Imperial Language Educators in these Times: Transnational Voices from Mexico on Nationalisms and Returnee Transnationals

Abstract

We write from a public university in Mexico’s interior, as 2 language professors from countries with fraught, yet intertwined, sets of histories—Mexico and the United States. Having lived in 2 countries with dramatic increases in nationalist policies, we reflect on having lived abroad through the increases in nationalism in our lived experiences. We also explore our understandings of retornados, the transnational returnees to Mexico, and how these students impact us and our teaching in Mexico in an English teacher education program. We conclude with implications for educators, as well as tempered senses of hope in these fraught political times.