Dr Eleen M Deprez, curator of the Studio 3 Gallery, has been awarded a grant from the British Society of Aesthetics to support a symposium hosted by the Aesthetics Research Centre to discuss Immaterial: A Philosophy of Contemporary, a forthcoming book by Professor Sherri Irvin.

Professor Sherri Irvin specialises in aesthetics and the philosophy of art. She edited the collection Body Aesthetics (Oxford, 2016) that explored the aesthetics of the body in relation to social justice, art, evolutionary theory, race, gender, disability, sexuality and sport.

The funding will cover a reading group/discussion session with Irvin, to be held on 20 March 2020, followed by and a one-day symposium on 21 March 2020, with Sherri Irvin, Diarmiud Costello, Elisabeth Schellekens, Elisa Caldarola, Kathryn Brown, and Louise Hanson.

Eleen completed her PhD in the History and Philosophy of Art last year, with a thesis entitled ‘The Curated Exhibition: A Philosophical and Historical Analysis’, last year.

Booking details for the symposium will be made available when confirmed.

On Friday 28 June, the Grounds Maintenance  team will be assisting  with the removal of a tree in the Keynes pond courtyard which has been identified as being at a high risk of failure. As this tree is in a highly populated location, the risk of injury is too high for it to be left in place.

The felling of the tree will be carried out by a contractor called Blean Tree Care. They will cordon off the area, and fell the tree in sections and remove the wood from the court yard are through the side gate leading to Turing College.

In the autumn the felled tree will replaced by a substantial new one.

There will be some disruption whilst this work is taking place, and footpath closure whilst the wood is being removed.

We apologise for any inconvenience this work may cause. If there are any queries please contact Estates Customer Services on extension 16666.

Dickens was one of England’s greatest writers and he lived in North Kent at two different times. Why did he return and what kind of impact did his experiences have on his work? Find out more at the next Drill Hall Dialogue 2 July 10.00 in the Guildhall Museum DA002 in Rochester. The talk, by Dr Jeremey Clarke, will be illustrated with objects from the Guildhall Museum’s collection. 

Dr Jeremy Clarke has been Education Officer at the Guildhall Museum, Rochester, since 1998. He is responsible for all formal education and learning programmes supported by the museum collection or its listed buildings. Most of this is work with or in local schools, but he also runs courses, lectures and illustrated talks for adults. 

Dr Clarke has also run partnership projects to support children in making music for Dickens’s novels, in illustrating scenes from Great Expectations, and in working with actors at locations made famous by the novel. In 2010 he hosted a shared reading of Great Expectations in the original parts, timed to coincide with their publication 150 years before.

 Drill Hall Dialogues is a monthly series of talks held at the Drill Hall Library, the learning resource centre for the Universities at Medway collaborative project. A wide variety of topics has been covered including prison libraries, NHS libraries, Dickens and Christmas, Medway regeneration, the Medway Floods of 1953 and Fort Amherst.

Previous Drill Hall Dialogues have been from academics based on the campus including the Centre for Journalism and the Faculty of Education (CCCU). The talks take place on the first or second Tuesday of the month and usually last no longer than 45 minutes with 15 minutes allotted for any questions and answers.  All staff are welcome to attend.

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
 

Dr Anna Katharina Schaffner, Reader in Comparative Literature and Medical Humanities in the Department of Comparative Literature, has written a lead review article, ‘‘Weighty matters’ on the cultural history of fat and fat phobia’, which has been published in The Times Literary Supplement.

In recent decades, the British population has grown in girth. The NHS England obesity report for 2017 found that 58 per cent of women and 68 per cent of the men were overweight or obese, as well as one in five children aged three to four, and more than one in three children aged ten to eleven. Yet in spite of their steadily growing numbers, the overweight are still subject to contempt and discrimination. This article goes on to explore key assumptions in the popular imagination that seemingly legitimise fat-shaming, as well as the long history of our slippery relationship with fat.

‘Fat is ultimately a political topic,’ Anna says, ‘Whether we view the obese primarily as victims of poverty, childhood troubles, genetic predisposition, hormonal imbalances, or a ruthless food industry, or else as weak-willed wasters of precious resources depends on our wider ideological assumptions about human nature and agency.’