Abstracts are invited for the Heritage and Biography conference taking place from 9-10 September 2016. The deadline for submissions is 7 July 2016.

More about the conference

Under the critical recognition that we become who we are by telling stories about our pasts, and living the stories we tell, this two-day interdisciplinary event aims to bring together perspectives on the relationship between heritage and biography from sociology and cultural studies, literary studies, social history, cultural geography and socio-legal studies.

We invite doctoral and early career researchers to submit abstracts on heritage’s relationship to personal, community, national, ethnic, gendered and political biographies, bringing a critical focus to heritage as a product and expression of an evolving and dynamic negotiation of past, present and future.

The event is organised by University of Kent postgraduate students Luke Shoveller (ESRC), Emma Pleasant, Sophie Rowland and Katy Lawn (ESRC; Royal Holloway), supported by Dr David Nettleingham (Lecturer in Cultural Sociology, University of Kent).

The group was awarded funding following an open competition organised by the ESRC South East Doctoral Training Centre (SEDTC) and will take place at the University of Kent in Canterbury on Friday 9 September and Medway on Saturday 10 September 2016.

Sent in by hva@kent.ac.uk.

The University has reinforced its commitment to remain a European university, following the UK’s vote to leave the European Union.

We have begun to receive updates from government and advisory bodies, though many questions still remain.

We are mindful of the impact of this uncertainty on our staff and students. Our Vice-Chancellor led two Q&A sessions with staff and students at Canterbury and Medway last week.

We have also developed post-EU referendum advice webpages, using guidance from key agencies such as Universities UK and the Student Loans Company. We will update these pages as the situation develops.

Individual staff with particular concerns are advised to contact the HR Department. Students with EU referendum-related queries are advised to contact staff within the Academic Division.

Our highly successful World Languages Days for year 8 students have just taken place in Medway and Canterbury. These events encourage young people to learn about the joys and benefits of learning a foreign language through interactive workshops and activities. Little World Theatre, a professional drama company, presented their view of “Masterchef” in French and Spanish getting each day off to an entertaining start. Participants could then choose from a range of language based workshops led by University of Kent staff and students some providing the opportunity to try out a new language and others the chance to use their existing knowledge. Languages included French, Spanish, Russian, German, Portuguese, Mandarin, Japanese, Italian and Ancient Greek and students worked with puppets, made fiesta masks and took part in dance and drama workshops. In Medway, the day included a mock EU referendum giving participants a chance to discuss the issues and cast their vote (Remain won 75% to 25%). At lunchtime students took part in the World Fayre – an opportunity to get some free pens, pencils, books and bags if they asked for them in a language other than English danced to salsa music and drank Turkish tea. Each day ended with the hotly contested final of the annual Euroquiz. One teacher commented ‘This event covered a wide range of languages and encouraged students to use and learn languages in a creative way’.