my year on the dance floor
Drowning in the weight of becoming, nobody could have guessed the simple noise it left ringing in our ears.
Muslim MLS Student Accuses Faculty of Intimidation
Melbourne Law School (MLS) student X* has accused the MLS of misusing its power through intimidation and silencing. This accusation arose after his attempts at raising concerns with the Associate Dean and submitting an open letter to the Law students newspaper De Minimis. The article criticised what he saw as the MLS’s failure to address structural issues Muslim students face in the legal community.
Sex and Stigma
Your first casual sex experience. The back of a car. Classy. You never liked random hook ups in clubs and you’re frankly bemused by the whole experience. Sex had always been an intimate act; not anymore. The second time is better, you like him, you date a few weeks, you’re replaced. It gets easier each time.
Federal Election Coverage 2019
Welcome to Farrago's coverage of the 2019 federal election.
Campus
What’s in a tree? Melbourne’s best kept secret is at The Dax Centre
24 September 2019In your hurry to class you might have rushed past Australia’s only heritage-listed art collection. Tucked away in a quiet corner on the University of Melbourne’s Parkville campus sits over 16,000 artworks, one of only three collections in the world of its kind. “Someone once said to me that The Dax Centre was Melbourne’s best kept secret,” said director Charmaine Smith.
Feathered Friend Fuels Facebook Feud
24 September 2019Baillieu Library’s resident albino pigeon has become the source of a heated Facebook debate between students attempting to name the bird.
Over semester break, the Facebook page Pigeon at the Baillieu Library ran an online competition to determine its name.
Petitions, Protests and Sex Based Events
24 September 2019An event held at the University of Melbourne on August 8 sparked protests from students and staff amid fears that it would promote anti-trans ideas and make the University unsafe for transgender people.
Students and staff join global climate strike with green light from the University
24 September 2019On Friday 20 September, a contingent of University of Melbourne students and staff attended the Global Climate Strike, with the unprecedented endorsement of the University.
UMSU International expresses concerns with constitutional changes
24 September 2019On Friday 13 September, the University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU) and UMSU International signed an agreement to address UMSU International’s concerns about the constitutional changes passed during the Special General Meeting (SGM) on 17 September.
Nonfiction
Regulating Language
28 September 2019To many of us, the idea of languages tied to a country seems normal. People in England speak English, people in Japan speak Japanese, people in Croatia speak Croatian, and so on. Is this a hard and fast rule? Of course not, but to some extent it’s still considered the norm. But why does this perception exist when it’s not the case with the majority of languages?
How Death Brought an Atheist Closer to God: An Exploration into the Mental State of a Grieving Mind
28 September 2019I shrouded myself in the scent of frosted berries. The autumn breeze drifted into my room as I dressed. It was Mother’s Day. However, as I wore my linen turtleneck and gold earrings, the day felt heavy on my shoulders. In many ways, it was ironic that it was Mother’s Day. My mother’s grief floods through the phone with each call this past year. That morning, she calls me and tells me how she slept next to my Aunty the previous night. She tells me about the groans of pain that were substituted for snores. My Aunty, Amtou, was sick with a rare form of terminal appendix cancer.
Bowen
28 September 2019Lindsay Lohan’s done this, I think, as the cop takes my mugshot. Should I smile? I give the camera a glare that looks petulant, childish.
Burn City Sound Systems: How Sound System Music is Shaking Melbourne’s Underground Music Scene
28 September 2019Melbourne’s underground music scene is a living organism I had always been aware of but was never cool or curious enough to dive into and experience. Then, two years ago, I was dragged unwittingly to a dub music event—known in the scene as a “dance”—expecting dubstep and to have a terrible time. Instead I was welcomed into a community dedicated to growing their scene, to making important strides in pursuit of social justice, and to throwing an awesome party.
Living Well When You’re Unwell
26 September 2019Welcome to Living Well When You’re Unwell—a column that answers all your questions about navigating uni, life, relationships, and jobs with disability and chronic illness.
Creative
For & Against: Bats
8 October 2019FOR By Tilli Franks There is only 80 million years of difference between humans and bats. The common ancestor of all placental mammals is estimated to have lived around 400,000 years after the dinosaurs met their particularly nasty end. One could argue that bats got a reasonably good deal from the evolutionary lotto: they […]
The Remarkable Quests of Raddish and Quill: An Unexpected Dinner Guest
8 October 2019The University of Melbourne’s Creative Literature and Writing Society present The Remarkable Quests of Raddish and Quill, a collaborative column for Farrago.
The Lighthouse and the Mechanic
8 October 2019The two of us still pretending to be butterflies, holed up in our terraced cocoon for weeks watching the fists of clouds paint the sky winter white.
Secret Servings
8 October 2019My mother is in the kitchen, a tiny moving blur amongst maroon teak cabinets. Sunlight is pouring in and I am bent over my homework, scribbling away to glory, when I cough.
The Fairytale Gazette: Part 6
8 October 2019Murder and general mayhem sound just like your good old-fashioned fairy tales, something left behind in the myths and legends that belong in forgotten derelict book-shelves. Beware sensationalism but the reality is that it’s all just life, kids.
Culture
Review: Buoyancy
24 September 2019VCA graduate Rodd Rathjen’s debut feature, Buoyancy, is designed to provoke audiences with uncomfortable truths about modern slavery and our proximity to it via global food production, but there’s one particular question it raises which refuses to claw its way out of my mind: what does it take to break a 14 year old boy?
Review: Fringe Festival Comedy: Will It Juice?
17 September 2019Coming to a fringe festival near you: Will it Juice? the biggest and most bodacious dance crew to hit the Fitzroy art scene.
Except—despite an unapologetic opening dance number to Lizzo’s ‘Juice’—they’re actually an improv comedy group.
Review: The Bride Test
16 September 2019The Bride Test is a really pure novel. It explores the intricacies of family, immigration, mental health, grief and so much more.
Review: Julia Michaels
9 September 2019We all have an inner monologue, that little persistent voice inside that narrates our every thought and feeling, but Julia Michaels has taken it to the next level, bringing her Inner Monologue Tour to Melbourne, for one night only.
Review: X-Men: Dark Phoenix
25 July 2019Returning to the Dark Phoenix Saga 13 years after X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men: Dark Phoenix is tasked with retelling the Jean Grey story in a manner that is sufficiently fresh and respectful to the series’ first attempt, all the while winning the approval of new and dedicated fans.