The Burunh Program
Burunh Seminar Series
The Burunh seminar series deep-dives into theory, practice, method, application, professional development, research, and literature to ensure students and researchers are versed in the tools and frameworks necessary to study the intersection of science, humanities, social science, and the arts.
Seminars are held in-person, with a Zoom option available for those who are outside of Melbourne. It is designed for graduate students, but everyone is invited to attend – from undergraduate researchers to tenured faculty.
There will be 17 seminars delivered in 2026.
Time: Fortnightly on Fridays from 2-4 pm (Melbourne Time) during the semester.
Location (06 March): Room 231, Old Arts Building, UniMelb Parkville Campus (Map)
Location (20 March): Room G21, Alan Gilbert, UniMelb Parkville Campus (Map)
Location (17 April onwards): Room 213, Old Arts Building, UniMelb Parkville Campus (Map)
Zoom Link: Join us via Zoom here.
Seminar Recordings: You can view video recordings of the seminars here.
Semester 1, 2026
06 March 2026
Workshop - Research Methodologies in Cultural Astronomy
Associate Professor Duane Hamacher
University of Melbourne
In this workshop, we will go through examples of conducting rigorous research on historical sources, focusing on how to unpack and analyse written texts about astronomical events described in cultural traditions that were published in the 1800s. We will focus on the Great Eruption of Eta Carinae as described in Aboriginal and Samoan traditions, looking at linguistics, history, anthropology, positional astronomy and statistics.
20 March 2026
Archaeoastronomy Paradigms: from Star Alignments to Lunar Standstills
Emeritus Professor Bradley Schaefer
Louisiana State University, USA
This seminar will explore prominent paradigms in archaeoastronomy, focused on alignment studies, issues and challenges faced when interpreting alignments, and how bias and poor scholarship can dominate academic discourse. Examples include alignments to lunar standstills and limits of human visibility when conducting research in archaeoastronomy.
17 April 2026
Black Death and Cosmic Apocalypse in Early Modern Europe
Phoebe Keen
University of Melbourne
In this seminar, we will explore primary historical texts from the early modern period in Europe to analyse apocalyptic visionaries linking the Black Plague to astrological omes derived from transient celestial phenomena, from comets to conjunctions. This will examine the use of primary sources, translation and transcription, interpretation, and understanding the role of astronomical phenomena in cultural, religious, and philosophical thought related to the end of the world.
01 May 2026
Dr Parsons is a Yuggerabul and Ugarem Le man who recently completed a PhD at VCA. He is a composer, producer and performer (baritone opera) whose singing practice is deeply embedded within his cultural identity. Highly skilled men and women kept culture alive through ongoing practices and knowledges to navigate sea and read stars. He will discuss the intersection of culture, science, and music.
15 May 2026
Indigenous astronomy and its scientific representation
Dr Kevin Orrman-Rossiter
University of Melbourne
This seminar will explore how science is represented by researchers who published studies on Australian Indigenous astronomy, how people who study this topic viewed science, and how that influenced their collection and description of Indigenous astronomy practices, words and stories. The examination and synthesis what scholars see as Indigenous astronomy will provide a reference point or future research.
Reading: TBA
29 May 2026
Linguistic analysis in Cultural Astronomy research
Professor Nick Thieberger
University of Melbourne
This seminar will dive into the use of linguistic tools and methodologies when conducting cultural astronomy research. Led by experienced linguist Professor Nick Thieberger, we will discuss the importance of primary records for discovering information about celestial knowledge, how to find early records, how to access and to digitise them, and explore large texts using corpus tools such as AntConc/Voyant.
Reading: Reading Old Sources
12 June 2026
Astronomy, Geography and Cosmic Meaning in Byzantium
Professor Richard de Grijs
Macquarie University
As the centre of the Mediterranean world shifted from Alexandria to Constantinople, Byzantine scholars inherited the scientific legacy of antiquity while reinterpreting the heavens through a Christian lens. This seminar explores the dynamic interplay between technical astronomy, geographical practice and apocalyptic expectation in the Byzantine Empire.
Reading: All roads lead to (New) Rome
26 June 2026
Graduate Researcher Wrap-Up
Speakers TBA
University of Melbourne
In this seminar, graduate students will give a 20 minute presentation about their research, showing how they have applied lessons and outcomes of the seminar series to their research projects and theses.
Reading
29 June - 26 July 2026
Winter Break
No seminars will be held during this time.
No Reading
Semester 2, 2026
31 July 2026
Indigenous Data Governance and Principles of C.A.R.E.
Associate Professor Kristen Smith
University of Melbourne
In this seminar, Kristen Smith, Director of Research in the Indigenous Studies Unit and part of The Indigenous Data Network will discuss CARE Principles for Indigenous data governance — Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, and Ethics - and ethical and culturally responsive approaches to data governance, including catalogue models, vocabularies, spatial reference data, and digital archiving systems.
14 August 2026
Maramataka: Decolonising Science, Space, and Time
Te Kahuratai Moko-Painting
University of Melbourne / University of Auckland
This presentation offers a Māori ethic of time through Maramataka, the Māori lunar-stellar environmental calendar. It is a living system of
astronomical and environmental observation with the potential to decolonise science, space and time. We will explore how Indigenous calendars and astronomies offer frameworks for resisting this erasure and restoring Indigenous futures, grounded in relationship, in rhythm with the environment, and in service of Indigenous sovereignty.
Reading
28 August 2026
Indigenous Space Governance: pathways to progress?
Professor Deen Sanders
University of Newcastle
Abstract TBC
Reading
11 September 2026
Astronomy and Conflict in the South American lowlands
Dr Alejandro Martin-Lopez
University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
This seminar will address astronomy in the South American lowlands and conflicts, in that context. This will involve discussions about Indigenous communities' interaction with educational systems, heritage management, and other challenges faced.
Reading
09 October 2026
Inka Cosmovision: Archaeological and Methodological Approaches
Professor Steve Gullberg
University of Oklahoma, USA
This semianr will discuss methods and approaches in conducting archaeoastronomcial research on Inka archaeology in South America.
Reading
23 October 2026
Data-Driven Historical Research - the Pleiades in ancient Mesopotamia
Dr Dr Susanne Hoffmann
IAU Working Group on Star Names, Germany
This seminar will discuss data-driven evaluation and classical logic and data collection. This will focus on new interpretations of a Late Babylonian claytablet with the Pleiades.
Reading: Terminology in Taurus, The Bull.
30 October 2026
Boundary Work - Cultural Astronomy in Action?
Dr Gerhard Wiesenfeldt
University of Melbourne
Given that cultural astronomy sits in a space that connects scientific knowledge with other ways of knowing, it may be worthwhile to discuss how that relation can be understood. The seminar will introduce the concept of ‘boundary work’ that was developed the American sociologist Thomas Gieryn to describe the intellectual labour dedicated to demarcate science as a cultural space. We will discuss the implications that Gieryn’s ideas have for cultural astronomy, including the mechanisms behind boundary work. We will also discuss whether a similar process is happening when demarcating indigenous knowledge as a cultural space.
13 November 2026
Title of Talk
TBA
Speakers Name TBA
University of
Abstract abstract abstract abstract abstract abstract abstract abstract abstract abstract abstract abstract abstract abstract abstract abstract abstract abstract abstract abstract abstract abstract
Reading
27 November 2026
Graduate Researcher Wrap-Up
Speakers TBA
University of Melbourne
In this seminar, graduate students will give a 20 minute presentation about their research, showing how they have applied lessons and outcomes of the seminar series to their research projects and theses.
Reading