Meghanne Barker

Meghanne Barker is a Lecturer in Education, Practice and Society at the UCL Institute of Education and a Visiting Fellow in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics. Her research focuses on childhood, displacement, and social relations, particularly through the lens of performance and puppetry in Kazakhstani contexts. She is the author of Throw Your Voice: Suspended Animations in Kazakhstani Childhoods, which explores how children in temporary care institutions and puppet theater narratives navigate themes of loss, recovery, and identity.

Her work bridges anthropology, linguistics, and cultural studies, examining how objects and fantasy mediate human connections in precarious circumstances. Barker also serves as an editor for Semiotic Review, contributing to interdisciplinary dialogues on semiotics and cultural analysis.