Monthly Archives: December 2015

Great prizes up for grabs in the Kent Sport raffle

Fancy a new iPad mini or perhaps a Fitbit or even Gillingham VIP tickets? Now’s your chance with the Kent Sport Christmas raffle! Come by either receptions at the Sports Centre or The Pavilion to pick up £2 a strip raffle tickets!

Other prizes up for grabs include golf lessons, personal training, dinner for two and Gulbenkian vouchers.

Proceeds from the raffle will go to Project 100, an initiative providing support to student sport at Kent. Why not try your luck? But hurry, not long to go!

Email P.Darrell-Smith@kent.ac.uk to find out more.

Athena SWAN Awareness Event- Thursday 14 April 2016

Professor Averil Macdonald OBE shares 10 Top Tips for Success

Since our last event, seven of the Science Schools at Kent have been awarded Athena SWAN Bronze Awards, and the initiative itself has expanded to include all disciplines, professional service staff in Schools, and wider gender issues including trans students and staff. This year’s annual Athena SWAN Awareness Day is a celebration of our achievements to date and an invitation to wider staff to think about becoming involved. The theme is: Sharing and Building Success. The Athena SWAN initiative facilitates organisational and personal success, and participants can gain insight into how these can be achieved.

The Athena SWAN initiative is also about recognising advancement of gender equality: representation, progression and success for all. This is something we are committed to, and by pursuing this agenda, we create the best working environment for all staff. This event will cover themes relevant to staff across the Faculties and Professional Service departments.

Professor Averil Macdonald OBE (leading influencer on engaging under-represented groups with science) will speak, Tracey Lamb EDI Manager will open the event, a panel discussion will spark debate, and the workshops are designed to inform or provide practical help.

A draft programme is already available and we invite you to join us in the Grimond Foyer at 12.00. The event will run until 15.45 and includes lunch.

We welcome all staff – men and women; Academic Schools and Professional Services; Medway and Canterbury based – to attend the event.

To find out more, and register for the event, go to http://www.kent.ac.uk/human-resources/athenaswan/awareness-days/index2016.html.

Breakin’ Convention

Sadler’s Wells’ critically acclaimed international festival of hip hop dance theatre, Breakin’ Convention, is back, with performances from UK and international companies and crews. Now in its 13th year, this hugely popular Sadler’s Wells Production is once again hosted and curated by Associate Artist Jonzi D. Following the annual festival at Sadler’s Wells over the May bank holiday (30 April – 2 May 2016), Breakin’ Convention will then tour to eight venues across the UK including Gulbenkian, Canterbury on 28 & 29 May 2016

MADS Christmas Pantomime

Ever wonder what happens in the fairy tale Cinderella after Prince Charming proposed to Cinderella?

This Christmas season, MADS proudly presents “Cinderella Two: The Sisters Strike Back!”, a thrilling performance telling the story of what happened after Cinderella put on the glass slipper! It’s definitely something you don’t want to miss!

– Performance Details –
Date: 14 (Mon) and 15 (Tues) December
Time: 19.30 on both nights
Venue: The Ward Room (P129), Pembroke Building, Central Avenue, Medway Campus

– Ticket Prices –
Students: £4
Non-Students: £5
Free entry for children under the age of 5

Tickets are available from GK Union Reception in Pilkington Building, GK Union Website, and on the door.

Call for papers on Victor Segalen

Mathilde Poizat-Amar, lecturer in French from the Department of Modern Languages, has received a funding award from the Association Victor Segalen and the Society of French Studies for a conference on Victor Segalen. The conference will take place at the University of Kent on 22 April 2016.

Victor Segalen (1878-1919) is a French writer, poet, doctor and archaeologist who wrote extensively on his travels to French Polynesia and China and contributed to shift the understanding of exoticism and the Otherness at the beginning of the 20th century.

This one-day conference aims at inviting established scholars and early-career scholars to question and think about the relevance of segalenian studies almost 100 years after he died. How do we read, how do we think with Segalen in 2016? The communications will deepen knowledge and explore new ways of thinking about Segalen’s work, and thinking with his work. They will focus on the following aspects of his writing:

  • Legacy of Victor Segalen
  • Distance, heterogeneity and exoticism
  • The Other, the Elsewhere and the Self
  • Reality and Imagination
  • The Body
  • Text and critical theory
  • Origins and destinations
  • Poetics of the text

Please send a 300-word abstract (in English or French) with a short biography by the 15 January 2016 to this address: conferencevictorsegalen@gmail.com. Communications should not exceed 20 minutes.

Further details and the full call for papers is available at: www.fabula.org/actualites/journee-d-etude-victor-segalen_69405.php

Medway Staff Cup

This January, Lets Play welcomes back the Medway Staff Cup for its second year and this time it’s even bigger and better.

How it works:
Staff for different departments compete against each other in a different activity each month. Competitions are held on the first Thursday of every month, kicking off in January with Table Tennis and finishing up with a Quiz and presentation evening in September.

The Staff Cup runs in similar fashion to the Canterbury VC’s Cup in that teams earn points in each competition to go towards their overall Cup score.

Not only is it an opportunity for your department to stay active, it also is a great opportunity for team cohesion and a chance to get to know other departments around campus in a fun and friendly environment.

To enter your department or find out more information email letsplay@kent.ac.uk before the 18 December.

100% success rate for Taekwondo Team

Congratulations to the GK Unions Taekwon-Do sports team who last week had their latest grading…with a huge success rate of 100%!

Kup promotions:

  • 10th Kup to 9th Kup: Arthur Boulanger, Zoe Wattle, Shannon Thompson and Lucy Henry.
  • 9th Kup to 8th Kup: Alyssa Paala.
  • 8th Kup to 7th Kup: Amro Shaaeldin, Oladele Egberongbe, Linda Addae and Teresa Aruede.
  • Alyssa and Shannon were both promoted with A level passes.

Amy Burgess, Taekwon-Do School President, said: “Everyone performed so well and I know that they all worked extremely hard for this grading so I am very proud of them.

“Alyssa and Shannon really stood out with their fantastic performances and also Lucy, who only started a month ago, has shown great dedication with her training so she could be ready in time for this grading.

“Next step, English Championships in March and grading in April!”

Keynes College – Electrical Inspection

Between Monday 4 January – Wednesday 20 January, 2016 it will be necessary to inspect the electrical circuits across Keynes College. This will involve turning off circuits in stages which will result in power loss for a short amount of time.

The tests will be carried out by Guardian Electrical Solutions, the company the University of Kent uses to carry out this type of work. The tests will be carried out between the hours of 09.00 – 17.00.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and aim to keep any disruptions to a minimum. If you have any queries please contact the Estates Helpdesk on extn. 3209.

Medway Sikh Society Meet and Greet

Medway Sikh Society is pleased to invite you to the first official Meet and Greet! The purpose of the meet and greet is to create a social event in which we will introduce the newly found Sikh Society, and provide an opportunity to discuss events that will be held throughout the year. The event will be held on the 16 December in the Pembroke Building, on the Medway Campus. It will run from 18.30-19.45. Snacks and beverages will be provided, so come and join us! For further details please contact us at pres.mss@hotmail.com, or just add us on Facebook and Twitter! Or to become a member, visit the GK Unions website! Hope to see you there!