In an attempt to collect any wayward platters/plates/cups/saucers that may have been missed by our delivered catering team after an event, or are hiding at the back of the office kitchen cupboard somewhere over the last year, Kent Hospitality’s delivered catering team will be placing collection crates across campus on Monday 27th January for you to deposit any delivered catering equipment that we may have missed previously.

The team will be collecting these crates back up on Tuesday 28th January from midday, and we would be grateful if you could help us out by returning any delivered catering equipment you may find.

We will be placing collection crates in the following locations to make this as easy as possible:

• Chipperfield foyer

• Cornwallis East 1st floor kitchen

• Cornwallis North West outside SR3/4

• Cornwallis South kitchen opposite the student reception

• Create Café

• Darwin Reception

• Eliot Extension ground floor kitchen

• Eliot Reception

• Estates Customer Services

• Jarmen 2nd floor kitchen

• Kennedy foyer near SR1

• Keynes Reception

• Registry ground floor reception

• Rutherford annex ground floor kitchen

• Rutherford dining hall

• Sibson Cafe

• Sports Café

• Templeman Library Welcome Desk

If you have any equipment and are not near a drop-off point please email internalcatering@kent.ac.uk and we will arrange a separate collection.

Thank you in advance for all your help!

A new University campaign has been launched to support our final undergraduate year students – and we need your help to promote it!

The Finalists campaign www.kent.ac.uk/finalists showcases all the good work that colleagues across the University are already doing with final year and other students.

The aim of the campaign is to ensure that final year students feel cared for and equipped with the skills, knowledge and confidence to succeed once they graduate. This aligns with our broader University focus on welcome, induction and transitions – with this being a key transition stage for all students.

Colleagues are being encouraged to use the Finalist campaign to engage with our final year students by using the hashtag #KentFinalists, signposting final year undergraduate students to the Finalists website and adding events for final year students to the Finalists events calendar.

All downloadable resources for the Finalists campaign can be found on the SharePoint site for staff. Resources include templates for plasma screens, posters and digital assets as well as branded #KentFinalists images.

Students will receive an email this week inviting them to check out the new Finalists webpage and two further Finalist branded e-newsletters later this term.

To find out more, email communications@kent.ac.uk

In support of the University’s commitment to embedding Sustainability into our teaching, we are encouraging lecturers and teaching staff to pledge to incorporate the Sustainable Development goals into their teaching for one week.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Teach In is an NUS-coordinated campaign where universities across the UK aim to make links to the SDGs within their taught courses during the week of the 17 – 21 February 2020.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals are 17 ‘global goals’, which set out targets to end poverty, protect the planet, and achieve prosperity for all by 2030. Alongside being a standalone goal, education is also vital for attaining all the other goals. Six years of NUS-led research has found that 60% of students, regardless of discipline, want to learn more about sustainability.

Lecturers and teaching staff interested in getting involved can:

• Identify one or more sessions where they can teach the SDGs during or after the week of the 17 – 21 February 2020.
• Pledge to take part on the SDG Teach In website
• Confirm to sustainability@kent.ac.uk that they are taking part – guidance can be provided to help plan their session

Catherine and Emily of the Sustainability Team are on hand to advise or support you in any way to help you get involved. This could be through case studies, debate, discussion, group work, or simulations and ideally, students will learn the relevance of the SDGs to their course.

urther information and Resources including 5, 10 and 30-minute session plans, can be found on the Estates page.

‘Parsing the Peace: Citizens in Civil War Peace Processes’ is the title of this year’s John Burton Lecture given by Professor Caroline Hartzell (Gettysburg College)

When: Thursday 6 February 2020 from 15.00 – 16.00

Where: Rutherford Lecture Theatre 1 (RLT1)

A drinks reception will take place afterwards in Rutherford Seminar Room 2, next door to RLT1

For this year’s annual John Burton lecture, the Conflict Analysis Research Centre welcomes the critically acclaimed Professor Caroline Hartzell (Gettysburg College) to hold a talk on Parsing the Peace: Citizens in Civil War Peace Processes. During this event, which continues the long-established series of John Burton lectures, Professor Hartzell will discuss the role of civic engagement in peace processes outside of traditional elite actor involvement. Furthermore, Professor Hartzell will guide the audience towards intricate and informed insights concerning the interplay between peace agreements and citizen involvement. Using her own words, the lecture will cover:

‘Much of what we know about peace processes centres on the interests of elite actors and the groups that they lead.  Seeking to parse the peace, this talk examines citizen engagement with civil war peace processes, focusing in particular on the relationship between citizens and peace agreements. To that end, I explore how citizens perceive and influence peace agreements, as well as how agreements influence citizens’ political behaviour and attitudes toward the peace in the wake of civil war’.

 Professor Hartzell is a Professor in the Political Science Department at Gettysburg College and was the founding director of the College’s Globalisation Studies program. Professor Hartzell teaches courses in International Relations. Her specialisation is in international political economy with an emphasis on issues of conflict and conflict management, development, and globalisation.

The lecture is open to all and free to attend with no booking necessary.

You are warmly invited to the Research Symposium on Graduate Outcomes: How can universities best prepare students for life after university?

When: Wednesday 25 March 2020 from 13:00 – 17:00.

Where: Grimond Lecture Theatre 3 and Aphra Foyer

To book your place, please sign up via Eventbrite by 18 March 2020.

While the UK higher education sector has been paying more attention to students’ employability in recent years, HESA’s revised measure of graduate outcomes now enables a broader view of how well students are doing 15 months after university. This symposium explores what academics, staff and students can do to best prepare graduates not only for employability, but for personally-fulfilling careers and lives.  Based on recent research, each speaker will take a different perspective on the symposium’s title question. This event is sponsored by the Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Kent, with support from a grant from HECSU.

For further details please visit the CSHE website

The School of Engineering and Digital Arts is delighted to announce its latest public engagement lecture entitled: From ‘The Crown’ to ‘The Lion King’ – the importance of Visual Effects in Modern Film and TV by Dominik Platen, Lead 2D Artist at One of Us and Kent alumnus (Digital Visual Effects, 2013).

When: Monday 2 March from 18.00 – 19.00

Where: Jennison Lecture Theatre, School of Engineering and Digital Arts, Canterbury campus

The lecture will cover:

• Dominik’s study and career path
• What is VFX? Use of CGI vs. invisible effects/set-extensions
• Examples/breakdowns: Talking about both types of VFX using the examples of The Crown (Invisible, set-extension type work), and “The Lion King” (Photorealistic, fully-CG)
• The current state and future of the VFX industry in the UK

For a flavour of the talk, check out these video links:

• https://vimeo.com/370740219
• https://vimeo.com/191838262
• https://vimeo.com/248127865

After the lecture, there will be an opportunity to network and refreshments will be served.

Note that the lecture will appeal to a wide range of ages and backgrounds.  It is free and open to everyone.

Please book via the Eventbrite website