Universities a ‘threat to misinformation’ in post-truth era

Universities can be a “thorn in the side” of undemocratic governments in the post-truth era, according to the editor of a new book.

With Donald Trump in the White House, Marc Spooner, a professor in educational psychology at the University of Regina, said the US has led an attack on expertise, knowledge, and directly on universities.

“What happens in the US definitely reverberates, we certainly feel it in Canada,” he told Times Higher Education.

“We often talk about when the elephant sneezes, the mouse feels it…it has repercussions for the whole world.”

His new book Knowledge Under Siege: Charting a Future for Universities argues that, as one of the pillars of democracy, universities are uniquely capable of being able to “speak truth in an era of post-truth”.

“I think they’re a threat to misinformation. They’re a threat to authoritarian or authoritarian-leaning governments.

“Universities can often point out where things are simply not factual or don’t match the best available evidence we have, so I think they’re a thorn in the side of non-democratic-leaning governments.”

Spooner said that the corporatisation of universities has helped paint a target on their backs.

“It makes them easier to attack because it really narrows the imaginary of what they can be and what they can do.

“[Literary critic and academic] Stefan Collini has a great line that future historians will wonder why the UK took first-rate universities and made them third-rate corporations.”

The book warns that the anti-university playbook is designed to undermine public trust in institutions that question power, and push them away from their core purpose of seeking and teaching the truth.

The publication, co-edited by James McNinch, professor emeritus and former dean of the Faculty of Education at Regina, includes chapters by a range of experts from Canada, the US, the UK, Mexico and New Zealand.

“The book’s replete with very high-level scholars who’ve been thinking about these issues for quite a time,” said Spooner.

“They do more than just say we have to resist neoliberalism and these authoritarian assaults on knowledge itself, but present another aspirational vision for the future how the university could be, not just return to the way they’ve been.”

At a time of job cuts and course closures in some fields, Spooner said this “better vision” for the future must include more support for the arts and humanities.

“The world is in increasing chaos and conflict and these are the areas of study that help us understand one another.”

He hopes that the book will help to reassert the importance that universities play in democracies – both as economic engines and in presenting a vision for the future.

“That’s one of the things that is central even to the imagery of the book.

“Academics are often said to be in an ivory tower. The book has a lighthouse as its metaphor. We’re in a tower, but one that’s there to guide and to help point out dangers.”

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com