Abstract
This article examines two contrasting metaphors for understanding contemporary academic life: Macfarlane's concept of the research archipelago and the emerging ecological metaphor of the lichen-university. While the archipelago captures the fragmentation, individualism, and competitive logics characteristic of neoliberal higher education, the lichen-university offers an alternative imaginary grounded in mutualism, relationality, and ecological interdependence. Drawing on scholarship in higher education studies, posthumanism, and ecological theory, the article argues that the lichen-university provides a generative framework for rethinking institutional design, collaborative practice, and the conditions under which knowledge is produced.