Meghanne Barker

Meghanne Barker is a Lecturer at the Institute of Education (IOE) - Education, Practice & Society at University College London. She specializes in cultural and linguistic anthropology with a focus on creative practices in educational contexts across postsocialist regions.

Her educational background includes:

• PhD in Cultural Anthropology with focus on Linguistic Anthropology from University of Michigan (2017)
• PGCertHE from London School of Economics and Political Science

Meghanne Barker's research examines the pedagogical value of creative practices – including children's play and performance, puppet theatre, and filmmaking – to postsocialist institutions of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Her work sits at the intersection of linguistic anthropology, childhood studies, and media studies, with particular attention to how animation practices create social relations and political order. She has conducted extensive fieldwork in Kazakhstan and the former Yugoslavia, exploring how creative practices function within educational frameworks in postsocialist contexts. Her book project Throw Your Voice: Suspended Animations in Kazakhstani Childhood examines acts of animation as ways of maintaining fragile social relations and political order.

Her recent publications demonstrate a consistent focus on animation, childhood, and postsocialist contexts, with a growing emphasis on media education and community building. Her work spans traditional academic journals as well as creative outputs, reflecting her commitment to interdisciplinary approaches that bridge anthropology, education, and media studies.

Meghanne Barker leads the modules Radical Education and Children in Society for BA Education Studies. She is accepting doctoral students for co-supervision, particularly interested in projects related to language and childhood or education, ethnographic approaches to education, performance, childhood, or media-making in any context, with special interest in Eastern Europe and Eurasia.

She serves as Personal Tutor at University College London and as Inclusion Lead (2023-2026). She is the Convener of ELAN (The EASA Network on Linguistic Anthropology) and maintains a Visiting Fellowship at the London School of Economics and Political Science.