Music Psychologist and performer, Dr Ruth Herbert, SMFA’s Lecturer in Contemporary and 20th Century Music Performance, has been invited to become a trustee of the National Youth Jazz Collective.

Founded in 2007, the NYJC supports the creative & educational needs of the young jazz musician, focusing on small group improvisation within a pathway of progression from beginners to young professionals, supporting music education to increase the ability of 8 – 18 year -olds to play by ear in small groups: to learn, improvise, compose, arrange and lead bands.

Dr Herbert commented: ‘I am delighted to have been invited to be a trustee for National Youth Jazz Collective. At a time when arts provision (including music) is being sidelined to the point of extinction in schools, the roles of organisations like NYJC are a lifeline & incredibly important in sustaining music provision. NYJC are doing an amazing job of reaching out- through regional workshops across the UK, through their Summer School, and other initiatives – eg inclusivity, particularly getting more young women into jazz. Simply giving young people the time and space to connect/experience/understand loads of different musics and have a good time!’

More information: http://nationalyouthjazz.co.uk/

Related posts: https://www.kent.ac.uk/smfa/news.html?view=2703 and https://www.kent.ac.uk/smfa/news.html?view=2675

Since September 2016, SMFA alumna Nadia Perrotta (BA, 2015,  and MA Fine Art, 2017) has been artist in residence at The Rabbit on The Moon Nursery in Sittingbourne, and there will be an exhibition showing the works the children created with her throughout the past year.

A children’s journey across self recognition and discovery of the world around them through the arts takes place on Saturday 23 June, 12.00-15.00, at Kemsley Community Centre, The Square, Ridham Ave, Kemsley, Sittingbourne.

Nadia is a film maker, visual artist, art writer and event organiser who works mostly with time based, installations, digital work, creative writing and performances. An experienced curator and art director, she was Project Leader for Wetlands Medway.  More info about Nadia here https://uk.linkedin.com/in/nadia-perrotta-082a537

The next meeting of the Kent Enterprise and Impact Network (KEIN) will take place on Thursday, 21 June from 12.00–14.00 in Room 115 in the Drill Hall Library, Medway Campus.

In this session, we will look at ‘Enterprising next steps: protecting and commercialising your research’. You will hear from Dr Antonis Alexandridis, Lecturer in Finance from Kent Business School, who will be sharing his experiences of developing software that is currently being rolled out across a selection of banking organisations.

There will also be talks from Dr Marcus Goodall, KIE’s Technology Transfer Manager, on protecting and commercialising your research as well as a representative from KIE’s Hub for Innovation and Enterprise about their dedicated support for start-up development for staff and graduates.

If you have any enterprise ideas or ideas prompted by the presentations, this is also an opportunity to share these and hear about how the University can provide support

All University staff are welcome to attend.

To reserve your place at the session (including a free light lunch if you register before the end of play on 15 June) please email entadmin@kent.ac.uk and specify any dietary or access requirements.

KEIN is a network jointly created by Kent Innovation & Enterprise (KIE) and Learning and Organisational Development (L&OD), with the aim of bringing together all staff interested in collaboration. Academics, researchers, technicians and other members of staff can explore innovation and enterprise activities, maximising the impact of their work, and alternative sources of funding, in an informal setting.

Be sure not to miss out tomorrow (Thursday 14 June) with accommodation receptions across Canterbury campus selling delicious homemade cupcakes to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society. As well as tasty treats, there will also be games to enter.

Recommended donations are only £1 each (although you are welcome to give more) with all funds going to the charity. Don’t worry if you don’t have the change on the day, you can even text in your donation to 70070 with the word CUPP78 and the donation amount. You can also donate online at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/becky-wyatt5.

Cake for a good cause – we’ll race you there!

Participating receptions are Turing College, Keynes College, Eliot College, Rutherford College, Tyler Court, Darwin College and Park Wood.

If you have any questions email r.f.wyatt@kent.ac.uk

Fellow composers and SMFA Lecturers Dr Paul Fretwell, Head of School and Senior Lecturer in Music  and Richard Lightman, Lecturer in Music, Director of Recruitment and Admissions, Director of Employability, Year in Industry Coordinator for SMFA and CMAT, attended the prestigious Ivor Novello Awards on 31 May at the Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London.

The Ivors celebrate, honour and reward excellence in British and Irish songwriting and composing. Presented and judged by music creators, they represent the pinnacle of musical achievement and peer recognition.

Richard Lightman commented: ‘I was invited to attend the Ivor Novello Awards as a board member of the Council of Music Makers which includes BASCA, MPG, MMF, FAC, and the MU and in my capacity as a member of the Copyright Committee of UK Music advising the government on copyright issues and the impact of Brexit on the Music Industry.  Both SMFA and the University of Kent’s new Centre for Music and Audio Technology are academic partners in BASCA’s educational scheme.’

More information about the awards http://theivors.com/the-ivors-2018/

The Centre for Professional Practice will host a presentation on Understanding and Working with Self-harm and Attempted Suicide at Medway campus on Monday 18 June from 10.00-12.00.

The presentation, by Dr Terence Nice, Programme Director (Psychotherapy), at the Centre for Professional Practice, focuses on the assessment and treatment of people who self-harm and attempt suicide.

