This colloquium addresses the role of professional responsibility in the wake of the resurgence of racist, dehumanizing, and polarizing discourses associated with the immigration debate and the rise of “Trumpism” in the U.S. and the aftermath of BREXIT in the U.K. Within the U.S. context, anti-immigrant discourse and attacks on diversity and multilingualism were noted in the 2008 election (Wiley & Moore, 2008), but these have been substantially amplified in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. Similar issues have been noted in the aftermath of BRIXT campaign in the U.K., which has also seen an upsurge in hate speech, anti-immigrant discourse, and incidences of violence.

The panel will underscore how the current ideologies of hate are not merely discursive spins, but represent new levels of intolerance with serious potential consequences for language minorities and the constituencies that we serve. We will also discuss these issues with particular reference to the question of professional responsibility and how we, as applied linguists, educators, and language professionals, can better reach broader audiences and stakeholders while impacting public and educational policy.

Panelists include

• Shereen Bhalla, Center for Applied Linguistics
• Adrian Blackledge, University of Birmingham
• Tommi Grover, Multilingual Matters
• Ariel Loring, UC Davis
• Sarah K. Moore, Center for Applied Linguistics
• Johnathan Rosa, Stanford
• Guadalupe Valdés, Stanford
• Terrence G. Wiley (invited colloquium chair), Center for Applied Linguistics & Arizona State University