their experiences.
Each year, the meeting provides an opportunity for the leaders of international relations, public policy and foreign affairs schools to assemble in a collegial environment and discuss best practices. In addition to U.S. universities, leaders of schools from Asia, Europe, and Latin America came to UC San Diego.
This year many of the discussions focused on the role of artificial intelligence in education and the changing geopolitical landscape.
Members of the GPS faculty were also able to offer unique insights into the issues facing graduate education.
GPS professor Agustina Paglayan co-led a talk for the deans about the meaning of academic freedom, including its potential limitations. Additionally, Victor Shih, director of the 21st Century China Center, helped lead a discussion about the global implications of the 2024 U.S. elections.
Rafael Fernández de Castro, GPS professor and director of the school’s Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, led the academic leaders down to Tijuana, Mexico. While there, the delegation met with business leaders and representatives from the International Organization for Migration as well as the United Nations’ refugee organization, UNHCR, to hear about the dynamics at the border.
“There’s no other international affairs or policy school besides GPS where you can talk about the political complexities of trade and migration between Mexico and the U.S. and then take a quick trip down to see it for yourself,” Freund said. “Our campus’s unique location allowed for our guests from other APSIA schools to get a better sense of the situation at this pivotal time.”
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