Public international law scholar Professor Vasuki Nesiah from New York University will offer a critical re-examination of the issue of reparations when she delivers the annual lecture for Kent Law School’s Centre for Critical International Law on Thursday 23 March.

The talk will begin in Eliot Lecture Theatre 2 (ELT2) at 18.00 and will be preceded by a reception in Eliot Foyer from 17.00.

In her talk, entitled ‘Reparations: The jagged time of catastrophe’ Professor Nesiah will suggests new perspectives for a discussion of reparations by looking again at claims made throughout history.

Professor Nesiah  said: ‘The Magistrate, the official custodian of justice and the rule of law in J M Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians, confesses that I am the same man I always was; but time has broken. The call for reparations is a call for recognition that time has broken  that it has fragmented and accumulated differently across history and geography in constituting our subjectivity. It is a recognition that we are located not in the smooth recurrent spinning time of the cycle of the seasons but in the jagged time of rise and fall, of beginning and end, of catastrophe. International law often claims the mantle of justice by dressing the jagged time of catastrophe as the smooth cycle of seasons. This paper is part of a larger project rethinking that narrative and exploring how we may reframe the discussion of reparations by examining reparations claims across different historical contexts, from proxi mate human rights abuses to the legacies of slavery and colonialism.’

Professor Nesiah teaches human rights, law and social theory at NYU. Her main areas of research include the law and politics of international human rights and humanitarianism, with a particular focus on transitional justice.

We are calling for expressions of interest ahead of this year’s Being Human festival, running from 17 until 25 November 2017. The theme changes every year and this year is “Lost and Found”.

The festival is a brilliant opportunity to share your research and everything that is wonderful about the humanities with people outside of our institution, and of academia as a whole. Engaging with the public can enable you to see your work from a different perspective, influence the way that people perceive today’s issues, and can lead your research in new directions. Being Human promotes the relevance of humanities research to all of our lives.

Funding from Being Human is available to support activities during the festival. The majority of awards will probably be for under £2,000, however applications for funding of up to £5,000 may also be considered if of exceptional quality or where institutions coordinate between 5-10 events as Being Human “Festival Hubs”.

We will be coordinating our application to the festival, as multiple applications from single institutions are less likely to be awarded. We are inviting expressions of interest to be sent to this email address (peresearch@kent.ac.uk) by 09.00 on Monday 20 March 2017. Depending on expressions submitted, we may choose to apply for support for a programme of events as a “Festival Hub”.

For more in depth information about what the festival is looking for and the types of costs/activities that are eligible, please check the Being Human website.

To express your interest in this call:

Please see information on the public engagement pages for details on how to express interest.

Please email Maddy Bell, Impact & Engagement Officer at peresearch@kent.ac.uk with any questions.

Monday 13th March 2017

From 9.00 to 16.00 on Monday 13 March 2017 the heating will be turned off in the whole of Tyler Court C to allow for the essential replacement of the heating pump.

Please note that the hot water system will not be affected.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and we will endeavour to keep any disruption to a minimum. If there are any queries please call the Estates Helpdesk on Extn 3209.

Applications are now open for the third annual Kent Summer School in Critical Theory (KSSCT) offering early career academics and research students a unique opportunity to work intensively and collaboratively with a leading critical scholar.

The two-week summer school will be held at the University of London Institute in Paris from 26 June to 7 July with seminars led by Professor Timothy Campbell of Cornell University, USA and Professor Patricia Williams of Columbia Law School, USA.

Successful applicants will work closely with one of the seminar teachers for the duration of the school but can also enjoy lectures delivered by both Professor Campbell, Professor Williams and invited guests. Throughout their stay, applicants will have opportunities to make the most of the school’s location in the city.

The event is supported by Kent Law School and its Centre for Critical Thought and has been jointly organised by Kent Law School Reader Maria Drakopoulou and Lecturer in Law Connal Parsley.

Connal said: ‘We believe it is increasingly important to proliferate and defend spaces for critical thinking in the contemporary academy. Equally important is the maintenance of spaces within the PhD and early career calendar to pursue the kind of academic practice that engenders genuine and sustained intellectual activity.’

The fee for this year’s school is £850. This amount covers seminar tuition and several drink and lunch receptions. Attendees will cover their own travel, accommodation and subsistence fees. Limited financial assistance will be available in the form of scholarships for a small number of excellent applicants who would otherwise not be able to attend.

Further details (including details on how to apply) are available on the KSSCT website. The first deadline for applications is Monday 27 March 2017 (with a second deadline of Saturday 29 April).

Jedi Knights, Jets and Sharks and twentieth-century American life are all brought to vivid life by the University Concert and Big Bands next week, as they come together for their annual spring concert on Friday 17 March.

Student and staff musicians will fill Colyer-Fergusson Hall with music from ‘Star Wars,’ ‘West Side Story’ and George Gershwin’s timeless hymn to New York, ‘Rhapsody in Blue,’ in a Grammy-award-winning arrangement by Gordon Goodwin, all under the baton of conductor Ian Swatman.

With only a few tickets left, it promises to be a packed house for a riotous blend of film scores, classic big band swing and Hollywood glamour.

