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

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

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.

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.

Uncurated

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 unforgetting as they ask why some objects - or people - are lost from history. And what that says about Australia. 

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 unforgetting as they ask why some objects - or people - are lost from history. And what that says about Australia.

EUGENICS

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

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

DONATIONS 

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 

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: 
<ul>
<li>Rohan Long, Curator of the Harry Brookes Allen Museum at the University of Melbourne </li>
<li>Emma Kowal, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Deakin University </li>
</ul>
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 <a href="https://www.unimelb.edu.au/dhoombak-goobgoowana" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.unimelb.edu.au/dhoombak-goobgoowana&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1730522621986000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1gQVFQZpHXW1K-ZcqsX52H">here</a>.  
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

COLLECTORS 

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

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<a href="http://www.freesound.org/s/410768" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.freesound.org/s/410768&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1729928023037000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3L8OuuMlw_rXDBdNk_yoId"> www.freesound.org/s/410768</a>, License: Creative Commons 0 1.0
Pied Currawong Strepera graculina by Sunny Tseng, accessible at<a href="http://www.xeno-canto.org/871215" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.xeno-canto.org/871215&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1729928023037000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1vzRQtCgH2rKkn_6ADQDtL"> www.xeno-canto.org/871215</a>, License: Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commerical Share Alike 4.0
Grey Butcherbird Cracticus torquatus by Peter Boesman, accessible at<a href="http://www.xeno-canto.org/859826" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.xeno-canto.org/859826&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1729928023037000&amp;usg=AOvVaw051vSLht5IomKGbpusxdwP"> www.xeno-canto.org/859826</a>, License: Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commerical Share Alike 4.0
Australian Raven Corvus coronoides by Zebedee Muller, accessible at<a href="http://www.xeno-canto.org/801431" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.xeno-canto.org/801431&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1729928023037000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2T5nu02qr12K95YdEARGrI"> www.xeno-canto.org/801431</a>, License: Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commerical Share Alike 4.0
Laughing Kookaburra Daceolo novaguineae by Ken George, accessible at<a href="http://www.xeno-canto.org/858185" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.xeno-canto.org/858185&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1729928023037000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2onlmRsTzJBhs-kswrdj1J"> www.xeno-canto.org/858185</a>, License: Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commerical Share Alike 4.0
Common Myna Acridotheres tristis by Greg McLachlan, accessible at<a href="http://www.xeno-canto.org/331396" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.xeno-canto.org/331396&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1729928023037000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2yeqVpyzOJcGuMVFGg5bYG"> www.xeno-canto.org/331396</a>, License: Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commerical Share Alike 4.0
Peace Piano song by Calvin Clavier. <a href="https://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-peace-piano-song-216338/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-peace-piano-song-216338/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1729928023037000&amp;usg=AOvVaw106sYOyK2AYh-pPI2px5U2">https://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-peace-piano-song-216338/</a> 
Birds and Insects near Dam - Cathedral Ranges by Sassaby, accessible at <a href="http://freesound.org/s/427877" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://freesound.org/s/427877&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1729928023037000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1UJDrC9O4gF27ZJmZbEQVT">freesound.org/s/427877</a>, License: Creative Commons 0 1.0
180081 Sheep Farm 01 by FST18008, accessible at <a href="https://freesound.org/s/441801" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://freesound.org/s/441801&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1729928023037000&amp;usg=AOvVaw37YRLziPH1PsQrgZzFW1SC">https://freesound.org/s/441801</a>, License: Attribution 4.0
Cinematic rythmline by SamuelFJohanns from Pixabay

EUGENICS

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