Et Cetera in 2021

A note on where we are in 2021, and how you can get involved.

What is the Purpose of History?

2020 marks an inflexion point in the annals of history. Joseph Haynes considers the place of the past to inform a better future.

Bridging the Divide

Phoebe Grant considers the in-between of a rural childhood and big-city youth

Art School Un-Confidential

A conversation with student artist Lucrecia Ramona de Jesus Uribe Restrepo

Editorial: Job-focused universities will only hurt Australia

The 'Jobs-Ready Graduates' Package undermines the freedom and purpose of universities

Recalibrate: A Note from the Editors

A message from the Editorial team on this final edition for 2020

The ‘F’ Word

How do we shake off the shackles of 'failure' at university?

Cutting the Grass

Why cutting funding for Environmental Science degrees hurts us all

In Defence of Suburbia

A suburban dweller re-imagines her bearings in a COVID-world.

We All Need a Little Space

A note from our editors on the launch of Space

Building a Future in the Dark

Designing a world without a blueprint.

What to do About the Men in Stone

Joseph Haynes debates the complex issue of statue toppling, looking both to history and the future to consider the potential costs of this practice

Business as Unusual at Australian Universities

The standard you walk past is the standard you accept

Redrawing the Space Around Us

As the great Kevin Parker once sang, “Company’s okay, solitude is bliss”. Brighton Grace considers whether time spent alone might ultimately be beneficial for us all

Lessons from a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Jordan Michael makes educational fact out of science fiction

Eternal Sunshine of the Accessible University

I hope we never go back to campus

For Us, By Us

When we create space, we create community

Arrival at Departure

Soo Choi on the place between house and home.

A Window Huge and Light Filled

How do we grieve the spaces we have lost?

Fun-dergraduate: Looking back on my early university years

Elli Miller considers what made his undergraduate years fun

A Forgotten Woman of a Forgotten Time

What happens to knowledge when learning institutions collapse? Jordan Michael takesus on a journey through the universities of the Islamic Golden Age.

My Unhelpful, Unproductive Lamentations

Disappointed by 2020, the year of everything being cancelled? Read on to feel seen.

Upon Second Viewing: The Power of Reappraisal

Binge re-watching your favorite shows in lockdown? Brighton Grace explores the unlikely upsides of 2020’s global hiatus, and how a critical approach to entertainment might benefit you in the long run.

Clive James and the Australian Genius

Netflix? Nah, I’ve completed that. With more time on our hands than ever, COVID-19 has us all scrambling for new sources of entertainment. Joseph Haynes breathes life into a forgotten Australian author who just might be the answer.

The ‘Australian History’ School Curriculum: A Continuation of Colonial Paternalism?

Interrogating the origins of this country, one knowledge gap at a time.

Losing the Rhythm

Live music was once a quintessential part of the Australian university experience, so where did it go?

Ramblings of an imperfect feminist

B tries to reconcile her ideal vision of herself with some contrary historical evidence.

Graduating during Australia’s ‘journalism doomsday’

How do graduate journalists wade the waters of an Australian mediascape falling apart at the seams?

REWIND: A note from the editors

Nothing less: Toxic perfectionism & university life

Angela Nguyen explores the myth of the perfect student, and where university culture of high achievement, social engagement, and co-curricular involvement leaves out burnt out and unhappy

The Fall of the Western Canon

Canon Wars: Joseph Haynes gives his analysis of the fall of the Western Canon in contemporary academics, and whether or not it can be resuscitated.

Recommendations: Keep the Summertime Sadness at bay

Keep your self entertained while we all thoughtfully keep away from one another

Art vs Science: Will future medical students kowtow to Artificial Intelligence Doctors?

In an era where technology reigns supreme, Elli Izrailov considers how medical students come to terms with the presence of Artificial Intelligence.

Big Changes Start with Small Steps

Think locally, reap global rewards. Josh Blode on the state of the world, and how to rectify it.

Interxiety: where technological apprehension, pandemics and anxiety collide

Going back to University is hard. Pandemics are hard. Simi’s trying to sift her way through both.

