The island in the sun: A dialogue perspective on “becoming differently” in the neoliberal university

In this autoethnography, I explore learning to become an academic differently in the neoliberal university through a polyphonic dialogue lens. Based on a visual autoethnographic analysis, I explore dialogic moments as relational opportunities for otherness. Through active listening and writing from within ongoing dialogue, I enter a conversation with other ways of existing in and relating to neoliberal academia. I argue that learning to become an academic can encompass dialogic moments in which a neoliberal way of existing in academia, including complying with standards of academic excellence, can become enriched by alternative, and perhaps more authentic, ways of being. A dialogue lens allows for an active, embodied, and involved understanding of multiple forms and meanings of failure and success. My account contributes to the research on learning to become a different kind of academic in neoliberal higher educational institutions. Through dialogue as an ongoing relational and responsive practice, we can foster connections with, and responsibility toward, multiple inner “kins” who voice their “truths,” if such otherness is allowed to animate us. This highlights the importance of being moved in dialogue to challenge hegemonic ways of being.