Interview

Speaking Against Institutional Silence: Interview with a Senior Academic at the ANU

The following is an interview conducted in October 2025 with a Senior Academic at ANU, and their reflections on the ANU Gaza Solidarity Encampment.

لكنة المنفى... الحديث عن فلسطين من بعيد

من أنت؟ حدثيني عن تجربتك في فلسطين مع الاحتلال الصهيوني

Rising From Collective Loss: The Gaza Solidarity Encampment and the Canberra Palestinian Community

Sarah is an active member of the Palestinian community in Canberra. She has supported and helped students at the encampment enormously. This reflection is composed of excerpts of an interview where she reflects on the ANU Gaza Solidarity Encampment.

Institutional ‘Neutrality’ and Systemic Racism: A Conversation on the ANU Gaza Solidarity Encampment

Food as Solidarity: Food as love

I became involved with the student Encampment by cooking and providing meals. This was my way of thanking the students for standing up for Palestinian rights.

...تعلّمنا أن نحبّ أرضًا لم نرها قط حوار مع شاهدة على المخيم التضامني من الجالية العربية

Interview with a member of the Arab and Muslim community who supported and participated in the Gaza solidarity encampment.

Leah House

The ANU Gaza Solidarity Encampment took place on Ngambri and Ngunnawal Land, where the legacy of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, as one of the longest ongoing protest sites for Indigenous rights, is impossible to ignore. First Nations here in so called australia have resisted colonisation for over two centuries.

Celebration of the Black-Palestinian Solidarity Conference

At the Institute of Post-Colonial Studies – 8th November 2019. Alissar Chidiac, Danielle Bigfoot Lane, Shaeni...

‘I was exhausted, both physically and emotionally’: Lina Koleilat interviews a member of the CHL administrative staff about the School’s 2013 review

LK:  The School of Culture, History and Language review of 2013, was that a big one? Yes, it was a big explosion. LK: Were the professional staff involved? Well, they always said, ...

At what point is the university not worth defending?

Rosie Joy Barron is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne’s Graduate School of Education, where she is involved with the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU). For this...

What makes universities valuable? One international student’s journey

Although universities have developed differently in each country, essentially all universities are similar: they are communities of students and scholars. Universities are communit...

The future of the university: an interview with Raewyn Connell

Lina Koleilat interviews Raewyn Connell the author of  The Good University:  What universities actually do and why it’s time for radical change , (Monash University Publishing, 201...

How a Body Becomes a Boat: An Interview with Justine Poon

Justine Poon is a PhD student at the Australian National University. Her thesis topic: “How a body becomes a boat” examines the ways in which law, political discourse, imagery, and...

Days of Rage – In Conversation with Judy Turner

In 1971, when the South African Springboks toured Australia and played at Manuka Oval in Canberra, Judy Turner was on of 49 people arrested protesting against South Africa’s aparth...

“A World Where It’s Easier to Make Friends”: Discussing Socialism, Activism and Legal Education with Professor John Buchanan

Professor John Buchanan is the Head of the Discipline of Business Analytics at the University of Sydney Business School. From 1979-1984, he was an undergraduate student of History ...

Full-Time Troublemakers: A Conversation with Chris Swinbank

“Full-time troublemakers”. This is how Chris Swinbank describes student activsts he camepaigned with during his time at the ANU from 1968-1971. After reading about Chris and the an...

Hope and Activism: Is it Difficult to Maintain Hope as an Activist?

Chris Swinbank: Involved in anti-apartheid activism, anti-Vietnam War activism and student support for the establishment of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, late 1960s-early 1970s Oh I...

Trashing the Joint: An Interview with Former ANU Radical Feminist Julia Imogen

I have often wondered what it would have been like to be an Australian feminist in the 1970s. To be frank, I have always thought it would have been wildly fun and, accordingly, hav...

Oscillating Futures: Visions of Apocalypse Amongst Climate Activists

–  Claire Gardner   interviewed by   Odette Shenfield   Claire Gardner is a recent graduate from the ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society. She spent her Honours year r...

Learning the Language of the Enemy: An Interview with Matthew Zagor

–  Matthew Zagor  interviewed by  Odette Shenfield Matthew Zagor is an Associate Professor in Law and a specialist in refugee law. Last semester, I was privileged to study his cour...

Looking at Photomedia Artist Wei Leng Tay’s ‘The Other Shore’

–  Olivier Krischer  interviewed by  Annette Liu and Esther Carlin As you enter Wei Leng Tay’s exhibition ‘The Other Shore’, you are drawn in by the darkness. The space is containe...

Roxley Foley: The Keeper of the Flame

–  Gus McCubbing interviews Roxley Foley Due to the work of Gary Foley, the Foley name is synonymous throughout Australia with Indigenous rights activism. However, at a touch over ...

Beyond Categorisation: In Conversation with Udeni

Aditi Razdan interviews Udeni Appuhamilage Meet Udeni Hanchapola Appuhamilage: a Fulbright Scholar, a clinical psychologist from Sri Lanka with experience in trauma, psychosocial, ...

Protecting the Forest at New Heights

The Story Behind the Little Red Toolangi Treehouse –  Odette Shenfield interviews Hannah Patchett In 2013, Hannah Patchett spent a month in the Little Red Toolangi Treehouse to pro...

Beyond National Security: An Interview with Scott Ludlam

–  Odette Shenfield interviews Scott Ludlam On December 1 st , in the wake of the Paris attacks and during the Paris Climate Negotiations, I sat down with Greens Senator Scott Ludl...

The Creator: An Interview on Art, Religion and Mental Illness

– Esther Carlin interviews Claire Louise On a cold Tuesday around midday I met with Claire Louise, a fellow first year Visual Art student, at the ANU School of Music café. She was ...

Indigenous Youth Fighting for Climate Justice

Tallara Gray is an activist with Seed and studies visual art at the University of Queensland. Linnea Burdon-Smith spoke with her about Seed, activism, her art and upbringing. Where...