I went to Europe and all I got was this sense of empowerment

Passports and Prosts: How university exchange changed my worldview

Floating in a Lantern’s Glow

Jack Shanahan considers the grief of change in a stirring creative piece

Viral Ignorance: Why Australia’s teachers need to become scientifically literate

With fact and fiction pervading media and everyday conversation in equal measure, Jordan Michael makes the case for our teachers to have greater scientific literacy.

Do We Need Personal Reform Before Revolution? Advice for Budding Revolutionaries

Slacktivists and Champagne Ideologues: Brighton Grace gives his insight into the paradoxes of campus politics, the allure of the collective, and what it might take to foster a more authentic activism.

She’s Changed

Pushing back on expectation - inviting people to change, without the fear of judgement. A creative piece by Hannah Cohen

Zoom zoom zoom – How a global pandemic can inspire evolution in education

Grab a name tag, stand 1.5 metres away, and sneeze into your elbow. In the wake of COVID-19, Jordan Michael takes you through your first day at the online Virtual University.

Evolution and Revolution

A note from our editors on the first edition of 2020

Enjoy your 20’s whilst they last, they say.

Navigating the inexorable tenuousness of being twenty something.

Trimesters: the next attempt to milk the cash cow dry

In July, David Elliott reflected on the drawbacks of trimesters, after the University of Adelaide announced it was considering making the change.

Getting to the Roots

A note from our editors on the final edition for 2019, "Roots".

#SAVEUWAP: WA Universities and Internationalism

The closing of UWA Publishing, and the unsettling trend that sees an abandonment of local concerns and culture.

The Student and The Megaphone

A reflection on the power of grassroots activism at university campuses

Unrooting Yourself From Expectations

On job applications, rejections, expectations, and TikTok

The Mixed-Race Student Experience

Sol Kochi Carballo on finding roots as a mixed-race student.

On Laying Down New Roots in New Lands

An exchange student reflects on why international inequality cuts down our rosy cosmopolitan ideal

My, my, how can I resist you?: How an ABBA cover band brings the masses together

The ongoing universality of Swedish pop genius.

The Unbearable Uprootedness of Law School

Sometimes we shouldn’t have all the answers – Elizabeth Harris on the value of uncertainty

Why do university students still love Avatar: The Last Airbender?

Why "Appa Yip Yip!" never gets old

Hometown Glory

Gene Pinter on the ups and downs of attending university in the town you grew up in.

How the Centrelink automated debt system continues to fail students

Nell O’Grady surveys the individuals still receiving false debt letters from the government organisation.

The Rise Of Depressing Meme Culture

Is laughter always the best medicine?

Top 10 Tips for a Digital Detox that Yoga Mums Don’t Want You To Know

Elli Miller divulges all the secrets you need to know in order to rid yourself of your toxic technology addiction

Fans of tomorrow: Esports in Australia

Being a fan of sports tomorrow means following more than the AFL; Australia too begins to ride the wave of esports.

Defamation, Facebook, and Memes

Why our judges could do with some more memes in their lives.

Click Me! You Won’t Believe What Happens Next!

A note from our editors on the launch of Click Me!

The lungs of the informed youth are on fire

The rise of misinformation and slacktivism in the age of Instagram.

Part Three on The Secret of Finding Direction Going Into University – The Finale

Part III of Elli Miller’s case studies on the theme of ‘Directions’

The Digital Climate Change

Holding our generation accountable to the decline of data privacy.

LinkedIn – How to make professional Tinder more than just a one night stand

Ella Robinson cuts through the buzzwords and headshots to come to terms with being linked out of LinkedIn.

An entree to the news diet with @thedailyaus

Five Insta news stories a day; a necessary spoonful of current affairs for a rushed millennial.

Growing Up Queer On the Internet

Rudy Rigg on how virality has shaped queer spaces online.

What Fake News Media Outlets Don’t Want You to Know (Shocking!)

At a time when people, including children, get their information about the world from the internet, it is necessary to teach them how to use it.

I Got The Power?

A note from our editors on the launch of Power.

Campus freedom of speech not under threat, French Review finds

Honi Soit coverage of the recently released independent review on free speech at Australian university campuses.

From Stones to iPhones: Trends in Student Activism

How activists are calling the shots on contemporary issues.

