On Wednesday, 2 March, the French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced that the current pass vaccinal (Covid-19 passport regime) will end on 14 March 2021. A pass vaccinal demonstrating that an individual is fully vaccinated against Covid-19 is currently required to enter bars, restaurants, galleries, and cinemas.

In addition, the French government briefed that mask wearing will no longer be required in the vast majority of venues, with the notable exception of public transport, where individuals will still be required to wear face coverings.

The University of Kent Paris School will continue to keep staff and students updated on national requirements as they become available.

The UN Special Rapporteur On The Right To Food, Professor Michael Fakhri, will participate in a number of free public and academic events at the University on 7 and 8 March.

Organised by the Centre for Critical International Law (CeCIL), Kent Law School and the Division of Law, Society and Social Justice (LSSJ), these events will consider the impact of Covid-19 on food security and the right to food worldwide.

During his visit, Professor Fakhri will deliver the 2021-2022 CeCIL Annual Lecture at the Gulbenkian Arts Centre on 8 March (7-9pm), preceeded by a reception (6-7pm). His lecture, entitled, ‘The Radical Potential of the Right to Food’, is free and open to all. Free tickets can be booked here. This event will be live-streamed by KMTV.

On 7 March, Professor Fakhri, who is also Director of the Food Resiliency Project at the University of Oregon School of Law, will participate in an in-conversation style event featuring Young Food Ambassadors from The Food Foundation and the organisation’s Executive Director, Anna Taylor. Organised and hosted by CeCIL and LSSJ, this event will take place in Keynes College Lecture Theatre 1 (7-8.30pm), preceeded by a reception (6-7pm). Free tickets for this event are available here. This event will also be live-streamed by KMTV.

In addition to these public events, Professor Fakhri will attend seminars with Law LLM students at Kent Law School to share Special Rapporteur’s insights, experience and expertise, as well as meetings with leaders from community groups whose work interfaces with Professor Fakhri’s mandate to address the need for an integrated and coordinated approach to promoting and protecting people’s right to food.

Professor Fakhri’s visit will feed into the Special Rapporteur’s broader consultations on identifying solutions to mitigate harmful impacts of the pandemic on the realisation of the right to food.

Dr Luis Eslava, CeCIL Co-Director and Reader in International Law at Kent Law School, said: ‘We are extremely honoured to be hosting Professor Fakhri. His visit will give students and the broader community the opportunity to learn more about his incredibly important work on the promotion of the right to food, in an era in which access to adequate food is increasingly under threat from factors including climate change, endemic conflict, harsh economic conditions and, of course, the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic and other health crises.’

Anna Taylor, Executive Director of The Food Foundation, said: ‘We welcome the opportunity to discuss and share evidence about the current situation in the UK and we look forward to hearing more about UN’s international work on the importance of a rights-based approach to food and how we must protect the most at risk in society.’

We are deeply saddened and concerned by the invasion of Ukraine and our thoughts are with any of our students and staff who have been affected by the escalating conflict. 

Over the past week the University identified several staff and students from Ukraine and Russia and have taken immediate steps to support these individuals. Additionally, we have been supporting students based in both countries to ensure we can get them to a safe place as quickly as possible. Teams are also tracing any further staff or students who have travelled to the regions to make sure they can access the help they need.

We understand this is a worrying time and we are here to help. Here are a range of support services available for both staff and students, including:

• Employee Assistance Programme
• Kent Student Support and Wellbeing
• Student LGBTQ+ Support Pages
• The LGBTQ+ Staff Network
• BAME Staff Network
• BAME Student Network
• Student Support and Wellbeing’s blog about being mindful of your mental health during world events.
• Wellbeing Drop-in Sessions for students

We will provide further updates once we are clear on any developments that impact our students, staff, or university.

Photo: JB Jurliat / Ville de Paris

The University of Kent School of English is proud to be a sponsor of this year’s Republic of Consciousness Literary Prize.

