Are you interested in learning and development?

Would you like to be the first to know about new and exciting opportunities?

Could you help us spread the word to your colleagues and friends?

We are keen to engage Champions from areas across the organisation who have a passion for development and would like to help launch and embed these new development activities within their teams, departments and across the organisation.

If that sounds like you, please read our blog for more information

Research by Dr Shaun May, Senior Lecturer in Drama and Theatre in the School of Arts, was recently used fed into a podcast series entitled 1800 Seconds on Autism.

1800 Seconds on Autism is hosted by Robyn Steward and Jamie Knight, and covers subjects such as home, family, humour and ‘geekiness’. The episode features stand-up comedian and poet Kate Fox, and begins with: ‘There’s this rumour going around that autistic people don’t laugh, don’t get comedy, and don’t have a sense of humour’. The hosts  then dissect well-known jokes such as ‘why did the chicken cross the road?’

The programme references Shaun mid-way through, with presenter Robyn Stewart quoting him: ‘Autistic people find slapstick humour and word play enjoyable in terms of humour’, and using this as a starting point for discussion.

Shaun was also interviewed on the same topic by BBC News, in an article entitled ‘Do Autistic People ‘Get’ Jokes?’ You can read the article on the BBC website.

Shaun is also organising the Autism Arts Festival which will take place at the University of Kent from Friday 26 April to Sunday 28 April 2019.

The 1800 Seconds on Autism podcast  can be heard on the BBC website.

Dr Oliver Double, Reader in Drama, along with two graduates from the School of Arts, will be launching a new regular comedy night, Funny Rabbit, at Gulbenkian this month, with the first show on Friday 8 February 2019.

Funny Rabbit is a new kind of comedy club – radical and exciting, but also warm and snuggly as a bunny rabbit. The format of the show will be a line-up of two professional comedians, with two students from the School of Arts, compered by Olly. Whether you’ve never seen live comedy before or you’ve been watching it for decades, Funny Rabbit is for you.

The opening night will feature Bobby Mair and Drama alumnus Tiernan Douieb. Bobby Mair is a regular face from TV featuring in such shows as Comedy Central, 8 out of 10 Cats (C4), Never Mind the Buzzcocks (BBC2), Virtually Famous (E4), Sweat the Small Stuff (BBC3), World of Weird(C4) and Safe Word (ITV). Tiernan Douieb is the writer and star of hit podcast Partly Political Broadcast, the man behind Comedy Club 4 Kids, and has appeared in Channel 4’s Fresh Meat. He completed a BA (Hon) in Drama at Kent in 2003.

Also performing will be Alf White and Lauren Carroll, both on the BA (Hons) in Drama and Theatre.

The show is co-organised by Thomas Blake who completed a BA (Hons) in Drama and Theatre and an MA in Creative Producing, and Matt Hoss, who completed a BA (Hons) degree in Classical & Archaeological Studies and Drama and an MA in Stand-Up Comedy.

The show starts at 19.30 and tickets cost £5/£8. For more information, please see Gulbenkian webpages.

The University’s corporate membership of the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, means that staff can access some great discounted deals for shows this spring and summer.

Special members’ offers include:

• Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake: Tuesday 26 to Saturday 30 March – 15% off Tuesday-Thursday
• Benidorm Live: Monday 15 to Saturday 20 April – 15% off Monday-Thursday
• Blood Brothers: Tuesday 27 to  Saturday 31 August – 15% off Tuesday-Thursday evenings
• Motown the Musical: Tuesday 3 to Saturday 14 September – 15% off Monday-Thursday

Full details of Member Discounts are available here.

The Marlowe also offers a number of special Members’ Evenings, including a discounted top ticket and post-show drink with cast members.

For 2019/20, these include:

• War Horse  – Wednesday 27 February 2019
• The Bodyguard – Tuesday 14 May 2019
• We Will Rock You – Monday 24 February 2020

Full details of upcoming Members Evenings are available here.

To obtain your discounted tickets, you no longer need to use a special booking code. Instead, the first time you book using the new system, visit the Marlowe website and:

1. Go to My Account (it’s under the person icon, top right of the website) or set up an account if you don’t have one yet
2. Under the ‘Company Name’ option, choose the name of your employer

You will automatically be registered as a Business Membership staff member and every time you log into the website to book tickets, your discount will be applied in the basket.

