Monthly Archives: November 2017

Edward Kanterian on Radio 3

Dr Edward Kanterian, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy, featured on BBC Radio 3’s Sunday Feature last week on 12 November in an edition entitled ‘A Column for Infinity’.

The programme explores the work of Romanian sculptor Constanin Brancusi and in particular his powerful memorial to the First World War, the ‘Endless Column’. The sculpture is a unique piece of commemorative art. It carries no specific reference to the dead of 1916 or of their heroic actions and sacrifices. In Romania the first World War symbolises reunification, and some believe the sculpture represents Romania’s expansion and history.

‘Each time somebody from our street would die a very long procession would be formed, and going all the way to the cemetery; and the endless column was there all the time in the background,’ reminisces Edward in the programme. ‘Under such a setting, death, in a way does not feel so bad any more, after all.’

Edward can be heard approximately at both 3 minutes and 13 minutes into the programme.

To listen to the full programme, please see the BBC webpage here.

#ThisKentGirlCan

This Kent Girl Can is a campaign celebrating all of our fantastic women in sport.

Kent Union are highlighting the achievements of women already partaking in sport at Kent, as well as organising various sports sessions from the 20 November to encourage more women to engage in sports and Team Kent.

To find out more about the sessions available and to read the stories of some of our #ThisKentGirlCan champions, click here.

#ThisKentGirlCan t-shirts
As part of the campaign, we will also be selling #ThisKentGirlCan t-shirts. These will be sold for £5 per T-Shirt from either Mandela Building or the Online Store and picked up from the Student Activities Centre – £1 of each purchase will be donated to a Sports Club of your choice if bought before 26 November 2017!

Man Up, Speak Up

Kent Union have announced the ‘Man Up, Speak Up’ campaign which aims to tackle the stigma surrounding male mental health and hopefully encourage more men to talk about their own concerns.

Mental health is the number one disability at our University, so now, more than ever, this is an issue that needs to be faced head on. Men should no longer suffer in silence.

Facts and figures from the Men’s Mental Health Forum data, September 2017:

12.5% of men in the UK are suffering from one of the common mental health disorders.
Just over three out of four suicides (76%) are by men and suicide is the biggest cause of death for men under 35 (Reference: Office for National Statistics).
Men are less likely to access psychological therapies than women. Only 36% of referrals to IAPT (Increasing Access to Psychological Therapies) are men.

How can I can I get involved and support this campaign?

With the support of the Movember campaign, our sports clubs are competing to raise the most amount of money for a cause which focuses on male physical and mental health.

We will be hosting an impact event, where we will have a physical wall outside the Student Activities Centre for students and staff to come along and write their issues on the wall from Wednesday 15 – Friday 17 November 2017. This will culminate in the knocking down of this wall, as a sign of breaking down the stigma surrounding mental health.

Speak up.

Tips for a safe night out

As the evenings get darker and Christmas festivities begin, we just want to remind you of our safety advice and services.

Safety advice and services:

You don’t need to walk in the dark or late at night, why not:

Take the Nite bus, the Uni2. Stagecoach provides a night bus until 04.35 and the route includes campus colleges and the local area.
Call a registered taxi– save some money for the end of the night, so you can be brought straight home – it’s much safer and easier.
Sign-up with the Safe Taxi Scheme so if you find yourself on your own or in a vulnerable situation you can still get a taxi home, even if you don’t have the money on the night.

However, if you do need to walk, here are some tips:

Don’t walk home alone. Stick with your friends and look out for one another.
Stick to well-lit and busy areas. Avoid shortcuts through parks, car parks, underpasses, woodlands and unlit areas. View Canterbury’s lit walking routes.
Keep your valuables hidden – mobiles, keys, cash, cards and jewelry.
Stay alert – don’t walk home on the phone or listening to music.
We also have Street Marshals looking after students and local residents when they’re out and about at night. They patrol a number of areas in Canterbury on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Get a free personal safety alarm from Campus Security.

On-campus only services:

If you find yourself on your own, on-campus, you can call our night-time Walking Taxi Service – 01227 823300.
Download the SafeZone app for quick access to emergency services, first aid and the University.

Simon Kirchin publishes on thick evaluation

Dr Simon Kirchin, Reader in the Department of Philosophy and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, has just published a new book entitled Thick Evaluation (Oxford University Press, 2017).

We use evaluative terms and concepts every day. We call actions right and wrong, teachers wise and ignorant, and pictures elegant and grotesque. Philosophers place evaluative concepts into two camps. Thin concepts, such as goodness and badness, and rightness and wrongness have evaluative content, but they supposedly have no or hardly any nonevaluative, descriptive content: they supposedly give little or no specific idea about the character of the person or thing described. In contrast, thick concepts such as kindness, elegance and wisdom supposedly give a more specific idea of people or things. Yet, given typical linguistic conventions, thick concepts also convey evaluation. Kind people are often viewed positively, whilst ignorance has negative connotations.

