Dear Council on Anthropology and Education (CAE) members,
I am honored to serve as your CAE President for 2026. Thank you for trusting me with this responsibility.
We are in a pivotal political moment in the United States—marked by the radical reduction of educational opportunities for K–16 students, concerted and persistent efforts to erode higher education, and blatant attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Many of us are navigating profound professional and personal strain. In the face of these pressures, I hope CAE can be a sustaining community: a place of rigor, care, and solidarity for scholars, educators, and students committed to more just and humane futures. The leadership team will be offering opportunities to connect throughout the year through online webinars and zoom-based meetings of the interest groups. I hope you will invite students and colleagues who might benefit from these conversations to join us.
I am deeply grateful to the presidents and leaders who have shaped CAE into a responsive, equity-centered organization. Building on their work, my goals this year are to strengthen leadership within our section and advocate for issues that matter to CAE members across institutions and career stages.
A central priority for this year is to rethink and to make more visible, together, what anthropology contributes to the study of education. Anthropology helps us see how schooling is shaped by power, history, culture, language, and inequality, and it equips us with tools to listen carefully, document and amplify lived realities, and act with accountability. In this moment, I believe that work matters deeply for us as researchers, teachers, and humans, as we confront policies and conditions that constrain opportunity and deepen harm. CAE can be a space where we clarify our shared commitments, strengthen our scholarship, and support one another in meeting the demands of this time.
Please reach out to me with questions, concerns, or ideas. I would love to hear from you. You can contact me at lesley.bartlett@wisc.edu.
Warmly,
Lesley Bartlett
President, Council on Anthropology and Education (CAE)
University of Wisconsin–Madison