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Uncurated

by Centre for Advancing Journalism

The saying ‘truth is hidden in plain sight’ paints an appropriate picture of the University of Melbourne - hidden within the walls of its notorious buildings, and the people that gave them their names, are colonial legacies of injustice and tales of multiculturalism. Join students from the Centre for Advancing Journalism on a journey to discover the stories behind our iconic buildings in 8 illuminating episodes where we uncover what our University was really built on, both literally and figuratively.Uncurated Season 3 coming October 2024.

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Episodes

  1. Activism is a Process

    Reporter Xinnan Wang traces student activism from a 1961 protest against Australia’s White Australia Policy to a recent campus rally at the University of Melbourne. Along the way, she uncovers the forgotten history of anti-racism movements, immigration reform, and student protest in Australia,...

  2. The Melody of Solidarity

    From the stonemasons who fought for an eight-hour workday at the University of Melbourne in 1856 to today’s staff strike at our university, this episode will explore 170 years of labour rights activism in Australia. A famous American singer and civil rights activist, Paul Robertson, will take us...

  3. Egging Us On

    At the very end of WWII, a group of UniMelb students threw eggs and other ingredients at the then Minister for War Organisation of Industry, John Dedman. The suit he wore, designed to cut corners and save fabric for the war effort, ironically became the target of an anti-rationing and…

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  4. Embrace the Lake

    In 1917, three years into World War One, student Guido Baracchi got into trouble with the University administration for publishing articles about Australia’s involvement in the war. This socialist, anti-war, anti-conscription student was seen as a traitor by the staff and other students, and his...

  5. Introducing Uncurated Season 4

    The porticoes, lawns and classrooms of the University of Melbourne have seen their fair share of unrest, spanning from eggings to dunkings through protest marches, barricades and occupations. Some of the most consequential protests in Australian history took place on this campus. In this new...

  6. Atomic Testing

    The University of Melbourne's involvement in the testing of atomic bombs in South Australia is not that well known. Yet it had a massive impact on the Indigenous people living there, with health impacts that were felt for decades. University academics were enlisted to ensure the safety nuclear...

  7. Community

    For many international students, International House is more than just a place to stay—it’s a welcoming oasis in an unfamiliar city. But did you know that the community at International House holds a rich history dating back to 1957? Dive into the history of International House and one of its…

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  8. Eugenics

    John Medley was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne from 1938 to 1951. But Medley was also a member of the Eugenics Society of Victoria, a group which called for the sterilisation and institutionalisation of minority groups such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people,...

  9. Donations

    The Baillieu Library is the largest library here at the University of Melbourne. Walking through the library, the shelves are filled with books on everything from philosophy and history, to science and computing, all from a Western Eurocentric perspective. But the library also holds one of the...

  10. Collectors

    The Harry Brookes Allen Museum is one of many collections at the University of Melbourne. The University has collected artefacts that has contributed to a wealth of knowledge that is vital to Melbourne, Australia and the world. But the way University scholars collected these artefacts was not...

  11. Country

    What would Australia look like if we had monkeys swinging around our cities? In the late 19th Century, a number of associations called “acclimatisation societies” sprung up across Australia with the goal of bringing familiar plants and animals to what the British colonists saw as an impoverished...

  12. Stones

    The Old Quadrangle is one of the most photographed spots on the University of Melbourne campus, with students and tourists alike posing under its iconic archways. The romantic European architecture feels like you've been transported to the set of Hogwarts, but did you know that the stones used to...

  13. Remains

    Between the 1800s to1950s, anthropologists at the University of Melbourne were digging up burial sites of First Nations ancestors who had been laid to rest and collecting, rather stealing, their bodies. And while some of these human remains were returned to land and reburied, one collection...

  14. Introducing Uncurated Season 3

    On the surface, the University of Melbourne is a historical spectacle – with its grand arches, stone facades, echoing hallways, and the chimes of the old clocktower. But this university is also home to many secrets, from human remains unearthed on university grounds, to its role in nuclear…

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  15. To Infinity and Beyond

    A thesis, glass tubes, a bronze plaque. This is the evidence left to remember world-class atmospheric physicist Jean Laby. She was the first woman to achieve a PhD in the School of Physics in 1956. But on a campus that lacks recognition of historically significant women, this prompts the…

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  16. The Other Gold Rush

    This is a story about an artwork illustrating a Chinese camp in Ballarat, Victoria, depicted by Percy Lindsay. This is a story about a painting that carries within it the joy, tears and fears of Chinese gold miners. This oil canvas is hidden and locked away in a black suitcase at the Ballarat...

