From 10 July – 14 July, Medway will be hosting Castle Concerts 2018. Set in the beautiful grounds of Rochester Castle, this much-loved music extravaganza is one not to miss.
Featuring artists such as, The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, Jools Holland and his Rhythum and Blues Orchestra, UB40, Ronan Keating and The Australian Pink Floyd.
For more information and a full list of artists, visit Castle Concerts web pages.
As part of the School of Arts Summer Festival and in commemoration of the Suffragette movement in Britain, there will be a production of ‘Dawn is Breaking’ on Friday 15 June, 18.00 at the Aphra Theatre, Canterbury Campus.
‘Dawn is Breaking’ is an original poetic adaptation of Emmeline Pankhurst’s autobiography exploring her childhood, the dynamics of the Pankhurst family and the conflict surrounding militant tactics that divided the movement.
Tickets are free, and you can register here
Matt Bray is a practising artist, freelance curator and arts consultant, who graduated in 2012 with an MA Fine Art at SMFA. He co-founded the Medway Print Festival, which is running until 24 June. Now in its 3rd year, the festival celebrates printmaking and fine art in Medway, with over 40 events and activities to showcase some of the best printmaking being created today as well as highlighting the fascinating local history of the medium.
Read the interview with Matt about his time at Kent and since graduating here.
At the invitation of Peter Brown, director of the University of Kent Paris centre, SMFA Fine Art students recently spent a week in Paris taking part in the Revolutions festival held at the University Centre, which celebrates 50 years of protest and featuring a huge range of artwork and events.
The SMFA students from the remaining two undergraduate years and the final MA year worked collaboratively as a group together with students and staff at the Paris Centre to make and exhibit new work in response to theme and site. This has included a performance involving cheese and a derivé exploring the city around the centre.
Peter Brown commented:
“It has all been going exceptionally well. There was an excellent turn-out for the Menteur launch and Medway students did the event proud with their own ‘set’ that was very well received. Thank you for enhancing our activities with your excellent students! “
The students recorded their visit via Instagram.
Commented Year 2 BA Fine Art student Kevin Hadimadja:
“The Paris trip was an amazing and enjoyable experience! Thank you very much for giving this opportunity to present my artwork as well as surrounding myself with great people. It has opened my eyes in the sense of interaction and collaborative thinking into not just the art but the journey through it.”
It is planned to stage a return visit next year.
More info:
https://revolutionsmafest.wixsite.com/revolutions/le-menteur-magasine-launch
https://www.instagram.com/smfa_paris_2018/
On Saturday 2nd June, SMFA students featured in a large-scale, outdoor screening of artists’ films and video projected on the exterior wall of The Old Neptune Pub, Marine Terrace, Whitstable, facing the seafront. Presented by 51zero/voyager at Whitstable Biennale as part of the Decreation international festival of moving image and digital arts Touring Programme. The event ran from 21.30 – 23.30.
Many of the participating artists have taken part in international art Biennials, and were showcased alongside emerging talent selected from open calls and SMFA Fine Art students, including graduates Rose Sizer and Nicola Baxter, and Alfie Killick (Little-Blood) (3rd Year), Jordan Colbert (3rd Year), Constanza Marques Guedes (3rd Year), Olu Taiwo (MA)
Find out more here.
Richard King, Professor of Buddhist and Asian Studies and Head of the Department of Religious Studies, will be delivering a keynote talk at the ‘Happiness and Wellbeing’ conference to be held the Carrs Lane Conference Centre in Birmingham on Saturday 16 June 2018.
The aim of the conference is to explore the theme of Happiness and Wellbeing from religious, philosophical, psychological, health and other perspectives.
Richard’s talk is entitled ‘From Buddhist Meditation to Modern Secular Therapy: An Analysis of Mindfulness in Ancient and Modern Contexts’. Richard will ask ‘why has mindfulness meditation become so popular in the early 21st century?’ and ‘How do modern accounts of mindfulness compare with traditional Buddhist ones?’ The talk will explore the roots of mindfulness meditation in Buddhist thought and practice, and consider what issues arise from its transformation into a modern secular form of stress-relief.
The event costs £21.50 full price or £5 for students.
To book, please see the page here.
You may watch a video of Richard presenting on ‘Mindfulness and the Buddhist Tradition’ below.
Distinguished cardiothoracic surgeon, Professor Tom Treasure will give a presentation on The Changing Face of Medicine on Monday 18 June.
The event is arranged by the Centre for Professional Practice and will explore how changing ideas in medicine shaped today’s healthcare. It takes place from 19.00-21.00 at Sun Pier House, Medway Street, Chatham, ME4 4HF, and admission is free.
Professor Treasure is currently Honorary Professor of the Clinical Operations Research Unit at University College, London and has chaired, participated and advised numerous initiatives and organisations and was a Director of the British Heart Foundation between 1996 and 2001.
