Over the next 5 months we will be exploring the things that bring us together as a community. As you might expect, politics is a theme that flows through the season which includes Eutopia, our festival to celebrate Europe in late March (Brexit time!).

Eutopia is one of 5 festivals we have planned for you, alongside celebrations of food, comedy, International Women’s Day and the Autism Arts Festival. As usual we have an international programme of wonderful dance & theatre, and please take a look at our expanded music programme, which now includes some amazing artists from the Jazz and World Music scenes.

There are a range of University of Kent Staff discounts available across the season. Download the University of Kent Staff offers here.

Colleagues are invited to attend the Centre for the Study of Higher Education seminar taking place on Thursday 17 January, from 13:00-14:00 in the UELT Seminar Room, Canterbury.

So you have data: what next? is presented by Lynn McAlpine, Professor Emerita of Higher Education Development, Department of Education, University of Oxford

A key issue for researchers is how to organize, analyze, display and report qualitative data in ways that are rigorous, meaningful and contribute to the field. Of course, there are many ways to do this. In this seminar, Professor McAlpine describes a process, premised in a narrative methodology, that she often uses in qualitative studies of early career researcher development.

To confirm your attendance at the seminar please complete the online booking form.

Colleagues are invited to attend the Learning & Teaching Network session taking place on Wednesday 16 January, from 13:15-14:30 in Rochester Building R2-09 at the Medway Campus.

Staff in the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences worked closely with the Student Success Project to design a new Academic Advising system for the School for 2018-19.  This session will explain how the system was designed to address issues of transition, orientation and belonging, as well as issues of retention and attainment in our BTEC dominated student cohort.  First term staff and student evaluations will be considered, and we will invite attendees to discuss and comment on the new system and its evaluation so far.

To confirm your attendance please complete the online booking form.

Dr Paul March Russell, Lecturer in the Department of Comparative Literature, contributed a paper during a special session of the Modern Language Association (MLA) conference in Chicago. The event set out with the purpose of re-examining science fiction’s relation to modernist writing and positioning science fiction as a modernist project, participants explored various perspectives on the formal and stylistic exchanges between modernism and science fiction and asked what common aesthetic and political motivations are shared by the literary modes.

For his session, which discussed modernism in science fiction, Paul discussed two recent novels – Nicola Barker’s H(A)PPY and Cathrynne M. Valente’s Radiance – in relation to the concept of ‘metamodernism’ (contemporary writing that treats modernism variously as an era, a style or an archive). Here, Paul emphasised the importance of reading both modernism and contemporary iterations in relation to their generic others.

Paul has also contributed a chapter to the recent publication Cambridge History of Science Fiction. Paul’s chapter, on ‘Science Fiction, Modernism and the Avant-Garde’, examines the science-fictionality of several avant-garde responses, from F.T. Marinetti to Vladimir Mayakovsky, and across different media (literature, cinema, painting and architecture). Paul argues that not only are the discourses of the avant-Garde, modernism and science fiction, intertwined, but that they become a repository for later artistic and cultural developments.

Exams 2019 – Coming Soon!

It’s time to start thinking about your exams.

Get prepared by looking at our webpages. www.kent.ac.uk/csao/exams

Please see below upcoming dates for your diary.

Religious Observance Requests

Deadline for submission Tuesday 5^th February 2019 (5pm).  Contact exams@kent.ac.uk.

See link for more information.

Personal Timetable Release

The timetable is released to students approximately 2 weeks before the end of spring term.

Follow us on Twitter for the first timetable announcement – @UniKent_CSAO 

Complete Inclusive Learning Plan

If you require adapted arrangements for your exams you must meet with Student Support and Wellbeing to discuss your learning plan. More information and deadlines.

Examinations Period 2019

Tuesday 7^th May – Friday 14^th June 2019

Note:  Saturdays are included in the examination timetable

Contact us

Canterbury: exams@kent.ac.uk

Medway: medwayexams@kent.ac.uk

Twitter:  @UniKent_CSAO

The e-learning team invite colleagues to an e-learning forum on ‘Mainstreaming inclusivity – the Blackboard Ally project’ taking place on Tuesday 22 January, 12.00-13.30 in the UELT Seminar Room, Canterbury.

The efficient and timely provision of information in accessible formats for students with print disabilities is critical to an inclusive learning experience. Providing facilities for people to convert documents to accessible formats quickly and self-sufficiently enables them to participate fully in learning, teaching and independent research.

Student Support and Wellbeing and the e-learning team (UELT) are piloting an exciting plugin for Moodle called Blackboard Ally. Without changing existing workflows, Blackboard Ally is able to add significant accessibility functionality to all materials uploaded to Moodle and enable them to be delivered in a range of alternative formats that all students can benefit from.

This session will give an overview of Blackboard Ally and will provide a live demonstration of how Blackboard Ally is able to create accessible formats from content uploaded to Moodle.  There will also be some initial feedback from staff and students in Schools currently participating in the pilot. The University of Kent was the first Moodle-based University in UK to use Blackboard Ally and so the findings from the pilot are both interesting and exciting!

Please feel free to bring your lunch with you. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided.

To book a place please complete the online booking form.

Kent Law School is looking for staff and students to act as jury members in its upcoming mock trials.

A total 40 jurors are needed – so now’s your chance to get involved if you’re frustrated at never being called officially for jury service!

The only time commitment is to attend one of the trials on 13, 15 or 22 March (17.00-20.00), sit and watch and come to a decision.

Employability points will be available to students taking part.

Register your interest now by emailing Darren Weir in Kent Law School: d.weir@kent.ac.uk
Nearer the time, he will send out specific date requests.

We are excited to announce a new trial cycle hire scheme at Medway campus. The University is working in partnership with Rent & Ride (R&R), which is an affordable dockless bicycle hire scheme.

When is the R&R cycle hire scheme launching?
The cycle hire scheme is launching Monday 14 January.

How does it work?
Download the R&R app. When you log in, the app will show the nearest five bikes to your location. When you reach the bike you want to ride, unlock the bike by scanning the QR code on the lock and start your ride. When you are finished, park and lock the bike in a suitable bike parking location and tap ‘Finish trip’ on the app.

How much does it cost?
A subscription is available for University of Kent students and staff. Student subscription is only £25 per year or £10 per term. For staff, the subscription is £50 per year or £20 per term. The annual subscription allows you to use the bike for 30 minutes free every day. After the free minutes, 50p will be charged for every 30 minutes up to a maximum of £5 per 24 hour period.

Users without a subscription can pay 80p per half hour, followed by £1 for every half hour capped at £10 per 24 hour period.

How can I find out more?
R&R will be demonstrating the bicycles and the app at the Student Hub 12:00-14:00 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday next week (14 January onwards).  They may also demonstrate the bikes at other locations on campus.

For more information visit https://www.rentandride.org/