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 blasts at Maralinga and Emu Field. But how good of a job did they really do? 

Interviewees:

• Karina Lester - Senior Aboriginal Language Worker at The University of Adelaide
• Dr James Waghorne - Senior Research Fellow and University Historian at The University of Melbourne
• Elizabeth Tynan - co-ordinator of the professional development program at the James Cook University Graduate Research School and researcher of the history of British atomic weapons testing in Australia 

Note:  This episode has been updated to reflect further details of Leslie Martin's role in atomic testing. 

Music

Gold Hands – Holly Sweeney

Piano Study – Joel Keith

 

Special mention to the following sources:

Yami: The Autobiography of Yami Lester

Tim Sherrat

The McClelland Royal Commission

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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 most cherished traditions: the Great Trike Race. A race that symbolises the spirit of unity at the International House.

INTERVIEWEES

Frank Larkins

Caitlin Stone

Frank Schrever

MUSIC CREDITS

Flight by Alex Garla

Monster by Rock Vishal Shah

Forest by Kabas KAS

Grainger Things by Daniel Cropley 

Focus by Ambient Vibes

Our world by Coverr

Inspiring Cinematic by StudioKolomna

Magic Inspiration by Artlss22

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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, prostitutes and members of the LGBTQI+ community. So why does the university have a building named after him?

Unearth the role the University played throughout the dark history of the eugenics movement and the truth behind who John Medley was. 

INTERVIEWEES

Dr Ross Jones

Professor Dennis Foley

MUSIC CREDITS

Cold and Hard by Cold Case

Dolly and Pad by Piano Mover

Hickory Interlude by Onesuch Village

Leaving Baffin Island by Baffin Island

Stepback by Dasjardins

 

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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 largest collections of Rare East Asian books and materials in the Southern Hemisphere. 

Throughout this episode, Jiaxuan Zhu explores how knowledge has been built here at the University of Melbourne and reflects on the importance of diversity and looking past just Eurocentric knowledge foundations. 

INTERVIEWEES:

Dr Shiqiu Liu

This podcast is on the exhibition “Learning Beyond Borders: Thomas Chong’s Study and Practice of Medicine”, presented by the Archives and Special Collections of the university.

MUSIC CREDITS 

Epidemic Sound: Sowing the Summer Barley by Francis Wells
Epidemic Sound: Shrines by David Celeste

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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 always done in an ethical way. Reporter Haoyue Deng learns how a rare marsupial mole is the key to the forgotten people behind some of the University's collections. 

INTERVIEWEES: 

• Rohan Long, Curator of the Harry Brookes Allen Museum at the University of Melbourne 
• Emma Kowal, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Deakin University 

Inspiration for this episode was informed by the recently published book Dhoombak Goobgoowana: A History of Indigenous Australia by Ross L. Jones, Dr. James Waghorne, and Professor Marcia Langton of the University of Melbourne. If you would like to know more about The University of Melbourne’s response, you can download the book for free here.  

MUSIC CREDITS

Bird(Magpie) sound from Freesound

Bush walking from Freesound 

Mouse squeak from Pixabay 

Snake from Pixabay 

Eternality by Nathan Zammit from the Living Instruments Project 

Tundra by Jack Burmeister from the Living Instruments Project 

Marimba by Olivia Marsh from the Living Instruments Project 

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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 landscape. 

This episode explores the massive ecological transformation that shaped what the university’s environment looks like today, and how Indigenous knowledge about land preservation was ignored for decades.

INTERVIEWEES

Dr Pete Minard (historian of colonial science and environmental history)

Prof Lynette Russell AM (historian of Indigenous Australians and colonial anthropology)

SOUND ATTRIBUTIONS

axe chopping (in the forest) by Selector, accessible at www.freesound.org/s/410768, License: Creative Commons 0 1.0

Pied Currawong Strepera graculina by Sunny Tseng, accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/871215, License: Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commerical Share Alike 4.0

Grey Butcherbird Cracticus torquatus by Peter Boesman, accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/859826, License: Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commerical Share Alike 4.0

Australian Raven Corvus coronoides by Zebedee Muller, accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/801431, License: Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commerical Share Alike 4.0

