Monthly Archives: September 2013

Rave reviews for alumna Charlotte Green

BBC Radio presenter and English & American Literature alumna Charlotte Green earned rave reviews for her first appearance as the voice of BBC Radio’s football results on Saturday.

Charlotte, who studied at the University of Kent and was a member of the UKC Radio Society, is a successful BBC broadcaster who appeared on Radio 4, presenting the news for many years. On Saturday she made her debut as the new announcer of the football scores during BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sports Report – a duty that her predecessor James Alexander-Gordon fulfilled with much aplomb.

Unfortunately it wasn’t such a winning start for her favourite team, Spurs, who could only manage a draw against Chelsea. Nevermind Charlotte, there’s always next week!

Read some of the reviews of her performance here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/10342024/Charlotte-Green-rises-and-falls-to-the-occasion-of-reading-the-results-with-effortless-ease.html

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/28/charlotte-green-radio-five-results

http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/432478/Result-for-Charlotte-Green-as-she-takes-on-BBC-Radio-5-s-football-results

Autumn Open Lecture series

Our Autumn Open Lecture series kicks off on Wednesday 2 October, with guest speaker Till Roenneberg discussing one of the common experiences of all humanity – sleep!

Professor Roenneberg, from the Institute of Medical Psychology at Ludwig-Maximillians University in Munich, Germany, will open our programme of lectures with a discussion of how sleep patterns have changed in modern life and the consequences for humankind. The lecture will be held at our Canterbury Campus from 6pm.

Other speakers this term include Kent alumnus and honorary graduate Jonathan Cooper OBE on human rights law, who is always an entertaining guest; Steve Pateman of Santander bank on the recovery from the financial crisis; and Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou from the European Commission on the lessons of the global financial crisis for economists and economic journalists.

You can see the full list of lectures, venues, timings and dates, plus more information about our distinguished guest speakers here.

Join our fun run and raise money for our law campaign

The Kent Law Campaign Student Group invites alumni to join its sponsored 5km run across the Canterbury campus on 13 October to help raise funds for a new building to house the Kent Law Clinic and mooting facilities. The scenic route will take in stunning views across campus, finishing at the site of the new law building. This is your chance to prove that you’re fitter than our student volunteers!

To find out more about the Kent Law Campaign and keep up to date with other events to help our fundraising please visit: http://www.kent.ac.uk/giving/lawcampaign/index.html

Find our Madrid alumni reunion photographs on facebook!

We’ve uploaded photographs taken at our Madrid alumni reunion on 3 September to our alumni facebook page!

You can find the images online here. Please check the gallery to see if you recognise any familiar faces among the alumni who attended the event – the first to be held in Madrid. Hosted by Professor Dame Julia M. Goodfellow, the University’s Vice-Chancellor, the reunion took place at the Santander Financial City, home of Santander bank ,and saw more than 50 alumni gather for an enjoyable day finding out more about the University’s progress.

Full details of future alumni events around the world can be found at our website. Click here to see when we’ll be visiting a city near you.

Get the latest news from Kent: Sign up for our monthly e-newsletters

Have you signed up for our online community yet? If not, you may be missing out on receiving our regular monthly e-newsletter with details of news, events and activities exclusively for University of Kent alumni.

Our latest newsletter featured details of the University’s most recent awards successes, announced our new Alumni Postgraduate Research Scholar, provided further details about our big alumni reunion weekend celebrations for our 50th year and included the latest updates from our academic schools.

Signing up to receive our e-newsletter is simple. Just click here and enter your details to automatically receive our news by email. You’ll also get exclusive invites to alumni events that match your interests and you’ll be on our mailing list for our twice-yearly alumni magazine.

Welcome to our new University of Kent in America scholar

The University is delighted to welcome J. Meade Klingensmith as our 2013-14 Fulbright Scholar, joining us as a student later this week.

Meade, a 23-year-old from Pittsburgh, PA, graduated from Ohio’s Oberlin College in 2012 with a BA honours in History and a minor in Politics. His home is New York, NY.

He enrols in the MA Modern History programme at Kent later this week and plans to research British perspectives of Middle Eastern nationalism during World War I and the early inter-war period. His work will provide a new perspective on the persistent failure of communication and understanding between the English-speaking world and the Middle East by examining how British views of the Middle East assumed their modern form. On his reason for choosing to study at Kent, Meade said: “The University’s excellent history program and strong international orientation made it seem a perfect fit, and after a hectic year in New York, the change of pace Canterbury will provide couldn’t be more welcome.”

Meade’s Fulbright scholarship is only possible thanks to the generous support of our US alumni, who have facilitated the programme by making donations to the University of Kent in America (UKA).

Honorary Graduates profiled online

Missed our announcement of the summer 2013 Honorary Graduates? Interested in reading more about the individuals we honoured this year? Full details of the recipients of honorary degrees during our July congregations, including screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, are now available online. Read more about who was recognised and why.

New Bolt Scholar named

Aoife Fitzgerald has been selected as the new Christine and Ian Bolt scholar for 2013-14.

A final year PhD student, Aoife is examining late antique secular architecture. The scholarship will enable her to visit world-class centres in the United States and work with experts in Colorado to enhance her research findings. She said:

‘The Bolt scholarship is very unique in that it allows a student to come up with a plan to suit their needs. This freedom to tailor the scholarship is vital for postgraduate research. It affords me an opportunity to carry out work that I would never have been able to undertake on my own, by giving me access to research centres, academics and libraries in internationally renowned institutions.’

The scholarship was set up in memory of Christine Bolt, Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Kent, and was generously funded by her late husband, Ian Bolt. It provides £10,000 in funding for a postgraduate student in support of a sustained period of research carried out in the United States. The legacy left by Christine and Ian Bolt has so far allowed 12 Kent students to achieve their dreams and make a significant contribution to research in their fields.

If you are interested in finding out more about leaving a legacy to help students like Aoife please get in touch by phone on 01227 823588 or email at giving@kent.ac.uk.

2013 Alumni Postgraduate Research Scholar

Alumni have helped to fund 22 postgraduates via the Alumni Postgraduate Research Scholarship since it was established in 1995. This year the scholarship will support PhD student Zoe Hudson.

Zoe joined the Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at Kent in September. Her research focuses on how everyday life in 16th century London was shaped by the increasing availability of luxury goods and opportunities to engage with new cultural experiences.

Speaking before starting her studies, Zoe said:

‘My research will open up previously unused archives to new audiences in the academic and cultural heritage fields. I’m keen to explore how the past has been recreated for the modern day in historic houses, museums and theatres that present historic environments with the aim of giving visitors a flavour of the past. The scholarship will provide much needed support to allow me to complete my research and make a valuable contribution to knowledge in the cultural heritage sector.’

Read more about the Alumni Postgraduate Research Scholarship or find out how to make a donation to help students like Zoe.

Development Office at Kent

Updates from the University's Development Office