Kent Sport is bringing back our popular running groups as we head into 2020! Why not make this the year that you take up a new hobby, or that you dust off those old trainers and get back to running. Whether you’re just starting out or a confident runner, we have adapted our sessions to suit everyone. See the full timetable on our blog.

Beginners’ Running

Our 12-week Couch to 5k program is perfect for those just starting out and will get you comfortably running each week, leading up to a 30 minutes run (approx. 5km) in just 12 weeks.

Social run club

2020 will bring a slight change to our running groups, with the introduction of our Social Run Club. The clue is in the name – this ‘social’ group will meet twice a week and will be guided by a qualified member of staff.

Intermediate Running

Already a keen runner but want to find a group to keep you motivated and push yourself? Why not join our group-led sessions with varied running routes incorporating interval sessions and weekly running challenges. All abilities are welcome!

Parkrun

Parkrun is a collection of 5-kilometre running events that take place every Saturday morning at over 1,400 locations in twenty-two countries across five continents. Join us for the Canterbury parkrun! parkrun is free for everyone, register here.

For the full timetable please go to the Kent Sport Running Group blog

All Kent Sport sessions are led by our motivated and enthusiastic staff. Free for Premium Plus and Premium members, see Let’s Play webpage for details. Just £2 for Plus members. If you aren’t a member join Kent Sport for £5 with a Pay to Play annual membership and pay £2 per session. Any questions please contact sportsdevelopment@kent.ac.uk.

Dr Suhraiya Jivraj has been been recognised as a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (recently rebranded AdvanceHE).

Senior Fellowship demonstrates a personal and institutional commitment to professionalism in learning and teaching in higher education. Senior Fellows must demonstrate a thorough understanding of effective approaches to teaching and learning support as a key contribution to high quality student learning. As experienced members of staff, they must also demonstrate impact and influence through their leadership, management and mentoring.

Dr Jivraj has also been promoted to Reader at Kent Law School where her work draws on critical race/religion theories and feminist/queer of colour decolonial perspectives to explore contemporary socio-legal problematics in the fields of law and religion, equalities, anti-discrimination and human rights law, gender and sexuality and Islamic family law.

Dr Jivraj’s current work brings together her ethical commitment to critical and inclusive pedagogy and decolonising work. She was awarded a UoK Teaching Enhancement Small Support Award (TESSA) in 2018/19 to collaborate with her Race, Religion and Law Module students on decolonising the curriculum  The project soon extended across the university resulting in the Decolonise UKC Manifesto.

The DtC is now continuing through Suhraiya’s role as Deputy Director of Education for Decolonising the Curriculum and under her Directorship of the Centre for Sexuality, Race and Gender Justice (Centre SeRGJ). She also coordinates the student-led Kaleidoscope Hub activities and the Kaleidoscope Network  for staff and students as part of her broader work on decolonising knowledge production.

Dr Jivraj is one of over 124,000 Fellows across the world, including Kent Law School’s Professor Nick Grief and Professor Amanda Perry-Kessaris.

Are research and teaching conflicting priorities?

Research-led teaching (RLT) is supposedly definitional of higher education, and yet research and teaching are often treated as conflicting demands upon staff time. How can we pursue these practices in an integrated and authentic way? How can we explain to senior managers, prospective students and their parents – and actual students – what the value of RLT is for learners and teachers alike?

Featuring speakers from Kent and further afield (China, Australia, Wales) this conference will equip attendees to develop and articulate research-led teaching in their professional practice.

Attendance is free. You are welcome to come for all or part of the day. Please sign up here by Friday 31 January to indicate which aspects of hospitality you are likely to require – tea breaks, lunch, closing reception etc. If you make a last-minute decision to attend, that’s fine.

You can also attend the event remotely. Please email resledteach@kent.ac.uk f you wish to do so.

When:  Wednesday 26 February (week 19/reading week at Kent)

Time: 10.00 – 17.00

* 10.00 – 13.00 in Keynes Lecture Theatre 2
* 14.00 – 17.00 in Grimond Lecture Theatre 3
* lunch in Aphra Foyer 13.00 – 14.00

For more details please check the  conference website for the latest news and details/timings of papers so you can drop in and out

We look forward to seeing you there.