The distinction between thin and thick concepts is frequently drawn in philosophy and is central to everyday life. However, very few articles or books discuss the distinction. In his new book, Simon discusses thin and thick concepts, highlighting key assumptions, questions and arguments, many of which have gone unnoticed. He focuses in on the debate between separationists (those who think that thick concepts can be separated into component parts of evaluative, often very thin, content and non-evaluative content) and nonseparationists (who deny this).

Thick Evaluation argues for a version of nonseparationism, and in doing so argues both that many concepts are evaluative, and also that evaluation is not exhausted by thin positive and negative stances.

For more details, please see the publisher’s page here.

Alumni return to Kent to offer students careers advice

This year’s Employability Festival saw 26 alumni return to the Canterbury campus to offer current students advice and guidance about their graduate prospects and employability. Graduates from a range of disciplines participated in panels, gave talks and networked with students to share their experience and expertise, and to offer mentoring and insights at events organised by Kent Union, the Development Office, the School of Economics, the School of Anthropology and Conservation, the School of History and the School of Arts.

Kasia Senyszyn, Volunteer Management Officer for the Development Office, said “it is brilliant to see so many members of our talented and diverse alumni community coming back to share their stories and support Kent. They are such a fantastic resource for current students and new graduates and we are so grateful for their time and expertise.”

Kent has over 171,000 alumni worldwide and nearly 300 of them are currently volunteering to support Kent through our international alumni groups, on-campus talks and events, and our online mentoring platform, KEW-NET. Kent alumni also helped to raise over £880,000 last year for the Kent Opportunity Fund, which supports our students through scholarships, hardship bursaries and student project grants.

Find out more about our alumni community and how to get involved on our website.

Join us for a night of sports in the dark!

Have you ever wondered how you could make your favourite sport that little bit more fun?

Well, turn off the lights, throw on some UV paint and grab your glowsticks and you’ve got UV sports! Still not sure what UV sports are? Check out the event on YouTube.

UV sports night takes place on Saturday 25 November at the Sports Centre and includes:

Main Hall

Ultimate frisbee,18.00-19.00
Volleyball, 19.00-21.00
Badminton and table tennis, 18.00-21.00

Hall 2

Women’s basketball, 18.00-19.30
Men’s basketball, 19.30-21.00

Hall 3

Football, 18.00-19.30:
Handball, 19.30-21.00

Tickets cost just £2 and give you access to all the sports! Book online or buy at the Sports Centre reception beforehand or on the night. Be sure to book early as spaces are limited.

Foundation Day Lecture

This year’s Foundation Day Lecture is on Thursday 23 November from 18.30 in Woolf Lecture Theatre.

Foundation Day is held each year in celebration of the foundation of the University of Kent. This year, our Chancellor Gavin Esler will be interviewing our new Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Karen Cox.

All are welcome to attend. There is no need to book – just turn up on the night.

Find out more on our Events webpages

London Community Gospel Choir comes to Kent!

The renowned London Community Gospel Choir comes to the University campus on Friday 17 November, as the Music department brings them to Colyer-Fergusson Hall.

From humble beginning in 1982, the Choir is now Europe’s leading Gospel choir, regularly to be seen around the UK including at the Royal Albert Hall, Glastonbury and Wembley Stadium.

Join us as Colyer-Fergusson Hall rings to the sounds of this very special choir!

Tickets and details online.

Kent Gives Back: Projects so far

This autumn, Kent alumni in the United States and the United Kingdom are getting together to make a difference in their local communities, as part of Kent Gives Back. We would like thank all of those Kent alumni participating in this series of Kent Gives Back projects.

The Boston alumni team volunteered at The Community Servings Kitchen as a part of the Kent Gives Back Project on Friday 27 October. The team created meals for individuals unable to shop or cook for themselves due to critical illness.

Six University of Kent alumni in Washington, DC volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House where they cooked a lovely meal for 22 children at the home. Eliot Williamson, chair of the UKA Washington, DC chapter, commented on the event:

‘The event was a huge success. The group enjoyed the activity tremendously. Also, many of the parents thanked us. They were very happy we cooked such a good meal.’

On 11 November, 10 Kent alumni from Chicago volunteered at the Greater Chicago Food Depository. They made individual and family-sized food packages to be distributed across Chicago. One of the volunteers commented: ‘What a rewarding afternoon on this Veterans’ Day/Remembrance Day. We learned that over 16,000 veterans in Cook County live below the poverty line and 18% of households who receive assistance from the Food Depository include someone who served in the U.S. Armed Forces.’

Alumni in Los Angeles are looking forward to volunteering at the LA Regional Food Bank on Saturday 9 December and the next series of Kent Gives Back in the US will take place in May 2018, and involve alumni groups around the world.