It’s madness and craziness all over again in the biggest franchise of Bollywood with a bunch of crazy characters on a mad adventure and you can see it for FREE!

Total Dhamaal is the third instalment of the Dhamaal film series and sequel to the 2011 film Double Dhamaal.  It follows a group of people that learn about a hidden treasure and then they race to find it and claim it.  But it’s not as easy as it seems. Is there any truth about the hidden booty? After a day full of life changing, near death experiences, will the adventure ever end or another one begin?

Tickets are FREE for this event on Wednesday 20 March at 19.00 and can be booked through the Gulbenkian.

The Learning & Organisational Development team would like to invite you to attend the next Aurora @Kent event supported by the University’s women’s network.

As part of our continued commitment to the Advance HE Aurora Programme, this event is open to all staff; professional services and academic – emphatically not women only. All are welcome!

The event will be on Wednesday 20 March, from 13.00 to 14.30, on our Canterbury Campus, Darwin Lecture Theatre 1.

In this session, Amalia Arvaniti, Professor of linguistics, from the University’s School of European Culture and Languages, department of English Language and Linguistics, will be delivering a talk on ‘Muted Groups and Implicit Bias’.

Professor Arvaniti’s research focuses on the study of speech; among other topics she studies speech variation related to social variables, including gender. For the last 15 years she has been teaching a module on language and gender that, while popular, sometimes receives negative reviews for being too feminist. Over the course of 15 years of teaching and updating this material she has noticed that sexism remains alive and well and especially hard to spot when expressed in subtle yet familiar ways. This prompted her to start a Facebook page as the bland feminist, a title inspired by a typo in a student evaluation, where when she has time she posts news items and commentary on sexism.

In the Aurora event, she will talk about the ways in which language can encode and reinforce sexist attitudes (whether overt or implicit) and how such usage can lead to silencing women and minorities. She has no panacea to offer but will discuss some strategies to counter these effects.

Booking is not required for this event.

The University of Kent Players is holding auditions on Thursday 7 March for their next radio play, The Maltese Falcon, taking place in early May. The audition will be held in GS4, in Grimond, from 17.30-19.30.

In this noir classic, detective Sam Spade gets more than he bargained for when he takes a case brought to him by a beautiful but secretive woman. As soon as Miss Wonderly shows up, trouble follows… Entangled in a dangerous web of crime and intrigue, Sam realizes he must find the one thing they all seem to want: the bejewelled Maltese falcon.

There are a number of acting and non-acting roles available – we need everyone from cast to tech to front of house.

The Players are a friendly group with diverse levels of experience so everyone is welcome!

Please email players@kent.ac.uk for more information.

In the latest Executive Group blog, Sir David Warren, Chair of the University Council, shares his impressions of the challenges facing the sector and the University, as discussed at a recent Council Strategy Day.

The EG blog is available to read on the OVC webpages.

In celebration of International Women’s Day on Friday 8 March, we’re excited to announce a few opportunities to get involved with Kent Sport.

Celebrating through the medium of fitness, dance and beyond, join us for our women-only classes. Booking only available at the Sports Centre and Pavilion receptions. Open to all. Free for Gold and Silver. Non-members pay £2 per class.

Start the day off right with our 30-minute Express Yoga class at 8am. Wake up the body and the mind before stepping out into the world.

Get your blood pumping in our energetic Dance Mix class at 2.15pm. Guaranteed to put you in a great mood, this class blends multiple dance moves so you can learn different routines and feel on top of the world!

Finish off your afternoon with our Relax and Unwind class at 3.15pm. Calm the mind and relax the spirit, perfect for grounding yourself.

As part of the Gulbenkian’s This Girl Can Family Day on Sunday 10 March, join Kent Sport for a very exciting Zumba workshop from 2pm to 2.30pm – a great time for the whole family!

Through our Let’s Play timetable, every Wednesday from 2pm to 3pm Kent Sport offers ‘This Girl Can Lift’ session specifically geared towards female students and staff who want to get in the gym with guidance on weightlifting.

Want to feel really empowered? Join UKC MMA on Thursday 14 March as they host a self-defence seminar taught by the female world champion of Brazilian Jui Jitsu, Claudia Do Val. Tickets are limited, so be sure to book early.