The presentation looks at the prevalence of self-harm,   national guidelines, causative factors and ways of ameliorating suicidal ideations and diminishing acts of self-harm.  The territory of self-harm and attempted suicide is often paradoxical and labyrinthine, leaving clinicians, practitioners and workers uncertain about how to react positively and respond appropriately.

The presentation is aimed at all those people who come into contact with young or older people who self-harm or attempt suicide.  The presenter is a Lecturer in Psychological Therapies, Highly Specialist Psychotherapist and an active researcher in this field. Dr Nice has also developed a self-harm tool-kit to assist in the assessment and treatment of this group.

Venue: Medway Building, Room M1-22.

Fee: The event has a nominal charge of £10 but is free to University of Kent staff.

How to book: All spaces must be pre-booked, via email: professionalpractice@kent.ac.uk 

For any queries, please email professionalpractice@kent.ac.uk or call 01634 888929.  

All University staff are invited to a lunchtime BBQ hosted by the Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Karen Cox.

The lunchtime BBQs will take place on the Registry Lawn in Canterbury on Friday 22 June (12.00 -14.00) and outside No 1 Bistro in Medway on Wednesday 20 June (12.00-14.00).

Please register for either Canterbury or Medway and bring your ticket with you on the day.

Canterbury: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/university-of-kent-staff-bbq-canterbury-campus-2018-tickets-45548241015

Medway: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/university-of-kent-staff-bbq-medway-campus-2018-tickets-45548365387

The RSVP for this event is Monday 18 June, please register as soon as possible as this is a popular event.

Vegetarian and vegan food will be provided, but please do register any other dietary requirements.

The BBQs are free events for staff and we hope to see you there.

Please email events@kent.ac.uk if you have any further questions.

The British Ecological Society (BES), in partnership with its publisher John Wiley & Sons, has announced the launch of a new international journal.

People and Nature is an open access journal dedicated to publishing high-quality, peer-reviewed work from research areas exploring relationships between humans and nature.

The journal will be led by Kevin J Gaston, Professor of Biodiversity and Conservation at the University of Exeter. Gaston will work closely with lead editors Robert Fish, Rosie Hails, Kai Chan and Cecily Maller, and an expert board of associate editors drawn from a wide array of fields that intersect with ecology, including economics, law, geography, sociology and the wider arts and humanities.

Recognising the importance of human aspects in all areas of ecology, People and Nature fosters innovation and experimentation. Authors may use quantitative, qualitative and mixed methodologies.

Dr Robert Fish, Reader in Human Ecology at the School of Anthropology and Conservation, added: ‘Ecological questions are wrapped up inside a wider set of political, social and cultural concerns and conundrums. This journal will be an important venue for debate and innovation in the complex arena of people-nature interactions.’

People and Nature will open for submissions in June.

Available exclusively online, People and Nature will be published in partnership with John Wiley & Sons, alongside five established journals from the BES, namely: Journal of Ecology, Journal of Applied Ecology, Methods in Ecology and Evolution, Functional Ecology, and Journal of Animal Ecology.

Follow @PaN_BES for updates.

Dr Aki Pasoulas, Director of Programmes (Music), Director of Education, and Director of MAAST (Music and Audio Arts Sound Theatre) in the School of Music and Fine Art, has had his electroacoustic composition Irides accepted in the peer-reviewed conference Sound & Music Computing (smc2018) with the general theme Sonic Crossings.

The concert will be held in Limassol, Cyprus, between 4 and 7 July. Keynote speakers include renowned composer Trevor Wishart.

Find out more on the conference website.

Irides (which literally means rainbows), was premiered on 24 April 2017 at the Sound of Memory symposium at Goldsmiths Great Hall, London. It has been subsequently selected for performances at the ISSTA (Irish Sound Science and Technology Association) conference at Dundalk, Ireland, at the Sound/Image conference in London, at the ICMC2017 (International Computer Music Conference) in Shanghai, China, and at the Helicotrema festival in Venice, Italy, in a concert curated by Hildegard Westerkamp.

Aki Pasoulas is an electroacoustic composer, whose works are regularly performed worldwide.

Also see https://www.kent.ac.uk/smfa/news.html?view=2609

We are delighted to invite you to the next Student Success launch on Wednesday 27 June. At this event, we will be launching the improved Student Success Dashboard – QlikView Phase 2, SStaRT: the  Student Success Resources Toolkit, and the highly anticipated Progress Profiles

Programme

13.30-13.45 – Arrival and refreshments
14.00-14.30 – Student Success Dashboard – QlikView Phase 2
14.30 – 15.00 – SStaRT: Student Success Resources Toolkit
15.15  – 16.00 –  Progress Profiles demo and questions

Student Success Dashboard – QlikView Phase 2

• The second version of the Student Success QlikView dashboard, which can provide data about school cohorts, is released with added functionality, and granularity
• Access to the SSP Dashboard is strictly limited, so this is your opportunity to see what data is available to you and find out who has access in your department

SStaRT: the Student Success Resources Toolkit

• Come and find out how the new toolkit can help you find the best initiatives for your school
• Hear how to contribute your own activities and best practice to the toolkit

Progress Profile

• See the long awaited Progress Profiles and learn how they can support Academic Advisor meetings
• Hear when they will be available, and what information they will contain

For more information and to register for this event and to see the agenda please visit our EventBrite page.

This event is free and open to all Kent staff.