The entwined phenomena of migration, language and identity occupy a unique global position. Global mobility influences how human beings relate to one another on geographic, political, and social scales, and these connections and their individual parts stand in a mutually constitutive relationship. It is of utmost importance that academic discourses on these topics are addressed in ways that help positively shape the effects of global flows. Therefore, Anita Auer and Jennifer Thorburn from the University of Lausanne held a three-day conference from the 4th to the 6th of May 2017 at their university, which provided an interdisciplinary forum for discussion of concepts, ideas, and methods for researching migration, language, and identity. Scholars from around the world and across disciplines arrived to discuss the interrelated nature of these concepts.

Increasing diversity in international student mobility/migration has gained attention in recent years (Bilecen & Van Mol, 2017). Diversity in international higher education institutions has primarily been understood in terms of diversity of national origin, meaning the dynamics of racial and ethnic differences are not adequately addressed in the literature (Estera & Shahjahan, 2018). This study uses data collected during semi-structured interviews with international and domestic students, as well as administrators, to identify narrations of race, ethnicity, and nationality that delimit a modern/colonial global imaginary (Stein & Andreotti, 2017). It further demonstrates that internal heterogeneity of both sending and receiving countries leads to varied meaning-making schemes for engaging with embodied racial differences and their attendant affective relations (Ahmed, 2013; Wetherell, 2012). The project suggests the term racial unspeakability as a culturally contingent, affective force that governs narrations of race, ethnicity, and nationality.

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