He has wide ranging interests in medicine in general and surgery in particular and, after more than two decades as a world-renowned expert cardiac surgery, broadened his scope to cover both heart and lungs.
His fascination with the history of medicine led him to rescue documents from parts of Guys Hospital which were scheduled for demolition in the course of its refurbishment in the 1990s. Among these were meticulously-kept records belonging to ‘The Heart Club’ a group of surgeons at Guys who pioneered heart surgery in 1940’s Britain. Inspired by this he wrote a book of the same name which detailed the bravery of surgeons who dared to challenge and overturn centuries of dogma using the evidence of treating injured WW2 service personnel to do so.
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This free event is hosted by the University of Kent’s Centre for Professional Practice (CPP). The Centre’s part-time, flexible work-related programmes BA/BSc Top-up in Professional Practice or MA/MSc in Professional Practice and short courses have been specifically designed to meet the needs of working professionals who wish to develop their academic ability while maintaining their professional role.
Dr Chris Deacy, Reader in Theology and Religious Studies in the Department of Religious Studies, has just released the third instalment of his podcast series on ‘Nostalgia‘.
In the latest podcast, Chris interviews Dr Montserrat Roser i Puig, Senior Lecturer in Hispanic Studies in the Department of Modern Languages, who presents a fascinating slice-of-life about growing up in Franco’s Spain.
Montserrat talks about the important role that memory plays in her family, including the very vivid initial memory she has from when she was just 2-3 months old, and she talks about the way that she and her siblings will often share different recollections of the same events. She relates the desperate urge she had to leave the village where she grew up, and the way she was a trailblazer for her family in seeking an education, against the instincts of her father, and how she moved to London and ended up studying for her doctorate.
Montserrat reflects on the important role that cinema played in her childhood – especially Monty Python’s The Life of Brian (1979) – when she would often see three films in an afternoon.
The interview concludes with some very personal insights about the influence of religion in her native Catalan, as well as important reflections on the nature of belonging – where and how we belong, whether our understanding of identity changes over time, if we can ever truly escape our pasts, and the concomitant danger of looking back.
The podcast is available here.
The Centre for Professional Practice will host a presentation on Understanding and Working with Self-harm and Attempted Suicide at Medway campus on Monday 18 June from 10.00-12.00.
The presentation, by Dr Terence Nice, Programme Director (Psychotherapy), at the Centre for Professional Practice, focuses on the assessment and treatment of people who self-harm and attempt suicide.
The presentation looks at the prevalence of self-harm, national guidelines, causative factors and ways of ameliorating suicidal ideations and diminishing acts of self-harm. The territory of self-harm and attempted suicide is often paradoxical and labyrinthine, leaving clinicians, practitioners and workers uncertain about how to react positively and respond appropriately.
The presentation is aimed at all those people who come into contact with young or older people who self-harm or attempt suicide. The presenter is a Lecturer in Psychological Therapies, Highly Specialist Psychotherapist and an active researcher in this field. Dr Nice has also developed a self-harm tool-kit to assist in the assessment and treatment of this group.
Venue: Medway Building, Room M1-22.
Fee: The event has a nominal charge of £10 but is free to University of Kent staff.
How to book: All spaces must be pre-booked, via email: professionalpractice@kent.ac.uk
For any queries, please email professionalpractice@kent.ac.uk or call 01634 888929.