  17. The Tightrope Walker

    For First Nations people, art has been a vehicle to tell personal and universal stories for over 60,000 years. Ngarrindjeri artist Trevor Nickolls’ story is complex, exploring the history of dispossession and loss, and the hope and beauty of finding a way back to knowing. Breaking free of the...

  18. Real Life Jurassic Park

    The thylacine, better known as the Tasmanian Tiger, remains one of Australia’s most identifiable animals despite having gone extinct almost 100 years ago. In its time, it was hunted, mishandled and neglected, yet people are still captivated by it today. They desperately hope the animal still…

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  19. Gone Girl

    Our city streets are filled with statues of men who did things, with little permanent reminder of the women who have shaped Australian society. Julia (Bella) Guérin is one of these women. Famous in her time for her achievements as Australia’s first female university graduate and a noted teacher,...

  20. Introducing Uncurated Season 2

    An oil painting lost in a storeroom for decades, a dusty student card, a misplaced animal skull; these are some of the objects in the University of Melbourne's twelve museums. Each was forgotten in a different way. Join students from the Centre for Advancing Journalism on a journey of…

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  21. The Hair-Raising Passions of Percy Grainger

    It’s easy to speak of those we remember. But what about those we’ve forgotten? A hank of human hair transports us back to Brighton in 1882 when a musical ingenue by the name of Percy Grainger was born. His fame grew at an exceptional speed… But then disappeared just as quickly. This week on...

  22. The Women that Men Painted

    Art is made to be looked at, to be objectified. But people are not. So what could this mean for those painted onto canvasses that are then flaunted around museums across the world? This week on Uncurated, Yimin Qiang and Angus Thomson venture into Melbourne University’s Arts West to look at 100...

  23. The Antidote that Killed

    One of the first things that tourists visiting Australia hear is that there's a lot that could kill you. Sharks, snakes, crocodiles, jellyfish — whether you’re on land or in water, nowhere seems safe. So imagine what it was like back when British settlers were colonising this strange new land.…

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  24. Sick of Ned Kelly

    We all know Ned Kelly. In fact, we’re pretty tired of hearing about him. Australian history is filled to the brim with these sorts of stories — white-washed and not even that old. So where are the parts of Australian history that haven’t been told? Where are the stories told by those and about...

  25. The House that Annear Built

    It all began with a letter. A colourfully illustrated poem about a Gothic house built for a couple who donated a huge museum collection to the University of Melbourne. This missive is hidden among the 700 plus items collected by Russell and Mab Grimwade. It tells a more personal story than the...

  26. The Plant with Many Names

    Four hundred and three specimens of a single vibrant plant are included among the flora at Melbourne University’s Herbarium. It's most commonly known today as the Emu Bush or eremophila — a native Australian medicinal plant with the ability to cure numerous diseases, but not everyone knows it by...

  27. Tracking Captain Cook's Tapa Book

    A little book – modestly bound, fragrant and full of... cloth. It started as an 18th century Western curio and found its way to the Rare Books Collection at the University of Melbourne. Collected on Captain Cook's journey to the South Pacific, it's become an object of obsession among Western...

  28. Introducing Uncurated

    Hair from a corpse, killer antidotes and photos of the dead; these are some of the objects held in the University of Melbourne’s twelve museums. Join students from the Centre for Advancing Journalism on a revelatory journey of colonisation, fame, fortune, sex and death, as they break down the...

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

The saying ‘truth is hidden in plain sight’ paints an appropriate picture of the University of Melbourne - hidden within the walls of its notorious buildings, and the people that gave them their names, are colonial legacies of injustice and tales of multiculturalism. Join students from the Centre for Advancing Journalism on a journey to discover the stories behind our iconic buildings in 8 illuminating episodes where we uncover what our University was really built on, both literally and figuratively.Uncurated Season 3 coming October 2024.

HOSTED BY

Centre for Advancing Journalism

Produced by Louisa Lim

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Uncurated have?

Uncurated currently has 28 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is Uncurated about?

The saying ‘truth is hidden in plain sight’ paints an appropriate picture of the University of Melbourne - hidden within the walls of its notorious buildings, and the people that gave them their names, are colonial legacies of injustice and tales of multiculturalism. Join students from the Centre...

How often does Uncurated release new episodes?

Uncurated has 28 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.

Where can I listen to Uncurated?

You can listen to Uncurated on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.

Who hosts Uncurated?

Uncurated is created and hosted by Centre for Advancing Journalism.
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