The Dean for Internationalisation, Dr Anthony Manning is pleased to invite you to the University’s annual Global Showcase Event (formerly known as the Internationalisation Forum), which will take place at both the Canterbury and Medway campuses this January.

Canterbury Showcase:

When: Wednesday 15 January 2020

Where: the Darwin Conference Suites

Time: 09.30 – 12.30

Sign up for Canterbury here

Medway Showcase: 

When: Friday 24 January 2020

Where: Medway Campus (Room TBC)

Time: 10.00 – 11.30

Sign up for Medway here

For further information please contact:

T: 01227 823908

E:deaninternational@kent.ac.uk

www.kent.ac.uk/global

New Year – new decade – time for a change?

It’s that time of the year when many of us start to think about what changes we can make to enrich our lives. We’ve had a long break over Christmas and New Year and often this triggers us to consider what we can do to be healthier, fitter, more ethical, or more relaxed. We’re all different and follow our own rhythms in life so, if we’re considering new initiatives to make us feel better, it’s worth taking time to focus on what’s best and most sustainable for us.

There are five categories of activity that wellbeing and mental health organisations recommend to help us all increase our feelings of wellbeing:

*Connect – with the people around you ie family, friends, colleagues, neighbours or in your local community
*Be active – go for a walk or run, cycle, play a game, garden or dance
*Take notice – be observant, look for something beautiful or remark on something unusual
*Keep learning
*Give.

Whatever changes you may be considering, you can connect them to one of these five steps to Wellbeing. Attach your New Year’s aim or resolution to this wider concept and you may find it easier to maintain!

The University of Kent Wellbeing Zone has lots of material to help guide you with any new resolution. Take a self-assessment of your wellbeing to get an idea of your starting point and plan some goals to track your improvements. There are recipes for health eating, exercise plans to increase activity and a variety of articles including sleep, mental health, Dry January and yoga at your desk. The resource is free and totally confidential.

So, whatever your plan is, think about using the Wellbeing Zone to help you achieve it. For more information visit the Wellbeing Zone website

Celebrate the most wonderful time of the year with an abundance of festive events on the run up to Christmas! From cabaret to classic films the Gulbenkian has something for everyone this December.

You’ll find there’s plenty of festivities to take your fancy:

The Snow dragon – Wednesday 11 – Sunday 22 December
RHOH: The Nutcracker (recorded) – Wednesday 18 December at 19.15
The Albion Christmas Band – Wednesday 18 December at 19.30
It’s a Wonderful Life film – Saturday 21 December at 18.00
Family Film: Home Alone – Sunday 22 December, 11.00
Family Film: Frozen II – Friday 20 December – Sunday 5 January 2020

Feeling peckish? Then why not dine in their café and indulge in the evening menu with a special festive twist? The younger ones needn’t miss out as there’s a festive-inspired children’s menu too!

For more details on what’s on please go to the Gulbenkian website

If music is sure to get you into the celebratory mood then don’t miss out on these atmospheric concerts:

Caritas Chamber Choir a Choral Christmas – Saturday 21 December at Colyer-Fergusson Hall, 19.30
Celebration for Christmas with Kent Music – Sunday 22 December at Colyer-Fergusson Hall, 14.00

For more details click on the University of Kent Music website

Dr Olly Double, Reader in Drama in the School of Arts, features in the the latest episode of the podcast Jokes with Mark Simmons.

Every week Mark Simmons and a guest share jokes they’ve written that just haven’t worked – because they’re too long, too stupid, too clever, too groanworthy or just too rubbish.

Olly is the author of Stand-Up! On Being a Comedian (1997), Britain Had Talent: A History of Variety Theatre (2012), and Getting the Joke: the Inner Workings of Stand-Up Comedy (2nd edition, 2014). Among the modules he teaches at Kent are Stand Up Comedy and Popular Performance.

In the episode, he talks about teaching students comedy, double acts, and the art of making stand-up comedy look spontaneous. ‘Stand up is a pretence, like it’s just a conversation. You play it like it’s off the cuff, and don’t put any effort into it.’

To listen to the podcast, please see the page here