Author

Barry Stephenson

Barry Stephenson is Professor of Religion and Culture at Memorial University and a co-director of For A New Earth, a Newfoundland and Labrador based non-profit organization that mobilizes philosophy, science, and art to awaken care for our common home.

Barry's Latest Articles

We have given you a university — if you can keep it
By
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State of the University
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May 1, 2026

The defunding of Memorial is not a story of fiscal misfortune or demographic bad luck. It is one of a deliberate, decades-long ideological project whose purpose is the transformation of public universities from civic institutions into market instruments. 

What are universities for?
By
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State of the University
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August 6, 2025

Higher education has long been a public good, a vital tool for the betterment of society. Now it is being used to serve the market above all else.