You have to break a few Eggboys to make an omelette

Ella Robinson on our love affair with Eggboy.

Powerlessness in the face of a horrible tutor

How do you stand up to an insufferable tutor?

Six Secrets of University Power: A Student’s Guide

On doing your homework before sitting the activist exam.

Campus Activists: What To Do About Provocative Speakers?

On how to protest strategically without it backfiring on the cause.

Designing equality on campus

University: where gendered power structures and architectural design collides - a piece by Maddie Spencer.

How Students Become Empowered by Finding Direction

Part II of Elli Miller's case studies on the theme of 'Directions'.

What I’ve learnt about power in five years

Elli Miller writes a letter on the topic power to his Year 12 self.

Winning (he)arts & minds

How perceptions of profitability can lead to a drought in arts funding.

Degrees For Sale

How to buy a degree from your local service provider.

Fear in an election year

The potency of words from the upper-echelons of politics to the classroom.

A Student’s Life With Endo

On getting through university while overcoming an invisible yet common condition.

Stressed out – just not enough to care

How the burnout generation is becoming more apathetic than ever

Confessions of a Female Perfectionist

On perfectionism, over-commitment, and how 'leaning in' isn't all that it's cracked up to be.

What Politics Has to Do With Social Connection

How social media has transformed social relations, for better and for worse.

Why it’s Okay Not to Have Direction (Going into University)

Two case studies on the theme of 'Directions' by Elli Miller.

Master of None

Are you a jack of all trades, or a master of none? Maddie Spencer comments on the difficulties of choosing a masters degree.

Not so Hot for Teacher

Ella Robinson schools us on the current dilemma of teaching teaching in Australia.

Musings on the Melbourne Model

The pro's and con's of generalised undergraduate degrees, and playing in the sandbox before entering the big leagues.

Mental health support: a “wasteland” between the GP and emergency services

While recent funding boosts demonstrate an acknowledgement of the issue, a more comprehensive overhaul of the system, and youth-focused action, is needed to tackle the spike in mental health problems.

Starting your year with direction

A note from our editors on the launch of Directions.

STEAM: Putting the Arts in STEM

Progress can take us in many directions. Well need the arts can help us choose the right path, argues Sol Kochi Carballo

University for its own sake: Imagining the future of learning in an automated utopia

Is university really preparing us for a post-automation future? Or are we just attending degree factories?

Work integrated learning: the dullest jewel of the academic crown

Finding a job is really a job in itself.

Teaching matters – or does it?

How one lecturer broke the silence on university priorities, and why it’s time for things to change.

Let’s talk about your future

A note from our editors on the launch of Future.

Alumni-lati

Why your university will send you and your graduating cohort out into the world to infiltrate major corporations and seats of power.

The slippery slope of censorship

After a censorship scandal at the University of Otago made global news at the end of May, censorship has flashed back onto the student magazine radar.

Bad news

We are living in the best time in history.

I was rejected from every summer internship I applied for (haha)

Welcome to failure. Embrace it.

6 ways to self-induce a breakdown about your career prospects

Girl, 22, has a bright future in unemployment.

Studying the future

You don't need to be a scientist to up-skill as a futuristic badass.

What we owe to our future selves

Why your time at university will follow you into the 'real' world.

Dead loss degrees and the importance of disruption

Why we need to future-proof our education.

Climate Change: Just A Dinner Table Conversation in Wentworth

On keeping cups and throwing out politicians.

About UATSIS

The story of the Union of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students.

The Power of Black Women

A poem on how black women shape our communities.

Blak Women on Blak Women

The girls talk intersectional feminism and how you can be a better ally to your blak sisters.

Contributors to Songlines’ First Issue

Introducing all the students that contributed to this edition.

Ode-Reconciliation

How do you reconcile a genocidal society with a people that have been oppressed in their own country? You don’t.

Growing

Makayla explores how identity is a continuous journey.

Us vs Them

A glimpse into the gentle reality of white Australia and the jarring experiences of People of Colour. Does a “fair” go apply to those who are not ?

