Colleagues are invited to attend the Learning & Teaching Network session taking place on Wednesday 28 November, from 13.15-14.30 in Cornwallis North West Seminar Room 6.

Presented by Tom Sharp, Disability Team Manager, Student Support, the session on ‘Autism Awareness’ is a chance to discuss the many faces of autism: we know that some members of the University community have a positive diagnosis of autism, and we recognise that autistic people can be successful in academic contexts.  We recognise also that autistic people can struggle to assert themselves alongside perceived norms, or within institutional mechanisms.  (Hopefully) you will bring your own experiences to the discussion.

To confirm your attendance please complete the online booking form.

This year you can watch the Rochester and Canterbury November graduation ceremonies live on YouTube. Tune in on…

Rochester – 21 November

10.30  https://youtu.be/mNY0oS_Ud5M
14.30  https://youtu.be/OCqmAj1py80

Canterbury – 23 November

10.30  https://youtu.be/UAvmeP1iRUs
14.30  https://youtu.be/lgM9kId4qI0
19.30  https://youtu.be/Hz6c56IWayY

To find out which schools are graduating in each ceremony, please visit: www.kent.ac.uk/graduation-dates

As part of our 20 Years in Europe celebrations, Lord Ricketts will deliver a lecture around the strategic choices that will arise for Britain and the EU after Brexit, on Monday 26 November from 18.30 in Darwin Conference Suite.

Lord Ricketts previously worked with David Cameron in Downing Street and his career has involved him in the handling of many international crises and the coordination of policy in the foreign affairs, defence and security fields. In 2010, the Prime Minister asked him to become the British Government’s first National Security Adviser.

He is an Honorary Graduate of the University of Kent, and was a regular visitor to the University’s Paris centre during his time as British Ambassador to France.

No booking necessary; seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. For more info, please visit the event page.

Not based at the Canterbury campus, or unable to attend on the night? Watch the livestream on YouTube.

Richard Sakwa, Professor of Russian and European Politics at the University of Kent, will help celebrate Keynes College’s 50th anniversary with a lecture entitled “Spirit of ’68”.

The event which takes place on Monday 26 November will cover the year 1968, which has become a symbol for political and social change and which also happens to be the year Keynes College opened its doors for the first time.

It was a year packed full of events – ranging from the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia where there was an attempt to create ‘Socialism with a Human Face’, the ‘evénements’ in Paris in May, to the profound transformation of German democracy.

This was also a period of profound social transformation, with the emergence of a new attitude to work and the onset of a period of social liberalism and identity politics. The spirit was not only one of revolution but also of the deconstruction of traditional authority patterns. The spirit was that of idealism and progress.

It was in this spirit that Keynes College was established as part of the wave of new universities, with new ideas of how education can create an enlightened society. The talk will analyse these events and ideas, and assess the degree to which this spirit lives on.

The event is co-organised by the School of Politics and International Relations and by Keynes College. For more information on the event please see the events calendar.

There will be a drinks reception prior to the lecture at 17.15 which is open to all.​

In a timely talk this Wednesday (21 November), Phillip Blond will reflect on the emergence, rise and future of ‘post-liberal’ politics.

Phillip Blond is an internationally recognised political thinker and social and economic commentator. The author of the widely-acclaimed ‘Red Tory: How Left and Right Have Broken Britain and How We Can Fix It’, Phillip went on to establish the think-tank ResPublica in 2009 and has since had considerable influence over the direction of Conservative and British politics, including the David Cameron government. In particular, he has sought to redefine the centre ground of British politics around the ideas of civil association, mutual ownership and shared enterprise. Prior to entering politics and public policy, he was senior lecturer in theology and philosophy at the universities of Exeter and Cumbria.

Philip Blond’s talk  will take place in Grimond Lecture Theatre 3 (GLT3), Canterbury campus, on Wednesday 21 November at 17.00 and will be followed by a reception.

The talk – which is free and open to all – is part of a new series of public talks on Britain, Brexit and the Future of British Politics, organised by the School of Politics and International Relations.

The latest issue of the Leadership Bulletin, designed to give an overview of key developments at Kent, is now available.

The latest issue (14 November 2018) includes a summary of discussions held at the latest Senior Leadership Forum including the University’s ‘Cyber Essentials’ certification, the Wellbeing Zone app which staff can now sign up to, and the return of Pint of Science next year.

There is also an update on Executive Group meetings, including KentVision, a continued focus on recruitment and a discussion around the impact of Europe and Brexit on staff, students and University business. The “long read” by Deputy Vice-Chancellor – Education, Professor April McMahon, focuses on the next steps for TEF (Teaching Excellence Framework).

The Bulletin is distributed fortnightly to all members of the Leadership Forum to cascade to staff in schools and professional service departments. If you haven’t received your copy yet, you can read the bulletin online.

Find out more about the Leadership Bulletin and see previous issues on the OVC webpages.

We would like to invite members of staff at the University to participate in a six-week Hatha Yoga course starting in January 2019.

The yoga course is intended to improve wellbeing among members of staff who feel anxious and/or stressed or burnt out. The classes are suitable for beginners and we would like to recruit staff who have not attended a regular yoga class or practised yoga regularly in the last six months.

During the study, participants will attend a one-hour yoga lunchtime class each week at the Canterbury Campus.

Two different groups will receive slightly different interventions. This will allow us to compare improvements to wellbeing under each approach. We are hoping to recruit 40 members of staff in total and participants will be randomly allocated to each group. There will be about ten members of staff in each yoga class.

To evaluate the yoga course, we will measure participants’ wellbeing at the start of the course, at the end of the six-week course, and at a follow-up three months after the start of the course.  Information will also be collected when you register for the study to check that you are eligible to join the study and fit to practise yoga.

The weekly one-hour yoga classes will take place on Monday and Tuesday lunchtimes between 14 January 2019 and 5 March 2019 (excluding half-term week).

To register interest and to join this study, or for more information, email: Whysper@kent.ac.uk.

If you have any questions contact: Tracy Pellatt-Higgins, Centre for Health Services Studies, telephone 01227 827963.

This year’s Stirling Lecture will be delivered by renowned American psychologist and anthropologist, Professor Tanya Marie Luhrmann from Stanford University.  Her talk: ‘The Way We Think About Thinking Matters’.

Tanya Luhrmann’s work focuses on the edge of experience: on voices, visions, the supernatural and the world of psychosis. Drawing on ethnographic research with evangelical Christians, Zoroastrians, and people who practice magic she considers how persons experience psychosis in the US, Accra and Chennai.  In this lecture she argues that how we think about our minds matters, and that different cultures and theologies experience mind and mental process in distinctive ways.

This event is free and open to all.  Please register your interest here.

Event details:

Tuesday 4th December 2018, 18:00 – 20:00, Keynes Lecture Theatre 1, University of Kent, Canterbury

Further information can be found on the School of Anthropology and Conservation news and events page.