Tag Archives: immigration

Creative Writing Reading Series – David Herd

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As part of the Autumn Term Creative Writing Reading Series

University of Kent Paris School of Arts and Culture

Proudly presents David Herd reading from his new poetry work Through

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A new book of poetry by internationally acclaimed poet David Herd addresses the language that surrounds the reception of people seeking asylum in the UK. Considering the risks that such official hostility poses to human intimacy, Through sets out to register broken affections, to re-explore possibilities of solidarity and trust. Countering the enclosures of public discourse, the poems embrace instead ‘a language in transition’, one in which meaning is multiple, ‘echoing into place a genuine and subsisting relationship’. David Herd is Professor of Modern Literature at the University of Kent and co-organiser of the Refugee Tales project.

“What are we going through? How do we get through this? How saturated are we, through and through, with feelings and political sensibilities in interior exile from our time and place? All these questions and more are evoked in David Herd’s subtle and resistantly intelligent work – lyrical and critical at once. Refugees and refusals, refuge and Law, conscience and critique, Agencies and agency, politics and poetics all combine in a pensive work of singular poethical force.” Rachel Blau DuPlessis

Thursday 20 October 2016

6.30pm at Reid Hall, Salle de Conférence

4 rue de Chevreuse, Montparnasse, Paris 75006 (Métro: Vavin)

RSVP to paris@kent.ac.uk or to the Facebook Event 

Paris Summer School Lecturer presents student views of a museum trip at conference

Just over a week ago, Dr Sophia Labadi, Lecturer of Heritage at the University of Kent’s School of European Culture Languages, Director of the Centre for Heritage, and recent speaker at the summer school at the University of Kent, Paris spoke about her research on the Cité nationale de l’histoire de l’immigration in Paris.

This museum featured in the Paris summer school programme following Dr Labadi’s session on ‘Immigration and integration’.

Dr Labadi, an expert in heritage and former UNESCO employee, concluded through her research that this museum is essentially ineffective in its aims to represent France’s immigrant population.

During the trip to the museum, summer school students were asked to consider and discuss Dr Labadi’s conclusions, making their own critical assessment of the museum based on their own impressions as visitors.

The conference ‘Memory Matters: African diaspora heritage’ on 20th July at the University of East London, organised by the University of Kent and the Congolese Refugee group discussed ‘historical, cultural and postcolonial connections and disconnections between the UK, the Congo and beyond’ . There were speakers from the Congolese community, youth activists, academics, artists and project members/volunteers.

Dr Labadi told us:

When I presented my work on the cité nationale de l’histoire de l’immigration at the conference I talked about some of the interesting discussions we had during the summer school visit. Thanks again to all of the summer school students for their critical engagement!