The Chalk Valley History festival has released a recording of a talk presented by alumnus Dr Simon Elliott, Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Classical & Archaeological Studies, on Septimius Severus in Scotland.

The talk, which Simon describes as “More ‘Game of Thrones’ than Game of Thrones, more ‘Tolkien’ than Tolkien, only real”, received maximum attendance in the main theatre where it took place, and outlines the campaigns of the great Roman warrior Septimius Severus and how he to tried – and failed – to conquer Scotland.

Simon completed his PhD in Classical and Archaeological Studies in 2017, with a thesis exploring the military presence in Kent during the Roman occupation, under supervision from Dr Steve Willis, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology.

Need help with managing project delivery?

The BIPU Team has simplified the Kent Project Management Framework (KPMF) Toolkit for staff managing projects at Kent.

The KPMF is now available to all staff and provides a suite of useful documentation to help you identify, initiate, set-up, run and manage projects and changes.

The revamped KPMF Toolkit can be accessed via SharePoint.

Further enhancements are planned and will include a selection of online tutorials on key project topics and relevant LinkedIn Learning resources.

So far we have introduced the following LinkedIn Learning Pathways:-

• Stakeholders & Communication
• Risk Management
• Benefits Management  (including a link to the recently launched Kent Benefit Management Toolkit)

For further information about projects, contact the BIPU team: BIPU@kent.ac.uk

Further to the introduction of using Staff Connect to record appraisal (RPD) conversations, L&OD are starting to discuss the next phase of appraisal (RPD) work with managers in all areas by attending team meetings.

If you are not a manager but are still interested in finding out more about these proposals and/or providing your thoughts about the process

or

if you are a manager unable to attend the session planned within your area, we are holding a number of informal focus groups which you can pop along to.

No need to book, simply come along for the start of the session detailed below;

• Monday 11 Feb 15:00 – 15:45 Room: TS3(22)
• Monday 11 Feb 16:00 – 16:45 Room TS3(22)
• Friday 15 Feb 09:30 – 10:15 Room RCL21
• Friday 15 Feb 10:30 – 11:15 Room RCL21
• Thursday 21 March – 09:30 – 10:15 Room KQSCR
• Thursday 21 March – 10:15 – 11:00 Room KQSCR
• Thursday 21 March –11:15 – 112:00 Room KQSCR

If you are based in Medway, please contact ldev@kent to discuss potential options available.

Natalia Sobrevilla Perea, Professor of Latin American History in the Department of Modern Languages, was recently interviewed for BBC Radio 4’s ‘When Greeks Flew Kites’ programme for their latest episode on historical deadlocks.

The episode, recorded on Monday 4 February, takes a look at famous example of deadlock in history, in which Natalia brings up the example of General Juan Manuel de Rosas and the rigid manner in which his rules were enforced in Argentina.

“The deadlock in the aftermath of the Argentinian wars of independence that lasted from the 1810s into the 1820s,” Natalia states, “This led to a huge moment of confusion where strong leaders emerge trying to take control, very typical of south America in this period.”

This example of “strong men as a response to chaos” is used to draw parallels to current political events.

Applications are now open for the Kent Summer School in Critical Theory (KSSCT) offering early career researchers and doctoral students from across all disciplines a unique opportunity to work intensively and collaboratively with a leading critical scholar.

The two-week summer school, organised by Kent Law School’s Centre for Critical Thought (CCT),will be held at the University of Kent’s centre in Paris from Monday 1 – Friday 12 July. Seminars will be led by Professor Alain Pottage (London School of Economics) and Professor Sigrid Wiegel (Research Institute for Literature and Culture, Berlin)

Successful applicants will work closely with one of the seminar teachers for the duration of the school but can also enjoy lectures delivered by both Professor Pottage, Professor Wiegel and invited guests. Throughout their stay, applicants will have opportunities to make the most of the Summer School’s location at Reid Hall in Montparnasse.

The fee for this year’s KSSCT is £950. This amount covers seminar tuition and several lunch and drink receptions. Attendees will cover their own travel, accommodation and subsistence fees. Limited financial assistance will be available in the form of scholarships for a small number of excellent applicants who would otherwise not be able to attend. The first deadline for application is Sunday 10 February 2019. Outstanding applicants who apply by this date will be notified in mid February, to enable early travel and accommodation bookings. The second deadline is Sunday 3 March 2019. All successful applicants will be notified by Monday 11 March 2019.​

The KSSCT seminar programme is preceded by a Graduate Research Day, in Paris on 29 June which all Summer School applicants are encouraged to consider participating (additional cost £50).

Further details of both events, including seminar outlines and an indicative reading list, are available on the KSSCT website.

Are you interested in learning and development?

Would you like to be the first to know about new and exciting opportunities?

Could you help us spread the word to your colleagues and friends?

We are keen to engage Champions from areas across the organisation who have a passion for development and would like to help launch and embed these new development activities within their teams, departments and across the organisation.

If that sounds like you, please read our blog for more information

A new crowdfunding project at Kent has just been launched to create a play accessible for people who are deaf/hard of hearing or visually impaired and take it to Edinburgh.

Kasia Senyszyn who is supported by the Alumni Postgraduate Research Scholarship funded by alumni donations, is researching how to make theatre more accessible for people with hearing or sight loss, and is using her research to embed captioning and audio description techniques into a show.

The project, ‘Talk on Tour’, includes adapting the script with the playwright and working with access practitioners and deaf/hard of hearing and visually impaired members of the local community to develop the accessible strategies. Kasia and her team will then produce and rehearse the show and take it to Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2019.

Kasia comments: ‘By taking the show to Edinburgh, we can hopefully inspire other theatre makers and theatre lovers to think more creatively about access. It doesn’t have to be a last-minute add-on that disrupts the experience of the show – techniques can be integrated into the performance so that everyone can have an equal opportunity to enjoy it.’

There are 11 million people in the UK that have hearing or sight loss. Studies have shown that 80% suffer from anxiety, isolation or depression due to exclusion from social or cultural activities. This project aims to change that by producing an accessible production and presenting it at one of the biggest theatrical festivals in the world, in the hopes that accessibility will become more mainstream

You can support the project by donating via the crowdfunding platform, or following Kasia’s theatre company social media to find out about upcoming events; there will be a public quiz and raffle on Tuesday 5 March at the Parrot pub in Canterbury from 20.00.