Now in its sixth year, the Prize is open to works of fiction by a single author published by a small press in the UK and Ireland with five or fewer full-time employees or equivalent. It is the only prize in the UK that welcomes long form, short form, English language and translated fiction. Over the past five years the Prize has recognised 38 small presses from 13 towns and cities in the UK and Ireland, and awarded over £60,000 in prize-money to publishers and authors in that time. Last year half of the £20,000 prize fund was awarded to the long list, with the other half distributed among the shortlist – a literary prize first.

The longlist will be announced soon, with the shortlist announced in mid-March and the winner in April.

Amy Sackville, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing and Deputy Head of School, said: ‘Creative Writing at Kent is all about unique, original voices and we have long-standing relationships with a number of small presses, so the Republic of Consciousness Literary Prize is an initiative we’re really pleased to be supporting.’

A novelist and prose writer, Amy Sackville convenes the ENGL8990 Paris: Portfolio module at our Paris School of Arts and Culture.

The French parliament approved the implementation of a vaccine passport scheme across France on 16 January 2022. Coming into force on 24 January 2022, the new law will require individuals to present a certificate of vaccination when entering public spaces such as restaurants and bars, cinemas, museums and galleries, and long-distance trains. Previously, individuals were able to present either proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test result. The latter will no longer be accepted for anyone over aged 15. Individuals will also have to present a form of photo ID when their vaccine passport is being scanned.

The vaccine passport, known as a pass vaccinal in French, will not be required to take public transport or to go shopping, nor to see a medical professional (though individuals are still required to present a negative Covid test in order to be seen by medical professionals).

All vaccines recognised by the European Medicines Agency will be compatible with the new vaccine passport.

France will accept the UK’s proof of COVID-19 recovery and vaccination record. If you are travelling with a printed PDF proof of vaccination status, it must date from 1 November or after to ensure that the certificate can be scanned successfully, if domestic certification is required. Your NHS appointment card from vaccination centres is not designed to be used as proof of vaccination and should not be used to demonstrate your vaccine status.

Those vaccinated in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland can also choose to scan and save the NHS QR code into France’s “TousAntiCovid” app.

Please refer to instructions from both the French government and also your home country’s local French embassy for details on converting a non-EU vaccine certificate into a French/EU vaccine certificate.

Photo: la-croix.com

We are delighted to announce that the University has won the Digital Innovation category of the Guardian University Awards 2020.

This win is for our innovative and highly acclaimed One Hour Degree.

Launched in 2019, One Hour Degree is an online simulation game designed to provide the complete university experience for those contemplating taking the three-year academic route. Created by the University’s Student Success Team, it enables prospective students to take an immersive series of “quests” designed to give authentic insight into the university experience, all within one hour. Players are able to choose to participate via either Kent’s Canterbury or Medway campuses.

The One Hour Degree was developed in collaboration with a number of specialists across the University. The game was written and developed by Alison Webb, Systems Development Manager in the Student Success Team. To date it has been played over 7,000 times by players in 124 countries.

Professor Richard Reece, Kent’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Experience said: ‘This is fantastic news and many congratulations to all those involved with this truly innovative project. The global reach of the game has been phenomenal and its impact truly beneficial to both current and prospective students at Kent.’

Alison Webb said: ‘Not only was this a fantastic collaborative effort between many colleagues and departments, but it also highlighted the importance of speaking to students and gaining their insights on specific university experiences. We also had the benefit of a work-study student to really bring this to life. The analytics prove the game has been played far and wide and student feedback has been incredibly positive.’

The Guardian described the game as one that ‘introduces key concepts, terminology, locations and processes to new students before they arrive, while images of the campus helps those who have been unable to attend an open day.

‘An easy-to-read narrative takes players through five “quests” covering welcome week, the first assignment, first-year exams, year two and year three, offering choices between hundreds of different scenarios.

‘Badges are awarded for each completed quest, while knowledge and happiness points reward choices that take full advantage of the education and networking opportunities available. Together these dictate the classification of the degree players receive at the end.’

Kent was also runner up in the Widening Access and Outreach category of the Guardian Awards. This was for the first degree-level apprenticeship in economics. This project was led by Digital and Lifelong Learning and School of Economics, alongside the Government Economic Service (GES).

View the original blog post here.