Frontier at Kansas State University

Welcome To Frontier

An interdisciplinary program for the historical studies of border security, food security, and trade policy
Frontier Slide Show

September 2010 Frontier Retreat and NCFPD Biennial Meeting

In September 2010, the Frontier Program held a retreat in conjunction with the NCFPD Biennial meeting in Chaska, Minnesota. 

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Frontier Slide Show

Frontier Field Trip/Retreat and DHS UP Summit - March 29 to April 1, 2011

On March 29 to April 1, 2011, the Frontier Program held a field trip/retreat in Washington D.C., in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) University Programs Summit.

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Frontier Slide Show

October 2010 Field Trip/Retreat and DHS Career Pathways Conference

From October 21-24, 2010, the Frontier Program held a field trip/retreat in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security's Career Pathways Conference in Washington, D.C.  Our visit included a tour of the Port of Baltimore, which was led by Customs and Border Protection officials.

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Frontier Slide Show

New Book Commemorates 150 Years of Kansas Beef

Kansas State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, Beef Cattle Institute, and Frontier Program are commemorating Kansas' upcoming 150th anniversary of statehood with the release of a coffee table-style book entitled "150 Years of Kansas Beef."

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Frontier Slide Show

Dr. Jason Ackleson and Julianne Jensby Attend the 2009 International Studies Association Convention

In this audio podcast, Frontier Co-Director Dr. Jason Ackleson and Frontier research assistant Julianne Jensby discuss their experiences while attending the 2009 International Studies Association (ISA) Convention in New York City.

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Frontier Slide Show

Educational Opportunities at Frontier

A podcast of the unique multi-institutional educational opportunities offered by the Frontier program.

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Frontier Slide Show

Frontier Retreat Held September 17th and 18th 2009

On September 17th and 18th 2009, the Frontier Program held a retreat at Kansas State University. The photo above, taken in the Tadtman Boardroom at the K-State Alumni Center, shows the group of Frontier students, faculty, and staff, attending the retreat.

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Frontier Slide Show

The Frontier Program Announces Another New Book

The Frontier Program announces the publication of a book authored by two Frontier faculty (Drs. Justin Kastner and Jason Ackleson) and three FIX students (Kathryn Krusemark, Edward Nyambok, and Cobus Block): Food and Agriculture Security: An Historical, Multidisciplinary Approach  

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Frontier Slide Show

Tom Roesler - How to Avoid Chasing Rabbits: Staying Focused in a Crazy-Busy World

On Wednesday, September 22, 2010, during a Frontier Interdisciplinary eXperience (FIX) program breakfast meeting, Tom Roesler, an instructor with K-State's School of Leadership Studies, gave a presentation to FIX students. His presentation, entitled "How to Avoid Chasing Rabbits: Staying Focused in a Crazy-Busy World."  This presentation was recorded and is now available in a 3 part video.

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Frontier Newsflash

Field trip fuels Frontier with food for thought

January 2013 Lifelines Article

North – to Nebraska – this is the direction taken by the Frontier program on a field trip in December. This is a state where corn is king and plays a vital, global role in terms of food, feed and fuel.  Dr. Justin Kastner, associate professor of food safety and security, said this was the 19th trip in the history of the Frontier program. 

To read the article, click here.

 
Frontier program partners with National Drover’s Hall of Fame to create traveling exhibit celebrating the cattle-drive era

Ellsworth’s National Drover’s Hall of Fame, in partnership with an historical-studies group at Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, the Frontier program, announces plans to celebrate the Chisholm Trail, the Great Western Trail, and other “north-south” cattle trails that fuelled the economic and social healing of post-Civil War America.

Click here to read the full news release.

 

The Frontier Program

Kansas State University and New Mexico State University

Border security, food safety and security, and trade policy are issues often studied in rigid disciplinary channels. The Frontier program--a part of Food Safety and Security at Kansas State University--involves researchers from K-State and New Mexico State who seek to treat these issues as interrelated. No one disciplinary method can adequately analyze them, nor can any one of these issues be studied in isolation. Because border security, food security, and trade are interconnected, they require a blended, interdisciplinary approach that can bring different perspectives and methods of analysis to bear on these complex issues. Just as Frontier researchers seek to examine issues that cross international frontiers, they also seek to cross disciplinary borders.

 

This month in history

In May 1892, the British minister for foreign affairs (the Marquis of Salisbury) and the U.S. minister to Great Britain (Robert T. Lincoln) engaged in diplomatic correspondence about the cattle disease pleuro-pneumonia, a disease that since 1879 had frustrated transatlantic cattle-trade relations.  In their correspondence, the two officials cited diagnostic reports and scientists’ differing opinions on the matter.  This correspondence, which occurred prior to the discovery in 1898 of the causative organism for contagious bovine pleuro-pneumonia, is indicative of the confusion that many operated under as modern microbiological science was still unfolding.

In an audio podcast by Dr. Justin Kastner, he examines in more detail, the frustrations, confusion, and differing opinions during this period of transatlantic cattle-trade history.

To listen to the podcast click here.