Arrived at the University recently? Or perhaps you regret not purchasing the Unirider ticket earlier in the year?
You can purchase a term 2 and 3 Unirider for £180 for unlimited travel on all Stagecoach buses in Kent and East Sussex. This is a discount available exclusively to University of Kent students.
Term 2 and 3 Unirider bus tickets can be purchased from the Stagecoach website.
For more information about bus routes, timetables and discounts visit our Canterbury bus webpage.
Colleagues are invited to attend the Learning & Teaching Network session taking place on Wednesday 30 January, from 13:15-14:30 in the UELT Seminar Room, Canterbury.
Presented by Rebecca Coleman (EAP Tutor, Centre for English and World Languages) the workshop looks at intelligibility support for international staff. We aim to highlight the importance of these staff members being clearly understood in the Higher Education classroom and present common issues that they may face. There will be the opportunity to discuss intelligibly issues that you have encountered and individually and in groups look at ways of improving them. Further support offered by the Centre of English and World Languages (CEWL) in this domain with be mentioned at the end of the session.
Please confirm your attendance by completing the online booking form.
Dr David Walsh, Lecturer in the Department of Classical & Archaeological studies, has just published a new article in the ‘Journal of Late Antiquity’, in which he argues that the remains of one of the supposedly oldest churches in Britain was actually a temple to Mithras.
In recent decades, archaeologists in regions such as Germany, Italy, and France have developed an increasingly robust approach to the identification of early churches and thus dismissed a number of formerly misidentified examples in the process. In Britain, however, various supposed ‘churches’ discovered in the twentieth century continue to be referred to as such despite a lack of strong evidence to substantiate this. One such example is a structure found at Butt Road, Colchester. In this article, the issues surrounding the interpretation of this building as a church are revisited and enhanced, while it is illustrated why other interpretations, such as a ‘pagan funerary banqueting hall’, are also unlikely.
David has also just released a new episode of his podcast available now to stream via iTunes and Spotify.
David’s guest this week is SECL graduate Becky Newson, who graduated in 2009 with a BA in Classical & Archaeological Studies and Drama. Becky joins David to discuss her six years working as a tour guide in Rome, how she ended up in this role, how she preps for tours, and her advice for anyone visiting Rome. She also chats about getting used to the Roman way of life (and adjusting when she visits home), #Rome on Instagram, and how the extras on the DVD of The Mummy led her to study Ancient History at Kent!
The University has re-committed to the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement’s manifesto for Public Engagement as part of its ten-year anniversary programme celebrating the organisation’s progress in leading engagement support across the higher education sector.
Our re-commitment to the manifesto is testament to our institutional passion for engagement in all of its forms through our research and teaching practice, in the context of our renewed emphasis on engagement, impact and civic mission.
The National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) continues to work with Kent on its plans to develop the infrastructure and support mechanisms to enable staff and students to engage with the public.
Last year, the NCCPE worked with us to develop and deliver a survey on the infrastructure around engagement with research and on our current activities. It shone a light on our strengths in engagement with research: in our schools partnerships, engagement with policy makers on our research, and colleagues’ breadth of knowledge and expertise in engagement practice.
We will now be working with groups across the University to look at the opportunities to strengthen support and activity further.
Please contact Maddy Bell, Research Impact and Public Engagement Manager at m.r.bell@kent.ac.uk with any questions or comments.
Dr Luke Lavan, Lecturer in Archaeology in the Department of Classical & Archaeological Studies, appeared on the BBC’s South East Today Evening News on Monday 14 January as part of a news story on the recent discovery of an ancient coin, which experts say is a significant find.
Regarding the discovery, Luke comments: ‘The coin is a Frankish imitation of a Late Roman gold coin, the solidus. Marks on the coin show it was minted in Marseilles. However it was struck to take the portrait of Maurice Tiberius, emperor in Constantinople from 582-602. A number of features show that it is an imitation, and not minted under Roman control: the obverse side has a high quality portrait of Maurice, which is based on an style brought in during the fourth century, that had not been used officially for many decades. The reverse stamp also contains elements which are upside down, along with the mint mark ‘MA’ for Marseilles, which appears alongside a cross on a globe.
