In their own words: linguistic diversity in our staff community
What we made, and who we collaborated with.
Client: Transcultural and Translingual Communication Working Group led by Professor Ikuko Nakane, Associate Dean Diversity and Inclusion, Faculty of Arts.
Video and Media: Produced by Shaun McAlpine, edited by Dan Jones, interviews conducted by Handy Kartika.
🏆 "Our Languages, our voices, in our own words" was a winner in the 2025 CASE Best of Asia-Pacific Region Awards in the category of Best Promotional Video (Long).
In 2024, the Transcultural and Translingual Communication Working Group in the Faculty of Arts completed a report on staff multilingualism at the University of Melbourne.
Their research aimed to gain insights into the number of languages spoken by staff and gather their perspectives about linguistic and cultural diversity on our campuses.
They approached the Video and Media team to help them make a video that would feature linguistic and cultural diversity, as well as speakers who learned second languages.
“The report revealed really interesting results about the ways in which staff bring their language and culture to work professionally and socially,” said Professor Ikuko Nakane. “And we wanted to share what our colleagues’ languages mean to their identities and sense of belonging."
Working with producer Shaun McAlpine, the two teams found twelve University staff members who spoke languages other than English and wanted to share their stories and observations in one of our studios on Parkville campus.
Shaun and his crew created an informal set with personalised University backdrops to connect the speakers to place. Producer Handy Kartika, an Indonesian speaker himself, asked open-ended questions, creating a familiar and safe space for interviewees to share their stories, in their own words, on camera.
Editor Dan Jones carefully pieced together a narrative that balanced both English and original languages. With the assistance of AI-generated transcripts, consultations with Arts faculty staff and the interviewees, he was able to generate accurate translations and captions for authentic and relatable final cuts.
Entitled "Our Languages, our voices, in our own words", the video was shared with University staff via internal channels at the end of 2024 and throughout 2025, and received positive feedback.
Ikuko and the team were particularly moved that the video sparked new connections between staff members with languages in common.
"We hope the video contributes to a more positive view of linguistic diversity in our campus community."
The Diversity and Inclusion team continues to advocate for a better understanding of linguistic diversity on campus for students and staff, through regular themed ‘lunch and learn’ events for Faculty of Arts staff members and other activities.
If you are a Faculty of Arts staff member interested in getting involved, contact the Arts Diversity and Inclusion Committee: arts-diversityandinclusion@unimelb.edu.au
Have you and your team got a story to share?
Get in touch to start thinking with us! We can collaborate with you to design and develop media solutions to tell your story with impact.