Universities Combat Misinformation in Post-Truth Era

In an era of rising political polarization and attacks on academic institutions, universities have emerged as crucial bulwarks against misinformation, according to a new book edited by University of Regina professor Marc Spooner.

The collection, “Knowledge Under Siege: Charting a Future for Universities,” argues that higher education institutions serve as essential defenders of truth in a political climate increasingly hostile to expertise and evidence-based knowledge.

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

Spooner, a professor of educational psychology, points to the United States as the epicenter of a troubling global trend. With Donald Trump’s return to the White House looming, Spooner expressed concern about the ripple effects of American attacks on academic institutions.

“What happens in the US definitely reverberates, we certainly feel it in Canada,” he explained. “We often talk about when the elephant sneezes, the mouse feels it…it has repercussions for the whole world.”

The book, co-edited with James McNinch, professor emeritus and former dean of Regina’s Faculty of Education, brings together scholars from five countries including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and New Zealand. These contributors analyze what they see as a coordinated effort to undermine public trust in institutions that question power structures.

According to Spooner, this “anti-university playbook” aims to push academic institutions away from their fundamental purpose: seeking and teaching truth. The trend coincides with what many academics describe as the increasing corporatization of higher education.

“It makes them easier to attack because it really narrows the imaginary of what they can be and what they can do,” Spooner said, quoting literary critic and academic Stefan Collini: “Future historians will wonder why the UK took first-rate universities and made them third-rate corporations.”

The timing of the book is particularly relevant, coming amid widespread budget cuts and course closures across universities globally, particularly in humanities and arts programs. In the UK, numerous institutions have eliminated or significantly reduced offerings in subjects like philosophy, history, and languages, citing financial pressures and declining enrollment.

Spooner argues that these disciplines are essential during times of global instability. “The world is in increasing chaos and conflict and these are the areas of study that help us understand one another,” he said.

Rather than simply advocating a return to previous models, the book outlines an aspirational vision for the future of universities. “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,” Spooner noted.

Central to this vision is reclaiming the metaphorical position of academics in society. Rejecting the negative connotation of the “ivory tower” image often used to characterize universities as disconnected from real-world concerns, the book adopts a lighthouse as its guiding metaphor.

“We’re in a tower, but one that’s there to guide and to help point out dangers,” Spooner explained, emphasizing that universities serve not only as economic engines but as vital institutions for democratic societies.

As global politics continues to shift toward populism in many regions, “Knowledge Under Siege” makes a timely case for defending academic institutions as essential components of healthy democracies capable of countering misinformation and preserving evidence-based discourse in what many scholars now describe as a post-truth era.