Because of Her, We Can

Indigenous leaders and advocates: paving the way for young Indigenous women

An Art Experiment

A Wiradjuri and Maori woman exploring culture and identity in her artwork.

The Melting Pot

How a small community kitchen can make all the difference.

Jacaranda

Trees that light up the streets.

A Healthy Mob

The importance of having strong support structures in the LGBTQI+ community.

Welcome to Songlines

A message from the Songlines editorial team.

Internationally unrecognised

On the guilt and incompatibility of an international student taking her degree back home.

How to break your own heart

The pass/fail myth.

The oxymoron of independent education

Being a good student means being critical of everything. Including your professors.

Saved by the bell (curve)?

How normative marking schemes, a university standard, are deflating our grades and creating a hypercompetitive culture.

A case for the classics

Why studying a classical language can be so important to a well-rounded education.

A (very) brief guide to translational research

Translating the information learned from research to help solve practical problems.

On course to change course

Sometimes, we choose the wrong path, or we find something better suited to us.

Open-ended questions

International students aren’t looking for pity. We would love to bring colour to your lives.

Products of their time

The history of economic ideas is seldom studied.

What you really need to know about knowledge

A note from our editors on this Knowledge edition of Et Cetera.

Order in the court

What you'll learn outside the lecture hall.

Ps make degrees, but they don’t make a life

Why do we define success at university only by WAM?

Writing right

Why we need a mandatory foundational writing subject to rescue those students who can't.

Art vs science

A facile and dangerous debate.

Volunteering for a wake up call

The complicated lessons learned from volunteering overseas.

Ending queer youth homelessness

How student-led campaigns are driving the fight.

Feminist campaigns key to reversing climate change

Educating young women and ensuring access to birth control would have a massive impact in reversing global warming, data shows.

Finding a voice for international students

Encouraging involvement with broader campus life.

Activism in focus

How can we best use our resources to help others the most? Effective Altruism and Amnesty International give their answers.

Are you asking for it?

Examining university sexual consent modules

We need to speak up!

University is a high pressure environment. It’s no wonder that so many of us are struggling.

What you should know about the changing face of university management

What's to be done about the corporatisation of our educational institutions?

From art school to activism

Why I chose to devote myself to the climate justice movement.

US universities more affordable than Australia’s. For real

How the budget media lock-up and an international study reveal the cost of being a student in Australia.

Advocating for your welfare

NUS Welfare Officer Jordon O'Reilly explains how the peak student representative body operates.

Facing the flood

Nina Funnell on the trauma of staring down sexual assault

What we can learn from Emma Gonzalez

And why we need to talk about angry activists.

Exploitation and wasted time

The reality of unpaid internships

“Ak-shun”

A note from our editors on this Activism edition of Et Cetera.

Open letter: the government has blocked all student media from accessing the budget lock-up

Young people at least deserve the respect to be able to examine the government’s policy.

Weight of our world

First Nation Australians who have succeeded in the system find ourselves carrying the terrible weight alone - at the expense of everything else we are.

Lost in translation

A personal history of workplace exploitation as an international student.

Sustainability and your mental health

The unsustainability of studying sustainability.

The burden of proof

Perhaps this article is adequate proof of English proficiency.

Economic abuse in young people

Why students are particularly vulnerable to this hidden problem.

Should I tell them I’m queer?

For the most part, queer people don’t get to control how they are represented in the media.

Summertime sadness

Being prescribed happiness over a four month period is not only taxing, but potentially harmful.

Off the record

We spoke with student journalists about what it's like to report from the National Union of Students National Conference.

Classism is never classy

Are our universities disconnected from the real world?

Interviewers, Interviewed

We turn the mic on ABC journalist Nas Campanella as she speaks about her career, and how she's navigated it with a disability.

Getting our bite back

Has student journalism been defanged? An interview with Sally Percival Wood on her book Dissent.

A letter to Asian girls

Have you ever wanted to wake up white?

You’re the voice?

Finding a place above the politics at the National Union of Students National Conference.

Welcome to Et Cetera

As we launch, a note from our editors on the founding of Et Cetera, and the role we aim to play.

Edge of the sword, tip of the tongue

A look at the history of student journalism, and where it's headed in the internet age.