Bin Amnesty
From Monday 11 June to Friday 6 July 2018 a Bin Amnesty will begin in Canterbury, which will allow students moving out of properties in specific locations to place bin bags next to their household waste and recycling bins, and the waste contractor will collect during this four-week period. The Bin Amnesty will be in operation for the following roads:
| Road | Area | Weekly Collection |
| Beaconsfield Road | St Michaels | Yes |
| Beecroft Close | Hales Place | Yes |
| Beverley Road | Hales Place | |
| Bicknor Close | Hales Place | |
| Bramshaw Road | St Michaels | Yes |
| Bristol Road | Wincheap | |
| Brockenhurst Close | St Michaels | |
| Brymore Road | Northgate/ Sturry Road | |
| Claremont Place | Wincheap | |
| College Road | Barton | Yes |
| Crossways | Hales Place | Yes |
| Downs Road | Hales Place | Yes |
| Durham Close | Wincheap | |
| Edgar Road | Barton | |
| Forty Acres Road | St Michaels | |
| Gordon Road | Wincheap | |
| Hales Drive | Hales Place | |
| Havelock Street | Barton | |
| Headcorn Drive | Hales Place | Yes |
| Honeywood Close | Northgate/ Sturry Road | |
| Kemsing Gardens | Hales Place | Yes |
| Lansdown Road | Wincheap | Yes |
| Lime Kiln Road | Wincheap | |
| Long Meadow Way | Hales Place | Yes |
| Lyndhurst Close | St Michaels | |
| Martyr’s Field Road | Wincheap | Yes |
| Monastery Street | Barton | |
| North Homes Road | Barton | Yes |
| Nursery Walk | St Michaels | Yes |
| Old Ruttington Lane | Barton | |
| Oxford Road | Wincheap | |
| Pretoria Road | Barton | |
| Regency Place | Northgate | Yes |
| Ringwood Close | St Michaels | Yes |
| Rushmead Close | St Michaels | Yes |
| Salisbury Road | St Michaels | Yes |
| Shaftesbury Road | St Michaels | |
| St Gregory’s Road | Barton | |
| St Martin’s Avenue | Barton | |
| St Martin’s Close | Barton | |
| St Martin’s Road | Barton | Yes |
| St Michaels Place | St Michaels | |
| St Michaels Road | St Michaels | |
| Starle Close | Northgate/ Sturry Road | |
| Sturry Road (to Parham Road) | Northgate/ Sturry Road | |
| Tenterden Drive | Hales Place | Yes |
| The Close, Downs Road | Hales Place | Yes |
| The Crescent | Hales Place | |
| The Terrace | Hales Place | |
| Tudor Road | Wincheap | |
| Tunstall Road | Hales Place | |
| Ulcombe Gardens | Hales Place | Yes |
| Uplands | Hales Place | |
| Westerham Close | Hales Place | |
| York Road | Wincheap | |
| Zealand Road | Wincheap |
Necessary Furniture
During the Bin Amnesty, from Monday 11 June to Friday 6 July 2018, the University will be working with Necessary Furniture, a local charity, to re-use and recycle as many unwanted household items as possible.
What they will collect:
Working electronic items such as microwaves, kettles, televisions, radios, computers and accessories. All kitchen items, such as cutlery, crockery and pans, and furniture that is in good condition, such as tables, chairs, bookshelves, desks, pictures and mirrors. They will also take clothes that are in good condition, books, curtains, sporting and gym equipment.
What they cannot collect:
Anything broken, torn or stained, any white goods that are dirty or smelly, sofas, upholstered couches or chairs, mattresses, chemicals, paint, degraded microwaves, old rugs, carpeting, health/beauty products and any recalled consumer items.
If you are unsure if an item can be donated please call Necessary Furniture on 01227 712680 or check their website at www.necessaryfurniture.org.uk
Items will be collected over the four-week Bin Amnesty period as follows:
| Area A: Wincheap | Area B: Hales Place | Area C: Barton | Area D: St Michael’s |
| Bristol Road | Beecroft Close | Brymore Road | Beaconsfield Road |
| Claremont Place | Beverley Road | College Road | Bramshaw Road |
| Durham Close | Bicknor Close | Edgar Road | Brockenhurst Close |
| Gordon Road | Crossways | Havelock Street | Forty Acres Road |
| Lansdown Road | Downs Road | Honeywood Close | Lyndhurst Close |
| Lime Kiln Road | Hales Drive | Monastery Street | Nursery Walk |
| Martyrs’ Field Road | Headcorn Drive | North Holmes Road | Ringwood Close |
| Oxford Road | Kemsing Gardens | Old Ruttington Lane | Rushmead Close |
| Tudor Road | Long Meadow Way | Pretoria Road | Salisbury Road |
| York Road | Tenterden Drive | Regency Place | Shaftesbury Road |
| Zealand Road | The Close, Downs Road | St Gregory’s Road | St Michael’s Place |
| The Crescent | St Martin’s Avenue | St Michael’s Road | |
| The Terrace | St Martin’s Close | ||
| Tunstall Road | St Martin’s Road | ||
| Ulcombe Gardens | Starle Close | ||
| Uplands | Sturry Road (to Parham Road) | ||
| Westerham Close | |||
| Collected 15/06/2018 | Collected 22/06/2018 | Collected 29/06/2018 | Collected 06/07/2018 |
Items for collection should be put out first thing in the morning, but if you need to put something out the day before please leave until the evening. (Please ensure items do not obstruct the public footway.)
If the above collection dates are not compatible with your moving out date please contact Necessary Furniture on 01227 712680.
Give a Dog a Duvet Day
To prevent unwanted duvets from going to landfill or incineration, the University is supporting a number of local animal charities by donating unwanted duvets as beds for dogs, puppies, cats, kittens etc.
If you have a duvet you no longer need, and it’s clean and undamaged, please place in a clean carrier bag or bin bag and deliver to Eliot College reception. The University will then arrange for the duvets to be donated to local animal charities.
This initiative will operate throughout the summer term, from Tuesday 8 May to Friday 15 June 2018.