Michele Back

Michele’s research focuses on how individuals negotiate and construct identity in transcultural contexts. She is particularly interested in multilingual speakers and learners of Spanish, Quechua varieties and Portuguese, as well as the role of different communities of practice on language learning, use, and maintenance.

Michele’s first book, Transcultural Performance: Negotiating Globalized Indigenous Identities, examines how a group of Andean folkloric musicians and their families negotiate language, gender and ethnicity in globalized spaces. Her second book, a co-edited, multi-authored work to be published in Spanish and English, looks at racist discourses and practices in Peru in educational, political and media contexts. Michele’s other current area of research focuses on how peer tutors of Spanish as a second language co-construct expertise and symbolic competence with their learners.

Michele speaks Spanish, Portuguese and Ecuadorian Quichua and has worked in several countries, including Mexico, Peru, and Mozambique.