Four days to go!
‘Belong and Grow – it’s your BAG’ (aka BAG week) launches next week and runs from the 13th to the 17th of May.
Book your tickets now to ensure your place(s). 41 bookable events and some drop in sessions for staff and students. Tickets will be available up to the day of each event.
We hope that you all enjoy the week and find something that’s your BAG.
#bagweek
Eleni Kapogianni, Lecturer in Linguistics and co-director of the Centre for Language and Linguistics, and Christina Kim, Lecturer in Linguistics and Director of the Linguistics Laboratory, both based in the Department of English Language and Linguistics, were plenary speakers at the recent Manchester Forum in Linguistics, an annual conference for early career researchers in all fields of linguistics.
Eleni Kapogianni presented ‘A multi-level approach to verbal irony’, suggesting that a solution to common definitional and methodological problems concerning the investigation of verbal irony is to separate the ironic trope from its functions at the communicative and the interpersonal level. Situated within this framework of analysis, Eleni presented her current empirical findings on the culture-specificity of ironic functions, focusing specifically on the case of positive irony (a.k.a. ironic praise).
Christina Kim spoke on ‘Linguistic distance, social distance, and convergence in dialogue’, reporting on ongoing work with Dr Gloria Chamorro on structural priming in dialogues between native and non-native speakers.
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 Dr Helen Brooks Reader in Drama in the School of Arts.
Imagine receiving a birthday card from Doctor Who – well, this is what happened when Helen celebrated her 13th birthday, a topic of conversation which leads to Helen and Chris talking about Peter Davison (who played the fifth incarnation of the time traveller).
In this inspiring interview, Helen and Chris also discuss the works of Samuel Beckett; why her school teachers had tried to dissuade her from taking Drama at A Level; being exposed to an eclectic range of music as a child (from Motown to Handel’s Messiah); why Helen has returned in recent years to writing a diary (and who it is being written for); how her dream was once to be a serious actor on the stage; and why she tries to live in the present.
The Centre for the Study of Higher Education invite colleagues to a seminar titled ‘Methodology and Mess in Higher Education Research’ taking place on Tuesday 28 May, 13:00-14:00 in the UELT Seminar Room, Canterbury.
Presented by Helen Sword, Professor and Director of the Centre for Learning and Research in Higher Education, University of Auckland.
As an erstwhile literary scholar who now directs a higher education research and development centre, Professor Helen Sword stands with one foot on either side of the humanities/social science divide. In this informal seminar, she will discuss the various methodologies that she has employed in her own research over the years, reflecting on the role (and value) of “messy,” humanities-inflected thinking in higher education scholarship.
To confirm your attendance please complete the online booking form.
Dr Kaitlyn Regehr, Lecturer in Media Studies, will be hosting a new podcast series entitled How Researchers Change the World, launching today, 7 May 2019.
The series, which is supported by the publisher Taylor & Francis, will release a new episode every two weeks, and will cover topics as diverse as new technology, the impact of social media, virtual reality, climate change, artificial intelligence, and gender studies.
Every episode will follow the story of one passionate researcher and their journey from the initial spark of an idea through to world-changing findings.
The first instalment tells the story of Dr Orii McDermott, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham, whose work as a music therapist gave her an awareness of the research needed to enhance her own practice and to improve the lives of her patients, people living with dementia.
Speaking of the series, Kaitlyn said: ‘I am thrilled to be working on this innovative project with the amazing team at Monchu and WBBC as well as with Taylor & Francis, a publisher dedicated to supporting researchers at all stages of their careers.’
The podcasts will be available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Sticher. To read more, please see the dedicated site here: www.howresearchers.com
Would you or someone you know like to join Kent Hospitality’s Reception team from June to October 2019?
Applicants will be required to work 15 to 35 hours per week including evenings and weekends. Hours will vary from week to week and are not guaranteed.
Applicants must be able to demonstrate exceptional levels of customer service, computing and cash handling skills, and the ability to work calmly and accurately under pressure, both alone and as part of a team.
The rates of pay are:
If you think this summer vacancy is for you, please apply by emailing your CV and a cover letter to Laura Maclean by emailing l.maclean@kent.ac.uk.
Closing date for applications: 17 May 2019. This may close early if we receive a large number of applications.
Booking is now open for The Universities at Medway fifth annual Festival of Learning, Teaching and Assessment which will take place on Thursday 12th September 2019, 9.30-14.30 in Pilkington Building Room 008, Medway Campus.
The Festival aims to share, celebrate and promote our practice to benefit all students studying on our Medway campus.
Our focus this year is on student engagement. It is a consistently strong theme that runs through the sector and is a priority for all three universities and their partner colleges.
Our keynote speaker will be Professor Colin Bryson of Newcastle University, who will be presenting with a student on ‘Where are we and where are we going with student engagement?’. Please see here for abstract and biography
We are currently inviting contributions in a variety of formats from practitioners, professional services staff, researchers and students. Please see call for papers.
To book a place at the Festival please complete the online booking form.
A new common room has opened in time for students to relax and collaborate in during the exam term. The room, for the exclusive use of Computing undergraduates, will be open from 8.00-19.00 Monday to Friday.
The common room on the ground floor of the Cornwallis building in Canterbury is the latest change in a series of updates to the building to make it more modern and welcoming. The common room is deliberately close to the placements team, employability and marketing team, KITC and The Shed, helping to create a real student hub at the heart of the building and making it easier for students to find help in any of these areas.
Head of School, Professor Richard Jones, said: “This new space is good way of welcoming back the undergraduate students and giving them their own relaxing space at a very busy time in the academic year. We hope that they will enjoy their own area with room to chat, eat and even study if they wish. And of course we wish all of our students the very best of luck with their upcoming exams.”
The next update will see the School student administration team move downstairs to be nearer to the other student services.
Colleagues are invited to attend the Learning & Teaching Network session taking place on Wednesday 22 May, from 13:15-14:30 in Rutherford Lecture Theatre 2.
Presented by Rebecca Coleman, EAP Tutor, Centre for English and World Language, the workshop looks at intelligibility support for international staff and support staff at the University of Kent. We aim to highlight the importance of these staff members being clearly understood and present common issues that they may face. There will be the opportunity to discuss intelligibly issues that you have encountered and individually and in groups look at ways of improving them. Further support offered by the Centre of English and World Languages (CEWL) in this domain will be mentioned at the end of the session.
To confirm your attendance please complete the online booking form.
A new report released yesterday by Universities UK (UUK) and the National Union of Students (NUS) report into the black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) student attainment gap in UK higher education says that universities must work to close the attainment gap (white students are statistically more likely to get a 2:1 or a First than BAME students).
The publication of the report, Black, Asian and minority ethnic student attainment at UK universities: #ClosingtheGap, follows contributions from 99 universities and student unions and six regional roundtable evidence sessions with 160 attendees on how the attainment gap should be tackled.
Dr Laura Bailey, Lecturer in the Department of English Language and Linguistics and Student Success Project Lecturer, comments on these findings: “the School of European Culture and Languages is very fortunate to be one of the seven pilot schools in the Student Success Project, which has been working for the last five years to close this gap. We’ve been gathering data and finding out what works. We’ve begun to develop racially diverse and inclusive environments by evaluating our reading lists, inviting speakers from diverse backgrounds and introducing staff awareness training. We need to have open conversations about race at every level, from individual students and staff to the highest levels of university management, and the School is leading the way on this. The BAME attainment gap is one of the most important issues facing higher education today, and we have to make some changes in the way we do things.”