Monthly Archives: February 2015

Jessica Frazier on ‘In Our Time’, Radio 4

Dr Jessica Frazier, from the Department of Religious Studies, participated in the BBC Radio 4 programme ‘In Our Time’, hosted by presenter Melvyn Bragg.

The programme focused on Ashoka the Great, Emperor of India. Ashoka conquered almost all of the landmass covered by modern-day India, creating the largest empire South Asia had ever known. After his campaign of conquest he converted to Buddhism, and spread the religion throughout his domain. Jessica, an expert in themes in Hinduism and religious philosophies, participated in the programme with Dr Naomi Appleton (University of Edinburgh) and Richard Gombrich (Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies).

This is the third time Jessica has appeared on Radio 4 this year, with her recently contributing to the programmes A History of Ideas and Jessica Frazier on Creation Myths.

You can listen to the programme on the BBC’s iPlayer.

Students share stories with Canterbury’s senior citizens

Ten volunteers spent a Friday afternoon at the Age UK day centre chatting to Canterbury’s senior citizens.

The volunteers, who study at the University of Kent, took time out of their studies to share stories with the local residents using the centre, as part of a programme of volunteering opportunities organised by Kent Union – the Students’ Union.

Friendships are beginning to develop between the students and senior citizens as the trips to the centre become more frequent, with more and more volunteers willing to give up their free time to spend it with those who need company the most.

Kent Union Volunteer Hannah Sherbrock-Cox said: “I had such a lovely time at Age UK- it was so much fun to have a good old natter with some lovely ladies and learn all their nuggets of wisdom they have gained in their lives.”

The next visit to Age UK Canterbury will take place on Friday 13th March, if you would like to get involved please email volunteering.

Vice-Chancellor’s Esteem Lecture

The next Vice-Chancellor’s Esteem Lecture on Indian Ocean Journeys will take place on Wednesday 11 February at 6pm in Grimond Lecture Theatre 1.

Professor Abdulrazak Gurnah’s lecture will re-imagine the Indian Ocean as cosmopolitan site which preceded and survived colonialism rather than another chapter in the grinding and inevitable consolidation of European power.

The Indian Ocean as open waters rather than closed in by a southern land-mass. Fra Mauro was a Venetian monk who lived on the island of Murano in the Venice Lagoon and who studied a variety of Arab, Indian and European sources from which he constructed a map of the world. There are many remarkable matters concerning the map, its construction, its history and the detailed information it managed to pack into the tiny banners that decorated its empty spaces, but what makes it an appropriate starting point for this discussion was its representation of the Indian Ocean as so thoroughly knowable and interlinked, as a world connected and enriched by travel and by stories.

This way of thinking of the site contrasts with the more familiar narrative of a mythologised terrain into which erupt rapacious Europeans breaking out of medieval wars towards the fulfilment of their capital-driven destiny.

 

Passion at lunchtime: Tangos by Piazzolla

If you’re looking for a little passion at lunchtime, then you can’t do better than to come to the first of this term’s Lunchtime Concerts on Weds 11 February – four internationally-acclaimed musicians will unfurl the intoxicating world of the tango in music by Astor Piazzolla.

The concert begins at 1.10pm in the Colyer-Fergusson Hall; admission is free, with a suggested donation of £3: more details can be found at the Music at Kent website. 

Come and be swept up in the arms of tango supremo, Piazzolla, by these four remarkable musicians…

Lecture theatre

Visiting artists talks

The School of Music and Fine Art would like to invite you to the forthcoming series of Visiting Artists Talks:

  • Thursday 12 Feb: Sally O’Reilly Artist: Writing and performance. Current projects include a novel, ‘Crude’, about public speaking, sensuality and the oil industry, and the libretto for ‘The Virtues of Things’, an opera, commissioned by Aldeburgh Music, Opera North and the Royal Opera House
  • Thursday 19 Feb: Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin Artists: Photography. Deutsche Börse photography prize winners, 2013
  • Thursday 26 Feb: Jeremy Deller Artist: Multi-media. Turner Prize Winner, 2004. Represented Britain at the Venice Biennale, 2013
  • Thursday 5 March:  Matthew Darbyshire Artist: Sculpture. Provocatively repackages the homogenisation of contemporary design that dominate both public and private space
  • Thursday 12th March:  Anne Tallentire Artist: Multi-media. Explores the politics of location, displacement and languages of the everyday, to question specific economic, geographic, social and cultural constituents of daily life. Professor of Fine Art, Central Saint Martins
  • Thursday 19 March: Sally Tallant Curator. Director of Liverpool Biennial – The UK Biennial of International Contemporary Art
  • Thursday 26 March: David Burrows Artist: Multi-media. Exploring notions and concepts of the new in avant garde, utopian, sacred and mass media cultures
  • Thursday 9th April: TBC
  • Thursday 21st May:  Sonia Boyce Artist: Multi-media. MBE. Professor at Middlesex University and Professor of Black Art and Design at University of the Arts London

All of these talks will take place from 17.30 to 18.30 in the Clock Tower Building Lecture Theatre, Chatham Historic Dockyard at the University’s Medway campus.

All are welcome and entry is free,

Templeman Library wayfinding and signage: survey and workshop

As part of the Templeman Library development Information Services is seeking to review and enhance wayfinding and signage across the building, improving the student experience by providing easy access to the Library’s services, resources and facilities.

Share your views on Library wayfinding and signage by completing our online questionnaire, or sign up for our workshop for a more in-depth discussion about how you find services, resources and facilities and how you navigate around the building.

Online survey

Workshop

  • Come to our Wayfinding and Signage workshop 1 – 2pm, Monday 9 February, Training Room TR302, Templeman Library Refreshments will be provided.

Sign up for the workshop by emailing IS publishing.

Evening Course in Forensic Psychology

Every Wednesday 4th March – 20th May 2015 (with two weeks Easter break) 18.00 to 19.30pm in Keynes College Lecture Theatre 4.

Cost: £150 (£100 for current University of Kent Students/Staff)

Forensic Psychology is the study of the psychology of crime and criminal behaviour. Over ten weeks join some of the UK’s leading experts in forensic psychology and go beyond what you see on the TV shows to learn about the psychology of victims, offenders, crime investigation and rehabilitation.

This engaging and entertaining series of lectures should suit anyone with an interest in forensic psychology including those thinking of pursuing a similar topic at university or those who simply have an interest in psychology and crime and would like to learn a bit more about the history as well as the latest developments in this fascinating field.

A summary of what we will covered in each week’s lecture can be found in the leaflet on the School of Psychology’s website.

Update on the Footsteps Project

The second wave of Footsteps bricks was laid in January 2015 on the Crab & Winkle Path. As part of our 50th anniversary celebrations, The Footsteps Project enables alumni, students, staff and the wider community to have a message engraved on a brick and set on a path alongside the Templeman Library. All funds raised by the Project are directly benefiting Kent students through the Kent Opportunity Fund, which supports scholarships, hardship bursaries and projects.

The Footsteps Project has recently reached an exciting milestone by surpassing its first target and raising over £20,763.19 (including GiftAid) for the Kent Opportunity Fund. Thank you to all those who have taken part so far! Not only are you leaving a lasting legacy on campus, but you will be supporting the next generation of students to walk in your footsteps.

If you would like to take part in this project please visit the Footsteps website.

Student Money Week starts on 9 Feb

Student Finance England’s first ever Student Money Week will start on Monday 9 February.

Make the most of live webchats and online surgery sessions by money experts.

Topics include budgeting, living away from home and what to take to university.

For more information, including a calendar of events, visit the Student Room.

Watch our budgeting tips video.

You can also find financial advice on our student finance webpages.

Staff opportunity to receive 10 Free Banco Santander, S.A. Shares

We would like to let you know about a promotion exclusive to university staff that Santander has just launched. 

If you open, switch or transfer to a new 123 Current Account, we will give you 10 Banco Santander, S.A shares free of charge. Full details of the account benefits can be found at the Santander website.  

This offer is open from Monday 2nd February until Friday 20th March and is limited to the first 15 customers in the university whose applications are processed through the Santander university branch. 

If you would like to make an appointment, please contact the Branch Manager, Adam Baker by e-mail, by phone to 05511 488513/07715 088419 or by visiting the branch on campus which is open Monday to Friday from 10 am to 6 pm except Wednesdays from 10 am to 5 pm.