A significant emerging body of research examines the conditions and impacts of neoliberalism on academic institutions, particularly how the rise of the 'marketized' university has shifted the way in which academics are expected to engage in research and teaching. Validating academic's experiences, we highlight their emotional responses to the ideological shift that has taken place within the academy, illustrating how lived experiences repudiate neoliberal conceptualizations of the academic as "homo economicus." Referencing our ongoing research in Canadian universities, we overview workplace dignity, a countervailing notion that mobilizes positive emotional concepts. We then articulate an "academic dignity"-centered approach for future work.