Events:

• Friday 8 March: Women’s Day dance and fitness classes
• Sunday 10 March: This Girl Can Family Day at the Gulbenkian
• Wednesdays: This Girl Can Lift as part of our Let’s Play timetable
• Thursday 14 March: Claudia Do Val

University of Kent staff and students can purchase discounted bus tickets for the following single journeys:

Show your staff or student KentOne card to the driver to receive the discounted prices. You can pay for your ticket with cash or contactless card.

For more information about bus routes, timetables and all of the Arriva bus discounts available, please see our Medway bus webpage

Want to push your pedal to the metal? Think your RPMs are up to speed? Then join Kent Sport for the Kent Velo Palooza, a competitive sprint cycling tournament on static bikes, coming this Friday 8 March at the Pavilion Café Bar.

Doors open at 6pm, with the first race due to start at 8pm. Not everyone needs to get on a bike to take part though – you can come and simply watch all the action while supporting your favourite riders. Food and drinks will be available at the bar throughout the event. There will also be a fun cycling-themed quiz between rounds for the spectators.

The charge for competitors is £2, with all money raised going to the the National Children’s Football Alliance (NCFA) and the Peace Ride.

If you want to join the action, whether cycling or watching, be sure to book early at the Sports Centre reception or by calling 01227 823 623. There will be on-the-day registration for competitors, but subject to availability as spaces are limited.

To stay up to date with Kent Sport news, events and special offers, Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @UniKentSports.

Block B in the Templeman Library will be closed 06:30-11:00 on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 March while essential building work is carried out.

Access to building

The Terrace and Grimond entrances will be open 06:30-11:00 on both days for access to Block A.

The Main Entrance and Library Road Entrance will be open as usual providing access to Blocks C and D.

Access to books and services

There will be no access to the following books and services in Block B during this time:

• Classmarks: B, J, K, L, M, N, P (Journals), Q
• DVDs and viewing stations
• Laptop loans
• Library Café
• Study carrels

Laptop loans will still be available from Block C, Floor 2. The Library Café will open at 12:00 midday on both Saturday and Sunday.

If you experience any problems entering the building or accessing the upper floors please contact our Welcome Desk (01227) 82 4777.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

In the latest episode of the Nostalgia podcast series, Dr Chris Deacy, Reader in Theology and Religious Studies in the Department of Religious Studies, speaks to Darren Griffin, Professor of Genetics and Director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies of Reproduction at the University of Kent.

Darren is a world leader in the study of chromosomes, human sperm, IVF and the human genome as well as, more recently, the genomic structure of dinosaurs. Chris and Darren talk about Darren’s extensive media work, growing up in the same village as Alan Bennett, glam rock, his penchant for song lyrics, God, plagiarism, PhDs, his obsession with dinosaurs, what inspired him to enter academia, the need for research to have social relevance, transferring his IVF work to pig embryos, and how the results can feed back into the human IVF world, why the best science can sometimes be undertaken in the bar at conferences, fulfilling the dreams he had from high school, and whether Darren would consider himself to be a looking back or a looking forward type of person.

Chris Deacy also co-hosts a film podcast, the most recent episode of which (an Oscar special) can be found here.

The School of English and the School of European Culture and Languages worked together to organise ‘Writing for a living’, an event for students across the Faculty of Humanities taking place as part of the University’s ‘Humanities for Hire’ festival on Wednesday 27 February.

Dr Jeremy Scott, Senior Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics and a published author, chaired an expert panel of professional writers – including SECL graduate Emily Cook – who discussed the trials and tribulations of making a living from the written word. The panel of writers, drawn from a range of careers including novelists, lecturers, journalists, freelance writers and poets, shared their insights into breaking into this competitive, frustrating and rewarding profession.

Following the event, Heidi Colthup, panellist and Lecturer in English Language & Linguistics, commented: ‘It was great to have a packed room for the panel, and to speak to so many students afterwards who wanted to know more about how to get a career in writing started. The event was a very good opportunity to hear a wide variety of experiences about writing for a living and how surprisingly accessible it can be’