Congratulations to alumna Zoë Carey-Williams, who graduated with a BA (Hons) in Drama and French in 2017, who worked on the comedy TV movie Death on the Tyne (2018), which has been nominated for Best Comedy Programme at the Broadcast Digital Awards 2019.

Death of the Tyne was produced by UKTV, and saw Zoë starring alongside comedy legends Johnny Vegas and Sue Johnston. The film is a follow up to Murder on the Blackpool Express (2017), and follows a mystery on an Amsterdam cruise ship crossing the Tyne.

Explaining her background, Zoë said: ‘I studied Drama and French at Kent and the teaching on the acting modules I chose for second and third year were outstanding. We were really pushed and taught so many tools to apply to the craft.’

Following her study, she wanted to pursue acting professionally – which swifty led to her getting the role of Hen in Death on the Tyne: ‘I got the role from a self-tape audition. It was only a couple of lines but it was my first professional speaking role on-screen and I was ecstatic – and very nervous – because the cast featured many brilliant and hilarious actors who I’d grown up watching, and the director Ed Bye had directed my favourite comedy show as a kid, After You’ve Gone.’

Has Zoë any advice to current students? ‘Sometimes we take our time at university for granted – the access we have to brilliant minds ready to impart their wisdom. I still go back to the notes from my courses. I will always be grateful for my time at Kent!’

To see the full list of nominations, please see the page here.

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 Vivian Asimos.

Vivian recently achieved her PhD on theology and virtual storytelling at Durham with Douglas Davies (next week’s guest), with ‘Slender Man’ (a fictional monster created on an internet forum) as her main case study. The pair discuss blurring the line in horror between fiction and reality.

She and Chris go on to discuss video games; Florida; wanting to be a creative writer; ‘stumbling into’ Religious Studies; playing the piano; funk; listening to the charts on the way to church; ‘Lord of the Rings’; working in a food bank and on President Obama’s re-election campaign; the comfort of not belonging; what her childhood version of herself would expect she would be doing now; and using the past as a learning experience for future situations.

We are looking for great student stories which showcase our students’ successes and achievements, many of which have been acknowledged and celebrated via a range of awards, initiatives and publications while others may have gone on to have great jobs.

If you know of such a student, please get in touch with the Press Office as soon as possible. We would like to hear about those in any year of study or who may be about to graduate. They could be an entrepreneur or have overcome particular challenges to get to where they are now. They may have made an impact on the community, or have been an inspiration to others. They may have landed the job of their dreams.

Whatever their story, if you think it’s worth telling please drop us a line at pressoffice@kent.ac.uk.

A big congratulations for the First prize winner goes to Harry Ghosh, a final year student in Politics and International Relations for his atmospheric photo taken in the ever-popular K Bar, having fun with his friends. Harry won £80 worth of Amazon vouchers…well done!

The competition was open to all University students and staff past and present as part of Keynes College 50th Anniversary celebrations and participants were encouraged to submit photos that capture the essence of life in Keynes.

We thoroughly enjoyed viewing the wide array of entries including some golden oldies from a past Keynestock festival in the 70s to the tranquil pond area that all students and staff love to relax by. We thank everyone for participating!

Second prize went to Alumni Claire Dowling and third prize went to staff member Natalia Crisanti. Well done!

Why not take a look at the winning three and all of the shortlisted photos next to our ‘We are Keynes’ exhibition in Keynes Atrium, both on until the end of July.

The winning photo by Harry Ghosh (click to enlarge).

With the launch of the expenses module some changes have been made to the menu in Staff Connect.

These changes include:

• Access to your personal absence record and related documents is now under My Absence Details. If you have delegated responsibility for the absence module you can access these details via this screen

• The Form History button has been removed from the main menu and placed under each menu section.

• A button called My Pending Authorisations has been added. This page will display any items requiring your authorisation and works with your Authorisation widget

• In Progress widget can be added to your Dashboard page.  This will enable you quick access to any forms you have saved and are pending your submission.

If you have any queries about locating any items in Staff Connect please contact the HR Systems team via hrsysplan@kent.ac.uk

The PRIDE (‘Personal Responsibility In Delivering Excellence’) Award recognises members of Kent Hospitality staff who go out of their way to deliver excellent customer service.

Any Kent Hospitality staff member (permanent or casual) may be nominated from Canterbury and Medway campuses. The award is given out four times a year with each winner receiving £100 of shopping vouchers, a certificate and badge.

Nominations can be made by any member of University staff, students or visitors. Make your nomination online or alternatively you can pick up a paper form next to the red nomination boxes located in all Kent Hospitality’s catering outlets in Canterbury and Medway, as well College reception areas.

Please make your nominations detailed, providing as much information as possible why the nominee is being put forward for a Pride Award. The panel are looking for staff who achieve more than just what is expected in their role (i.e. hardworking, professional, positive and friendly attitude).

Congratulations again to our most recent Pride Award winners – Linda Jarvis, (Rutherford College Receptionist) and Sam Riddington (Medway Food and Beverage Manager)

For further information or for guidance on submitting nominations please contact: pride@kent.ac.uk