Professor Elizabeth Mansfield, of the School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science, will present the inaugural Noether Public Lecture at the University’s Canterbury campus on Monday 15 July.

In her lecture, entitled On the Nature of Mathematical Joy, Professor Mansfield will describe and illustrate the seven levels of mathematical joy, beginning with the discovery of patterns, illustrated from her own mathematical travels.

The lecture will take place in the Sibson Lecture Theatre 3 at 18.00 and is free and open to all, although prior booking is required. For more information and bookings see our Eventbrite page.

The CHASE Comparative Literature Summer School 2019, which took place from 24 – 26 June, was organised by the Centre for Modern European Literature with the generous support of the Consortium for the Humanities and Arts South-East England (CHASE). This year’s framework was the paradigm of the Global South circulating around the recurring questions ‘Is comparative literature for the globalized age?’ and ‘Whose world exists in world literature?’

The international range of the participants – with projects covering African, Asian, European, and Latin American topics – allowed for insightful discussions addressing the range of research questions, and a panel discussion on the pragmatics of comparative literature addressed questions of employability in world literature studies. This offered participants the opportunity to think about various routes to pursue after PhD completion.

Participant Penny Carthwright described the Summer School as ‘…impressively multilingual. Contributors spanned the more staple Europhone languages of English, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese (the latter in European and Latin American contexts), but also Turkish, Mandarin, Bengali, Hindi, Afghani and Persian.’ She also commented that ‘the range and diversity of student projects was remarkable, spanning from old age and the absurd in avant-garde European radio to “Dalit” resistance poetry’.

Participant Lida Amiri commented: ‘The final day of the summer school offered students the platform to present their research embedded in knowledge acquired over the course of the three days. Constructive feedback from academic staff and peers was very insightful, and proved a fittingly stimulating note on which to conclude an invigorating week.’

Dr Patricia Novillo-Corvalan, Head of the Department of Comparative Literature, said: ‘The CHASE-funded 2019 summer school offered intensive training in the principles and practices of comparative and world literature. Following the success of the inaugural CHASE summer school in June 2018, this second iteration built on the first event while taking its intellectual focus in a new direction by prioritising a global South theoretical orientation. Attended by students from all corners of the world, the summer school featured a packed programme of exciting events, including seminars, keynote lectures, round-table discussions, and, on its final day, student presentations. The event undeniably showed that Comparative Literature as a discipline is in great health and I felt extremely privileged to be given the opportunity to train and inspire the next generation of comparatists.’

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Visiting Board reviewed the Kent School of Architecture and Planning last week, and concluded its validation on Friday 21 June.

The RIBA validates architectural education in the UK, and worldwide, and its seal of approval is an important marker for the quality of any institution’s provision of architectural education.

Head of School Professor Gerry Adler commented ‘I am delighted to report that the RIBA Visiting Board recommended a full five-year unconditional validation for our Part 1, BA (Hons) Architecture and Part 2, MArch, programmes. This is the best possible outcome, and an endorsement of the quality of our offer at Kent. We look forward to welcoming new entrants to our validated programmes in September, and success to all our continuing students.’

In celebration of the Netball World Cup 2019 being hosted on home turf in Liverpool (12-21 July) this summer, Kent Sport would like to take this opportunity to invite departments throughout the University to participate in our University of Kent Departmental Netball Tournament, being staged here at the University of Kent!

This event is open to all abilities and departments, and aims to be a fun celebration of Netball.

Date: Monday 22 July 2019

Venue: Sports Centre, main hall

Timings:

• 17.30 to 19.00 tournament (please try and arrive promptly)
• 19.00- 20.00 complimentary buffet

In celebration of this event, Kent Sport would like to invite your team to join us in a complimentary buffet on the sports hall balcony after the tournament.

Team details: Teams are to be made up of players from within your department only. Departments can enter more than one team, if they have enough players interested.

Team size: Seven aside (maximum squad nine). Maximum three men in squad, two men on court at any one time.

Equipment and clothing: All equipment will be provided. Please ensure your team are in suitable clothing and footwear to take part in sporting activities. We recommend that you remove jewellery for the safety of everyone.

