Biography

Matthew J. Barnard is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Manchester Metropolitan University. He has written on Heidegger, Bergson, and Kant, and he is the author of Heidegger’s Conception of Freedom: Beyond Cause and Effect (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024). He serves on the Executive Committee of the British Society for Phenomenology and edits its podcast. He is currently working on the phenomenology of technology.

Academic Career

Barnard began his studies at Manchester Metropolitan in 2007 and first started teaching there in 2012. He graduated BA (Hons) Philosophy in 2010, MA European Philosophy in 2012. He studied his PhD part time while working and graduated in 2018. His areas of interest throughout his studies have been in continental philosophy and metaphysics, with his undergraduate dissertation engaging with the work of Hannah Arendt and Martin Heidegger, his MA dissertation focussing on Michel Foucault’s Archaeology of Knowledge, and his doctoral thesis focussing on Heidegger’s conception of freedom, in relation to that of Henri Bergson and Immanuel Kant.

Barnard has taught across many philosophical disciplines, including metaphysics, ethics, philosophy of religion and phenomenology. He has taught modules focusing on difficult texts in European metaphysics, including Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, Heidegger’s Being and Time, Gottfried Leibniz’s Monadology and Jean-Paul Sartre’s Being and Nothingness. He has also taught thematic units on Early Modern Metaphysics, Analytic Metaphysics, Greek Philosophy and Political Philosophy. While specialising in the western tradition, he has also taught on its colonial origins, most especially in an original Foundation Year module called Reading the Greats?: A Critical Introduction to the Philosophical Canon.

In addition to lecturing duties, Barnard has also held several strategic and operational roles. He was the programme leader for the Humanities Foundation Year (2019-2021) and is currently the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead for the School of History, Politics and Philosophy. He is a member of the DISC research group and associate member of the RGSI research groups. He has published several academic and public-facing works as well as being a regular presenter at conferences and research seminars. He has played a key role in organising many research events.

Work with the British Society for Phenomenology

Barnard joined the British Society for Phenomenology in 2014 and became Membership Secretary, taking over from Dr Patrick O’Connor. At this point in time, the Society membership had waned and Barnard focused on building a social media presence to regrow membership. With the help of O’Connor, President Keith Crome and others on the Executive Committee, Barnard worked to identify a financially sustainable model of annual conference, which had been on hiatus since 2012. In 2016, the first conference was held in Manchester, inviting more speakers than had been tradition. Since then, the conference has run each year with increasing numbers of attendees.

Also in 2016, Barnard changed roles from Membership Secretary to Secretary and focused on the conference and the Society’s technical needs. In 2018, Barnard handed his roles in running the conference, social media and web presence to Dr David Deamer as Head of Engagement. Barnard retains a seat on the Executive Committee and holds the position of Technical Lead, offering digital and logistical support for the Society’s activities.

UCU Activism

Barnard has been a member of the University and College Union since he began to teach and in 2024 became more actively involved in Union activism by joining UCU Commons, a progressive activist grouping. He stood for election to the National Executive Committee, being first elected in 2025 as a UK Elected representative for Higher Education in a by-election. Barnard successfully stood for re-election in 2026 and his term now runs until 2028.

Early Life

Barnard was born in Hartlepool to a working-class family in 1988, attending the state faith schools St Teresa’s R.C. Primary School and English Martyrs R.C. Secondary School and Sixth Form College. A Catholic until his late-twenties, he took a gap year (2006-2007) living and working in a Salford-based youth ministry charity named Just Youth, set up and run by the religious order, The Congregation of the Holy Spirit. During this year, Barnard lived with a community of Spiritan priests from Nigeria and Tanzania, alongside two other volunteers his age. The work was primarily high school based, focused on delivering discussion activities on issues of social justice and faith. Barnard had originally intended to study Computer Games Design, but in response to the vibrant discussion of philosophical issues, he chose to apply instead to study philosophy, being accepted by Manchester Metropolitan.