Dr Edward Kanterian, Senior Lecturer in Department of Philosophy, will be giving an invited talk at a workshop entitled ‘Fallibilismus und Gewissheit ‘ [‘Fallibilism and Uncertainty’], at the Technische Universität Darmstadt [Darmstadt University of Technology], Germany, on 23 March 2018.

In his paper, entitled ‘Neue Perspektiven zu Wittgensteins Bemerkungen’ [‘New perspectives to Wittgenstein’s observations’], Edward will argue that the traditional epistemological distinction between indubitable (certain) and dubitable propositions needs to be refined in the light of Wittgenstein‘s last reflections on the relation between our mental states and our behaviour. He will show, there is a third category of propositions, i.e. about other minds, which are not indubitable, but also not dubitable in the sense that one can never ‘really’ know what another person feels, thinks etc.

For more details of the event, please see event page here.

Skepsi, a postgraduate-run journal within the School of European Culture and Languages (SECL), are organising an interdisciplinary conference entitled ‘Wandering and Home’, to be held on 25 May 2018. The editors are currently seeking 300-abstract proposals for presentations at the event.

The conference aims to highlight both the binary opposition between the concepts of ‘wandering’ and ‘home’ and the possible interrelations between them.

Many different types of homes and houses can be found in literature: the ‘gothic’ homes depicted in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights and Edgar Allan Poe’s Fall of the House of Usher, the country homes of late-Georgian England that feature in Jane Austen’s novels, and the stifling atmosphere of the late-Victorian and Edwardian upper middle-class London homes of John Galsworthy’s The Forsyth Saga. Their role, in the history of literature, of symbolising family values, social status and the complex web of family relationships is clearly one of great importance.

But wandering is not just a physical activity; there is also mind-wandering, a metaphorical form of wandering taking place in that most intimate and homely dimension of personal space — the human mind. Modernist literature’s stream of consciousness writing functions as the means of exploring these wanderings of the mind that, by opening up multiple perspectives of literary texts, results in a wider understanding of mankind and its character.

For a suggested list to topics, please see the page here.

The conference is open to all disciplines within the Humanities as well as Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, Sociology, Politics, Architecture and Visual Arts. Papers coming from an inter-, trans- or multidisciplinary background are particularly welcomed.

Papers should last for 20 minutes and will be followed by a 10-minute discussion.

Abstracts of approx. 300 words should be sent as Word documents to the conference organising committee at skepsi@kent.ac.uk by 31 March 2018. The email should also include the name of the author, institutional affiliation and brief autobiographical details. Please also indicate any audio-visual requirements that you may have.

For further details about Skepsi, please see the page here: http://blogs.kent.ac.uk/skepsi/

The Coffee with Colleagues scheme offers everyone working at the University the opportunity to invite a colleague they have never met in person, or do not know very well, to talk about their respective role over a cup of coffee (or tea!).

This year, there is now also a “Mystery Colleague” option for more adventurous colleagues willing to be matched with a colleague at random.

Registration is open until Friday 6 April but don’t wait too long to register as numbers are limited and vouchers allocated on a first-come first-served basis.

If you want to take advantage of this offer, all you will need to do is complete a short form giving details about yourself and your guest. The registration form can be found on our webpage – click here to access the form.

If you are successful, you will receive an email mid-April confirming that a drinks voucher for two has been loaded onto your KentOne card and can be redeemed at one of the University’s commercial services outlets (Canterbury and Medway).

If you have chosen the “Mystery Colleague” option you will be given the name of the person you have been matched with so that you can get in contact and organise your coffee encounter.

Coffee with Colleagues is part of the Kent Colleagues Connect programme, jointly funded by the Academic Division, Commercial Services and Learning & Organisational Development. This programme offers a number of opportunities throughout the year to meet colleagues across the University in an informal setting and learn more about their role. The full programme can be found here.