Laughing Kookaburra Daceolo novaguineae by Ken George, accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/858185, License: Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commerical Share Alike 4.0

Common Myna Acridotheres tristis by Greg McLachlan, accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/331396, License: Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commerical Share Alike 4.0

Peace Piano song by Calvin Clavier. https://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-peace-piano-song-216338/ 

Birds and Insects near Dam - Cathedral Ranges by Sassaby, accessible at freesound.org/s/427877, License: Creative Commons 0 1.0

180081 Sheep Farm 01 by FST18008, accessible at https://freesound.org/s/441801, License: Attribution 4.0

Cinematic rythmline by SamuelFJohanns from Pixabay

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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 create this effect were stolen from Indigenous lands in Tasmania? 

Reporter Giulia Scenna investigates the history of our campus's architecture and its relationship with Indigenous Australia. 

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Interviewees: 

• Dr Philip Goad, Professor of Architecture at the University of Melbourne 

• Dr James Waghorne, Senior Research Fellow and University Historian at the University of Melbourne 

Inspiration for this episode was informed by the recently published book Dhoombak Goobgoowana: A History of Indigenous Australia by Ross L. Jones, Dr. James Waghorne, and Professor Marcia Langton of the University of Melbourne. If you would like to know more about The University of Melbourne’s response, you can download the book for free here.  

MUSIC CREDITS (In order of appearance) 

Our Fingers Cold from Blue Dot Sessions 

Cold Summers from Blue Dot Sessions 

Crosswire from Blue Dot Sessions 

Temperance from Blue Dot Sessions 

La Costilla from Blue Dot Sessions 

10 Minutes Past from Blue Dot Sessions 

Watercool Quiet from Blue Dot Sessions 

Tape Player Sounds -Free for use under the Pixabay Content License 

A Common Pause from Blue Dot Sessions 

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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 remained hidden away at the university in a storage room until 2003. 

Uncover the true story of The University of Melbourne’s troubled past of grave robbing and the efforts to repatriate the hundreds of Indigenous ancestors’ skeletal remains back to their land and families. 

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Interviewees:

• Marie Havea, Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council 
• Rohan Long, Curator of the Harry Brookes Allen Museum

 

Inspiration for this episode was informed by the recently published book Dhoombak Goobgoowana: A History of Indigenous Australia by Ross L. Jones, Dr. James Waghorne, and Professor Marcia Langton of the University of Melbourne. If you would like to know more about The University of Melbourne’s response, you can download the book for free here. 

MUSIC CREDITS (In order of appearance)

The Lonely Instrument Series -Cello -Played by Natalie Haas - Music by Trygve Larsen from Pixabay

Cold Sad Pianos - Music by Mike Kripak from Pixabay

Meditative Background Mystical Yoga Nature Fantasy Music - Music by Dubush Miaw from Pixabay

June  - Music by Marcel Pequel from Free Music Archive 

Sad Tragic Dramatic Music Slow Melancholic - Music by Denis Pavlov from Pixabay

Loneliness_Outro- Music by Grand_Project from Pixabay

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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 testing on Indigenous lands.

In an eight-part series, students from the Centre for Advancing Journalism explore the university’s hidden past, revealing stories that reach beyond iconic buildings and the names they bear.

We dive into the colonial legacies tied to these structures, the injustice they represent, and the multicultural narratives that push back against this history.

This series is about truth-telling—illuminating the foundations on which this our university is built.

Join us as we unearth the stories that have been buried for far too long.

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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 question: how would Laby have been commemorated if she was a man? Jade Murray explores the University of Melbourne Parkville campus to search for the forgotten stories of women in science. 

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Interviewees:

• Elisabetta Barberio – Professor of Physics and Director of the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence
• Katie Wood – Senior Archivist at the University of Melbourne Archives
• Em Bawden - Immunologist from the Peter Doherty Institute
• Joe Pascoe - Poet and co-curator of the Jean Laby exhibit 

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Music and sound effects for this episode of Uncurated were sourced from Pixabay

 ‘Order’ - ComaStudio

‘Space Chillout’ - penguinmusic

'Tuesday' - amaksi

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