Details here: https://www.kent.ac.uk/music/whatson.html

Kent mediation expert Dr Cheryl Dolder has been asked to join an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) that is engaging with policy makers and working to promote methods of resolving disputes within the civil justice system that don’t involve going to court.

Now in its second year, the APPG on ADR  is currently collecting evidence to determine the cost-effectiveness of dispute resolution processes (such as mediation and arbitration) within the context of a civil justice reform agenda.

Dr Dolder became involved with the APPG on ADR while researching current initiatives that might inform the objectives of the Appropriate Dispute Resolution module that she convenes at Kent Law School.

Dr Dolder said: ‘The work of the APPG on ADR is crucial to ensure that policy decisions accurately promote the use of processes most appropriate for the interests and needs of parties in dispute, particularly when the proposed implementation of the Online Court is fast approaching. Here, the spotlight is set to fall on mediation as the gatekeeper to justice through the courts; hence, its values need to stand up to close scrutiny of its actual, rather than commonly perceived, effectiveness. This is why the teaching of appropriate dispute resolution is so important in today’s law schools and why the APPG is exploring opportunities to support the Government’s intentions to review the development of ADR in the Legal Services Act.

‘As a nation, we have a long adversarial tradition; if mediation and other forms of ADR are to become the norm, there needs to be a significant sea change in the climate and culture of dispute resolution in the UK. The APPG, with the input of Kent Law School, is actively contributing to that process.’

On Wednesday 15 March, KIE will be hosting a Q+A session about AHRC KTP funding, to allow researchers to learn more about how Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) can support longer-term, collaborative projects with external organisations. This event will include a presentation from Dr Terry Corner, the South East KTP Adviser.

KTPs are a longstanding, publically-supported programme, helping organisations to meet a core strategic need and identify innovative solutions through the transfer of knowledge, technology and skills from a research base. The benefit of AHRC-funded KTPs is that they are more open to projects that produce societal benefit and end-user well-being, over straight income generation. Furthermore KTP funding does not require academics to have been awarded previous research council funding.

Examples of recent AHRC-funded KTP projects include: the development of a drama-based training programme for Durham Police Constabulary to work more sensitively with victims of domestic violence; a collection management system for the National Centre for Children’s Books to attract a more mature audience, and the creation of digital content to support innovative talking therapies for severe personality disorder service users.

Please come along to ask Terry, or a member of the KIE KTP Team, any questions about the scope of AHRC KTP funding, partner eligibility and to explore potential project ideas.

The session will take place from 12.15 to 13.15 and hot and cold soft drinks will be provided but feel free to bring along your lunch.

The seventh annual Enterprise and Impact Training event will take place on Wednesday 26 April, 09:30 to 16:30, in the Darwin Boardroom, Canterbury Campus.

The training, run by Kent Innovation & Enterprise, is recommended for academics and researchers, at any stage of their career, who would like to develop skills for enterprise activity and optimise their interactions with external organisations. It is also suitable for members of support staff that work at the interface between academia and external partners.

This programme will give you the knowledge, confidence and practical tools necessary to engage successfully in enterprise activities such as consultancy and collaborative funding streams.

You will increase your potential to apply your expertise within industry, public sector and third sector organisations, and will learn about how enterprise and knowledge exchange activities can benefit your career.

There are only 20 places available, so please be sure to reserve your place using the Learning and Development booking form:
https://www.kent.ac.uk/hr-learninganddevelopment/bookings/courses/index.html

A light lunch is included.

If you have any questions about the training please contact Janine Coomber or Kimm Sutter by emailing enterprise@kent.ac.uk

Dr William Rowlandson, Senior Lecturer in Hispanic Studies in the Department of Modern Languages, is to introduce a screening of the film ‘Yage is Our Life’ (2017) and chair a Q&A session with the filmmaker Lesley Vela, on Thursday 9 March from 16.00-18.00 in Eliot Lecture Theatre 2.

‘Yage is Our Life’ is a film about the indigenous people of Putumayo, Colombia, their relationship with Yage and their perceptions on the commercialisation of their traditional medicine.

Indigenous groups living in the Putumayo region of southern Colombia have been using Yage (Ayahuasca) for the health, social cohesion and spiritual guidance of their communities for centuries. Yage is rich in the potent psychedelic substance DMT and for these indigenous groups it is sacred, allowing them access to ancient wisdom and the spirits of nature. In their ceremonies the Taitas, or traditional doctors, use Yage to treat their patients for physical and emotional illnesses and as a guide for making decisions.

Over the past 500 years the ancestral territories of Putumayo have been gradually eroded and these communities are at risk of further loss of land and traditions. In recent years Yage, or Ayahuasca, has become increasingly well-known in Western society. Many people travel each year to the Amazon to experience its effects and many scientific studies are being undertaken into its medicinal properties.

This film voices the concerns of indigenous leaders through a series of interviews where they discuss the importance of Yage as a living tradition in their communities, the threat of its commercialisation, and the pressures exerted on their homelands by the industrialised world.

This event is open to all and you can view the trailer at https://vimeo.com/151688672