Charity collection: As one of England Netball’s partners is Cancer Research UK, we would like to use this event as an opportunity to support a very worthy cause and raise some money. Suggested voluntary donation of £5 per person.

How to enter: Please email mailto:sportsdevelopment@kent.ac.uk no later than Monday 8 July with your entry request, detailing:

• Your team name
• Your department
• Contact name
• Contact email
• How many participants will be staying for the buffet and any dietary requirements: (we will need to know for catering purposes)

In September 2019 we will be launching STUFF a new Student Foodbank and Freecycle Scheme run by Kent Union. The service will support University of Kent students in financial difficulty by providing them with food provisions and recycled homeware. After some successful collections, we are looking for extra donations to build our stocks up ready for the next academic year.

We welcome any donations of unopened and in-date non-perishable food, but there are some items that we could really do with: 

• Tinned potatoes

 • Tinned vegetables (carrots, green beans, mushrooms, peas) 

• Tinned fruit 

• UHT Milk (and lactose free/vegan alternatives)

• Tea, coffee & hot chocolate

• Juice/squash

• Sugar

We are also looking for donations of kitchenware, cleaning products, sanitary products, and bedding, but please no electrical equipment.

If you have any items to donate please email volunteering@kent.ac.uk.

Medway Council is offering Kent staff special deals for next week’s Rochester Castle Concerts. Don’t miss the opportunity for some nights of great music and dancing from Brit Award nominees, music legends and soul superstars in a wonderful setting.

Offers include:

• Wednesday 10 July – Rudimental (Sound System). The genre-defying supergroup and BRIT nominees – who have sold more than 20 million singles and over two million albums – will be bringing their own unique sound to the castle with their Sound System set which features a DJ set with live brass and vocals. Joining Rudimental on the opening night are two special guests; platinum-selling artist Example, and fellow BRIT nominee, Mahalia.  SPECIAL OFFER for University staff £35 (down from £48.50) – just click on the partner offer button on the Castle Concerts website.
• Thursday 11 July – Craig David. We are delighted to welcome back superstar Craig David who replaces Jess Glynne who had to cancel due to ill health. From his iconic early tracks and club classics, to his numerous recent hits and collaborations, Craig takes a break from his Ibiza Rocks residency to perform his packed back catalogue. Tickets £45.
• Friday, 12 July – is party night at the Soul Party concert, when the audience will get to boogie the night away under the stars and singalong to their favourite floor-filling hits from the likes of Chaka Khan, Tina Turner, James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Lionel Richie, to name just a few. The evening will be headlined by legend George McCrae, singer of the smash hit Rock Your Baby. Joining him will be the disco group Odyssey and Heather Small, singer of the famous Proud track and former M People star.  Tickets 37.50 – SPECIAL OFFER – FOUR TICKETS FOR THE PRICE OF THREE.
• Saturday, 13 July – The great Proms finale, featuring the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra who will be performing a selection of James Bond movie themes along with classical hits such as Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, Fantasia on British Sea Songs, Rule Britannia and Jerusalem. They will be joined by with special guests Collabro – the world’s most successful musical theatre group and stars of Britain’s Got Talent – and soprano Laura Wright, one of the biggest selling classical artists this decade. The Kent Rock Choir will also be performing and interval entertainment will be provided by NChant, the Senior Girls’ Choir from The Rochester Grammar School. Tickets £35.

TO BOOK tickets, visit the Castle Concerts website or ring 01634 338338. You will need to click on the  Partners, Armed Forces button when you book on the Rudimental offer.

Due to an essential water mains inspection we are unable to provide a hot breakfast service at the Gulbenkian on Thursday 4 July. 

We will still be open for hot drinks, snacks and cakes.  While you are here try our new cakes from local baker Winnie Bakes including Jammy Dodger Blondies, Cookie Dough Brownies, Salted caramel flapjacks and Caramel Crumb Cake.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused, we hope to reopen Gulbenkian Cafe’s kitchen for lunch on Thursday 4 July and resume hot breakfast service on Friday morning.