The coin has then had a second life, has been turned into a pendant, when it reached northern Francia or England. This particular kind of coin is found in areas of East Anglia and Kent where there are surviving areas of political complexity, after the Romans left. It may have been a gift, one of a number of pendants, given by a chief to his leading followers. This person then took it to their grave, from which it has likely come, although ploughed out into the loose earth of Kentish fields long ago.’
Following on from last year’s successful January sale, Kent Hospitality are holding another sale on some of their best-selling dishes across the Medway and Canterbury campuses. Each deal is priced at only £5, and the offer ends on 31/1/2019.
There’s some huge savings on Big Stack burger meals from Hut 8 (Turing College), two healthy smoothies for £5 in K-Bar (Keynes College), loaded fries from Cargo Bar & Grill (Liberty Quays), or a delicious wok bar meal from Rutherford Dining Hall (Rutherford College).
More details on each offer can be found on Kent Hospitality’s Catering blog.
Delivered by MIND, this popular session provides a comprehensive blend of practical advice and support for managers; including recognising potential issues and understanding how they can support and manage staff with mental health issues to effectively engage with the workplace.
The course is aimed at line managers and is taking place in Darwin College, Canterbury campus, on Thursday 24 January 2019. Book your place by logging onto Staff Connect.
The annual training for the safe release of trapped passengers is scheduled for 17 January.
This means that lifts in the following buildings will be out of service for short periods of time:
We apologise for any inconvenience caused and will endeavour to keep any disruption to a minimum. If you have any queries, please contact Estates Customer Services on ext 16666.
Phil Whittall
Head of Maintenance, Estates Department
The start of a new year brings a raft of new resolutions. Getting fit, losing weight, and being mindful of food are all common resolutions in the post-seasonal break. If this sounds like you, then we have an exciting competition which starts soon.
The Kent Sport Xercise Factor programme offers free one-to-one training over six weeks with the goal of improving members’ health and fitness lifestyles. The application process is now open to all Kent Sport Gold and Silver members, all you have to do is fill out an application form and post it in the ‘X’ box in the gym or email it to J.Dexter@kent.ac.uk by Friday 25 January.
The successful applicants will be guided by one of the qualified fitness instructors at Kent Sport and given specific advice and personal training to help them achieve their goals. At the end of the competition, the participant deemed to have embraced the programme the most will be crowned Xercise Factor 2019 champion.
Applications are now open and we are looking for students, staff and members of the public who think they have the Xercise Factor and want to commit to getting fit and changing their lifestyle for the better. It is a complete overhaul of exercise and lifestyle habits and the promotion requires full commitment from the contestants to complete the challenge. Pick up your application form from the fitness suite reception at the Sports Centre or download it online.
Not yet a member of Kent Sport? See kent.ac.uk/sports/membership for details and to sign up.
You can follow the progress of the Xercise Factor participants through our Instagram page UniKentSports or by searching #XerciseFactor.
Welcome back everyone! We’ve been busy making improvements: check out the newly opened study areas in D Block on floors 2 and 3. We think you’ll love them!
The former PC room in D Block Floor 2 is now open with more study spaces for individual quiet study. Most desks have a PC, and 24 PCs of these are now bookable.
There are 44 new study spaces in a new silent zone on Floor 3 in D Block. 14 of the spaces have PCs. The space offers spectacular views across Canterbury.
Need a height adjustable workspace? There are six additional height adjustable desks in D Block Floor 2. Four have PCs on, and two of these are bookable. There are more height adjustable desks in D Block Floor 3 in the silent study zone.
The toilets in D Block have also had a complete makeover: there are now 5 gender neutral toilets and 1 accessible toilet on each Floor 1, 2 and 3.
The lift in D Block is available again so you can use it to get to these new spaces
From start of term, the Library is now back to 24/7 opening until June so you’ll have plenty of time to check out the new areas.
‘Book a PC’ trial service
To guarantee use of a PC at a certain time there are now 24 bookable PCs in the Library. You can now book up to four weeks in advance using our new <strong>Book a PC</strong> trial service, which will run until the end of the summer term. The PCs are for quiet individual study and are located in new study space on Floor 2, D Block (the former PC room).