Yearly Archives: 2015

Varsity 2015

The highly anticipated annual Varsity competition between our Universities at Medway and the University of Greenwich will take place on Wednesday 25 March 2015.

Varsity is the biggest sporting event on this year’s GK Unions’ calendar. Sports teams from the Universities at Medway and the University of Greenwich represent their institutions and battle to claim the trophy.

Both institutions compete throughout the year in various BUCS fixtures, but the Varsity title is the most coveted title across both campuses!

Over 11 fixtures will be played across multiple sports, with teams gaining one point for their university for each win, a half for a draw and nothing for a loss. Or the first time ever, this year some societies will also compete in the games, making the event more interesting for everyone.

We hope you can all come along and support the teams playing. Let’s get behind our campus clubs and societies and cheer for a Medway win!

Sports and fixtures will be released at a later date! For more information like Team Medway on Facebook.

Apply for Summer School in Critical Theory

Applications are now open for the Kent Summer School in Critical Theory to be held at the University of Kent’s centre in Paris.

The Summer School, supported by Kent Law School and its interdisciplinary Centre for Critical Thought, has been created to offer a unique intellectual experience to early career academics and research students and has been jointly organised by Reader in Law Maria Drakopoulou and Law Lecturer Connal Parsley.

It will run at Reid Hall from 29 June to 10 July 2015.

Seminar teachers will be:

Professor Peter Goodrich, Professor of Law at Cardozo Law School in the USA
Professor Davide Tarizzo, an Italian philosopher, who teaches at the University of Salerno

Additional lectures will be given by Professor Geoffrey Bennington, Professor Davina Cooper, and Professor Roberto Esposito.

Successful applicants will work with one of the seminar teachers but will have the opportunity to hear lectures by all participating academics.

The cost for the school, exclusive of travel, accommodation and subsistence fees, is £850.

Applicants are required to submit a letter outlining their research and intellectual interests, together with a CV, no later than Monday 9 February 2015.

Further details, including information about accommodation and access to limited financial assistance, is available on the Kent Summer School in Critical Theory webpage or by emailing kssct2015@kent.ac.uk.

Jessica Frazier on Radio 4

Dr Jessica Frazier from the Department of Religious Studies is speaking on BBC Radio 4 as part of a series of programmes entitled ‘A History of Ideas’ with Melvyn Bragg. Each week, Melvyn Bragg is joined by four guests with different backgrounds to discuss a really big question.

On Monday 12 January at 12.04, Jessica is joining Melvyn to discuss How did Everything Begin? This will be followed by a second programme entitled ‘Jessica Frazier on Creation Myths’ on Tuesday 13 January at 12.04; in which Jessica looks at how different cultures deal with the most fundamental questions. With the help of Ram Aithal from Birmingham’s Shri Venkateswara Hindu Temple and the renowned science fiction writer Ursula K Le Guin, Jessica asks if the wonder of the great Creation myths can increase our understanding. Can they help us make sense of the data that modern science is gathering from the beginning of time?

Jessica can also be heard with Melvyn Bragg on In Our Time on 5 February talking about the Buddhist Emperor Ashoka the Great. Jessica has been a frequent contributor on In Our Time and previous discussions on the Bhagavad Gita, the Kama Sutra, and Hindu concepts of creation can be heard online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qykl/episodes/player

Further information about the History of Ideas programmes can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04xp4w8

Reflect, Plan, Develop – New RPD training sessions from March

RPD training sessions are now available to book for 2015.

As a result of the feedback from the RPD review recently been undertaken by HR, the training sessions will now be offered on a number of dates throughout the year, so that you can choose a date and location appropriate for you and your school/department.

Each session is open to any member of staff who feels that training could help them make the most effective use of RPD, and is especially recommended for:

New members of staff
Members of staff who have not yet received RPD training
Members of staff who will be taking on the role of reviewer for the first time
Members of staff who had training on the old University appraisal system before 2010

For more information on the content of these sessions, please go to the RPD section of the Learning and Development website and book on to a session using the dedicated booking form.

Sessions will begin in March 2015 and will be available at both Canterbury and Medway campuses.

Further updates about the launch of the refreshed RPD framework will follow shortly.

Protect against phishing scams

There have been a large number of phishing emails and text messages going to students from fake Student Finance Services and some look very authentic.