Enjoy the shows!

Is there a core set of experiences all undergraduate students should have in an increasingly diverse university?  If so, what would those be?

Those were the central questions that prompted the development of a Framework for Powerful Student Experiences at the University of Kent.

An extensive consultation, with input from more than 1,770 students and over 60 staff, has resulted in a framework of six principles outlining what all undergraduate students should experience during their learning journey at Kent:

1. Learning that is relevant to their goals, interests, and ambitions.
2. Practice with and feedback on intellectual skills and active engagement with key ideas.
3. A challenging, supportive, inclusive environment.
4. Interactions with diverse peers that support them in learning about their subject, becoming familiar with other cultures, appreciating different points of view, and developing communication skills.
5. Meaningful interactions with academics, staff or mentors.
6. At least one “high impact” practice that integrates Principles 1-5, such as a work experience, independent project, public exhibition/performance, study abroad, or series of interactive seminars.

The full report provides suggestions for action for each principle addressing both curricular and co-curricular experiences. The 2018 Learning and Teaching Conference featured examples of these principles in action, as will the 2019 Learning and Teaching Conference.

Commenting on the report, Professor April McMahon, Deputy Vice-Chancellor – Education said: ‘I urge colleagues at Kent to engage with this ground-breaking research, which helps us understand the improvements we can all make to help students value their university experience.’

The framework will also be communicated to students, helping them to make the most of their time at the University.

Thank you to all who gave input during the consultation period.

Kent will be the first university in England and Wales to hold a paperless moot after being given access to CaseLines, a computerised evidence and courtroom presentation system.

CaseLines helps eliminate paper in courtrooms and gives lawyers, court staff and judges access to legal evidence bundles (including multimedia evidence). It has been used by the UK’s Supreme Court since 2014 and was chosen by the UK Government to digitise all of the criminal courts in England and Wales in 2015. The CaseLines Crown Court Digital Case System is used in all the Crown Courts (and some Civil Courts) in England and Wales.

Kent Law School will use the digital bundling software at its first paperless moot on Wednesday 27 March. The moot is being held to mark the naming of the Law School’s Moot Court in honour of Dr Kennedy Wong, a major benefactor of the Kent Law Campaign. The Kent Law Campaign raised £5m for the construction of the Wigoder Law Building, the building in which the Moot Court is housed.

Four Kent Law School alumni will be returning for the special show moot to act as the advocates for the appellant and for the Crown in a case that involves a threat to the Prime Minister at a party conference.

Joe Chambers, Samuel Davis, Cara Hall and Guevara Leacock will present their arguments before a Court of Appeal panel comprising: barrister Richard Honey (from Francis Taylor Building); the Rt Hon Lord Justice Mummery; Judge Andrew Patience QC; Law School Lecturer (and criminal barrister) Darren Weir; and Her Honour Judge Adele Williams.

The evidence bundles will be available to view by everyone in the Moot Court, including members of the audience with access to a mobile device.

The Department of Philosophy is organising its annual Philosophy Reading Weekend, which this year takes place on 23-24 February for a trip to the coast, featuring philosophical talks by fellow students, as well as walks, games, and an evening at the local pub.

This is a great opportunity to relax mid-semester and talk philosophy with other students and staff in an informal setting, spend time doing non-philosophy outdoor activities, and read or chat in the common room.

Tickets are £30. Limited places are available; for further information and to book tickets, visit the Philosophy events page

The next Kent Q-Step pubTALK on Palliative Care – Not Just for Cancer? will be given by Professor David Oliver, Tizard Centre, on Monday 11 February.

The talk will take place from 19.00 for 19.30 at The Old Buttermarket, 39 Burgate, Canterbury CT1 2HW. Entry is free.

Palliative care is the active support of people with life threatening illness, considering all aspects of care – physical, psychological, social and spiritual. It is often associated with the care of people with advanced cancer, although when St Christopher’s Hospice was opened in 1967 by Dame Cicely Saunders, patients with other diagnoses were admitted.

Professor David Oliver’s interest has been in the development of palliative care of people with neurological disease and his research and publications have been on this developing field, particularly for people with motor neurone disease. This pubTALK will look at this area and how palliative care, in hospices, hospitals and the community, is developing to care for people with any disease.