The University of Kent’s Paris Graduate Union organised a farewell dinner cruise on the River Seine on Friday 8 April 2016. A total of 27 students and guests were welcomed on board by student leaders and University of Kent, Paris director Peter Brown. Participants enjoyed full French fare as they took in some of the world’s most iconic views.

Yelena Moskovich, whose recent debut novel The Natashas has been earning stellar reviews across Europe, visited Kent MA students as part of Paris: The Residency, a Kent module in Creative Writing. Led by Moskovich and instructor Adam Biles, the evening began at Shakespeare and Company for a reading and discussion of her book. It continued on the Place de Notre Dame, where students practised ’embodying’ pedestrians, discreetly imitating their gait and movements as the basis for developing fictional characters. On the Quai de la Tournelle, students focused on their sense of hearing, alternatively listening to and writing the Parisian soundscape.

Olivia Rosenthal, one of the Paris MA students in Creative Writing, commented: ‘We saw places by night that we might have missed by day. We were definitely out of our comfort zone some of the time. Yelena has a background in acting and that helped us to see character from a new angle. It was challenging and fulfilling to try and be somebody else.’

Yelena Moskovich (pictured) is the keynote speaker at the MA conference on Motion at Reid Hall, Kent’s base in Paris, on Monday 6 June — part of a week-long MA festival. Click here for further details.

The Guardian’s review of The Natashas is available here.

A group of MA students based at Kent’s Paris Centre recently visited Berlin with their module tutor, Dr Vybarr Cregan-Reid, from Kent’s School of English. Having put the precepts of the module to the test in Paris, by means of regular study trips, the visitors were able to extend their research in Berlin. Their trip was part-funded by Kent’s Schools of Arts and English and by the Faculty of Humanity’s International Mobility Fund.

Activities in Berlin included visits to Berlin’s small galleries such as C/O Galerie for an exhibition by Stephen Shore and the VeneKlasen Werner gallery exhibiting work by the Japanese artist Koji Enokura. As an example of experimental story)telling in film, students viewed ‘The Dreamed Ones’, directed by Ruth Bekerman, which featured in the Berlinale film festival. On the street they put into practice the psychogeography tactics of the Situationist International, taking a photo every 30 seconds or determining the next direction but the flip of a coin.

One of the participants, Rebekah Mays, commented: ‘It was such an enriching experience to travel with a tutor and our classmates to Berlin. We went to contemporary art galleries and experimental films I probably wouldn’t have gone to on my own, and we explored the city not as tourists but as thinkers, helping us delve further into concepts introduced on our modules. Thanks to the International Mobility Fund, our study group was able to expand our academic enquiry beyond the classroom, and even beyond Paris.’

Left to right students Rebekah Mays, Ryan Brown and Sarah Bolwell with (second from left) tutor Vybarr Cregan-Reid.

Sarah Bolwell, a Kent, Paris MA student in History and Philosophy of Art , has been chosen by the British Council in Paris to moderate a discussion of Shakespeare by academic specialists. The event, ‘Brave New World? Shakespeare 400 Years On’ marks the 400th anniversary of the playwright’s death. The participants in the conference, on Monday 21 March at the British Council premises in rue Constantine, are Dr Deana Rankin (Royal Holloway), Dr Preti Taneja (Queen Mary) and Professor Wes Williams (University of Oxford).

Sarah Bolwell is editor of The Menteur, a literary magazine edited and produced in Paris by the University of Kent’s Humanities MA students.

The University of Kent, Paris, in partnership with Columbia Global Centers (Columbia University) is marking the Shakespeare quatercentenary with two open lectures at its Paris campus. On Tuesday 3 June at 6.30pm David Ellis (Professor Emeritus, University of Kent), will speak on Shakespeare’s biography. On Wednesday 11 June at 6.30pm Professor Karen Newman (Brown University) will speak on ‘Shakespeare Celebrated: Souvenirs du Théâtre Anglais à Paris’. Both events are at Reid Hall, 4 rue de Chevreuse, Paris 75006.

Please see the conference poster for further information.

Key facts

• Eligible students can borrow up to £10,000
• The loans will be available for both taught and research Master’s programmes, including LLM, MBA, MFA, MRes (but not for PhDs)
• All disciplines and subject areas are eligible
• Loans will be available for full-time, part-time and distance-learning Master’s programmes (with certain exceptions)
• The loans cover split-site Master’s at Kent’s specialist centres in Brussels, Paris and Rome provided you spend at least 50% of your study time at Kent’s UK campuses
• The loans are not means tested and are paid directly into your UK bank account

Am I eligible?

• UK nationals who have been most recently resident in England
• EU students
• You need to be under 60 at the time you register for your Master’s
• Your previous highest level qualification must be below Master’s
• You are keeping to the repayment terms of your undergraduate student loan

What’s not included

• Part-time programmes taught over more than two years (currently under review by BIS)
• Programmes where you are resident outside England for more than 50% of your degree
• Postgraduate certificates, diplomas and other non-Master’s degree options
• Undergraduate/integrated Master’s eg MEng, MArch
• Distance-learners not resident in England

How do I repay the loan?

• Repayments will not start before April 2019
• Repayments will be income-contingent and made concurrently with undergraduate loans
• Rates will be set at 6% of annual income over £21,000 at an interest rate of 3% plus RPI

We endeavour to provide accurate information regarding the Postgraduate Loan (PGL) scheme but full details of the scheme, including eligibility of students and programmes, are still being finalised by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills and the Student Loans Company (SLC). For further information consult the SLC website.

The University of Kent, Paris is pleased to announce the final approval of the School of Arts’ MA in Film, taught exclusively in Paris. Please click here for further information.

The University of Kent, Paris is pleased to announce a scholarship fund worth £25,000 for taught Master’s students studying during the academic year 2016–17. Please find below the conditions and criteria of the scholarship fund and how to apply.

Conditions and Criteria
•  The scholarship fund is open to applicants who have been offered a place on any of the Kent, Paris MA programmes for the academic year starting in September 2016, whether split-site (Canterbury and Paris) or Paris only.
• It is open only to applicants intending to study full-time.
• UK, EU and overseas fee paying students are all eligible.
• Candidates will be assessed on academic excellence, and will usually hold by July 2016 a first-class Bachelor’s degree in a relevant subject, or hold by July 2016 an equivalent non-UK qualification or a Master’s degree at merit or distinction in a relevant subject or equivalent.
• Paris Scholarships to the value of £5,000 will be awarded to outstanding applicants able to demonstrate a high level of academic achievement, clear intellectual ambition and the potential to make a strong contribution to their chosen MA programme.

How to apply
• Candidates must have received a conditional or unconditional offer of a place on one of the Kent, Paris programmes.
• Candidates must send a letter of motivation, not exceeding 500 words, stating why they wish to join their chosen Kent, Paris MA programme and how this fits into their longer term plans.
• The letter of motivation should be saved with the following file name: “FirstnameSURNAME_application number_letter of motivation”, for example:
CatherineWOOD_123456789_letter of motivation.doc
• The letter should be addressed to the Academic Director of Paris programmes and sent by email to paris@kent.ac.uk with the subject line: “Scholarship application Firstname SURNAME application number”, for example:
Scholarship application Catherine WOOD 123456789
• The opening date for accepting applications is Friday 1 April 2016. Please do not send scholarship applications before this date.

Deadline
The deadline for applications is midnight, Friday 27 May 2016.

Please address any enquires to paris@kent.ac.uk.