Phishing scams are very common around this time of year, so students need to be extra cautious. Read more about phishing.

There is also a useful film about phishing that you can watch.

There are a number of steps students can take to stay safe online.

Kickstart the year with Kent Sport

Did you go a bit overboard during the festive season? Ready to get into a healthy routine? Kent Sport has the perfect way to kickstart year.

Our new fitness and dance class timetable starts on Monday 19 January at the University of Kent Sport.

To view the class schedule, visit Kent Sport’s events calendar or download the complete timetable. Classes can be booked by Gold and Silver members up to seven days in advance, while Bronze members can book up to three days in advance.

The wide range of fitness and dance classes has something for everyone, such as:

Body Pump
Booiaka
Boxercise
Circuits
Fitsteps
Legs, Bums and Tums
Pilates
Spinning
Streetfit
Yoga
Zumba

Book

Classes are free to Gold and Silver members. Bronze members pay per class and can be booked online via the Kent Sport website or call 01227 823 623.

Not a member yet?

Visit our membership page for details.

Old black/ brown shoes needed for a starring role in The Edelweiss Pirates

Help! We need your old black and brown shoes for a starring role in The Edelweiss Pirates (11 & 12 Feb) at Gulbenkian.

We can’t return your shoes so suggest only tired, unwanted shoes need apply. If you have any that fit the bill, please drop them in to our Ticket & Information Desk any time in the next couple of weeks.

Oh, and please come and see the performance. It is part of National Theatre Connections project and we have a brilliant group of young people who will create and perform the play, written by AYUB KHAN DIN (East is East). http://tinyurl.com/meeb324

Thank you!

The Banff Mountain Film Festival

Attracting sold out audiences across the globe, the world’s most prestigious mountain film festival is coming to Canterbury on Tuesday 3 March with a brand new selection of extraordinary short films from the world’s leading adventure film makers. Exhilarating and captivating, this is a must-see for anyone with a spirit of adventure!

Through the big screen be transported to the world’s last great wild places, follow the expeditions of some of today’s most incredible adventurers, experience extraordinary footage of adrenaline packed action sports and be inspired by thought-provoking pieces shot from the far flung corners of the globe.

An inspiring evening with lots of free prize giveaways! Visit the Banff website for more details.

Book in advance before tickets sell out.

Short courses at Tonbridge

The University’s Tonbridge Centre is pleased to offer new subjects in its Spring Short Course Programme which has just been published.

People and Conservation, Politics and International Relations, and Professional Studies workshops in association with the University’s Centre for Child Protection, join the regular subjects available in the coming months at the Tonbridge Centre.

Karon Kullman, who organises the programme, says:

‘Our short courses are very popular, and we are pleased to be able to offer these new subjects, some of which were requested in feedback from our course evaluations. Working with the Centre for Child Protection means we can offer their professional studies to a wider, west Kent audience.

‘We hope our Short Courses Programme will continue to inspire people to explore a subject among like-minded individuals, without formal assessment. New students join us all the time, and we receive much favourable and complimentary feedback – the short courses are a great success.’

For further information, view course details online.

To contact the University’s Tonbridge Centre, email tonbridgeadmin@kent.ac.uk or call 01732 352316.

Invitation to University Internationalisation Forum

In conjunction with the three Faculties, David Nightingale, Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, will be hosting the University’s annual Internationalisation Forum on Thursday 22 January, from 2-4.30pm, at the Canterbury Campus.

The purpose of the Internationalisation Forum is to share updates about internationalisation activity at Kent, and to allow colleagues from across the University to meet and exchange ideas.

The forum will be Faculty led, with a School from each Faculty showcasing an area of good practice in Internationalisation. In addition, we are delighted to welcome representatives from one of our Strategic Partner institutions, Universiteit Gent, who will be giving a short presentation on Internationalisation in continental Europe.

This event will start at 2pm in Darwin Conference suite 1 and 2, and will be followed by a networking reception at 4pm.

All staff with an interest in internationalisation, academic and administrative, are invited to attend. Registry colleagues should register their attendance by emailing Hayley Snoding, and Faculty-based colleagues can register their attendance with the Dean’s PA (Humanities email: Monique Petit; Sciences email: Joanna Walpole; Social Sciences email: Mandy Dash). A copy of the programme will be published nearer the time.

We hope to see as many colleagues at the forum as possible.