This special issue seeks to explore how to ‘do academia differently’ in the interests of justice in higher education. It takes account of theoretical frameworks, teaching methods, research practices, publishing norms, curricular content and the design of courses. The issue consists of nine articles which address different aspect of these areas from a range of disciplines – medical education, literature, visual arts, philosophy, the scholarship of teaching and learning in higher education – and from philosophical perspectives that concern humans in their entanglement with natural and technological worlds. The issue opens up a space for the dissemination of alternative ideas, legitimising experimentation for those who wish to do academia differently.