As part of Black History Month we are hosting a webinar on the history of African Women in the NHS. The event takes place on Monday 26 October between 17:00 to 18:30 and consists of a one hour workshop exploring the valuable contribution African women have made to the sector. It will be followed by a 30 minute Q&A session. Questions can be submitted in advance via Becky Lamyman on R.S.Lamyman@kent.ac.uk.

Recruitment for the British health service from the colonies of the British Empire began in the period after the Second World War. However, nurses, doctors and other medical professionals trained in Britain before this, as Higher Education was not available in the colonies.

Despite their long history of work within the health service in Britain, the role of African women is rarely highlighted in discussions of the history of the NHS or of health work more generally. As current narratives on black women in the British health service tend to focus on ‘Windrush generation’ Caribbean contributions, this project will cover new ground and expand the understanding of this history.

This webinar is FREE and open to all.

Simply register your attendance on eventbrite and a link to the Teams event will be emailed to all registered participants.

Do you need somewhere on campus to join online lectures or seminars on your laptop or on a student PC? There are study hubs across the Canterbury campus with socially distanced study spaces and PCs.

You can also use one of the many seminar rooms, lecture theatres and teaching PC rooms across the Canterbury and Medway campuses while they are not in use for teaching.

We have QR codes outside these rooms so you can easily check if they’re free, and an online tool to check in advance is coming soon.

Head to Library and IT services site for more information.

Welcome to Kent!

The University of Kent is committed to improving all aspects of the student experience. Given that we are currently working and studying in unique and challenging times, this year we have adapted and developed more online registration and resources to support your arrival and welcome to Kent….so would really welcome your feedback!

To this end, we invite you to participate in a survey for new students to let us know about your experience so far. Measuring student satisfaction will help us better understand your needs whilst studying at the University and will help us to improve the services we offer to prospective students in future. This is your opportunity to have your say and make your views heard, for the benefit of current and future students.

To access the survey you will need to enter your University of Kent email address and Kent ID number on the log-in page.

Please follow this link to go to the survey: New Student Survey 2020

If you have any problems accessing or completing the survey, or would prefer to complete it using a different format, please contact KentSurveys@kent.ac.uk

On Tuesday 20 October at 19:00 we are hosting a screening of Black Panther. The screening will take place at The Gulbenkian Cinema and a panel discussion will take place afterwards.

On the panel will be Aldo Manella – Vice President for Student Engagement for Kent Union, Stephen Kamara – 2019-20 BAME Network Chair for Kent Union and Maurizio Cinquegrani – Senior Lecturer in Film for the School of Arts.

Black Panther is an American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character. It’s a movie about what it means to be Black in both America and Africa—and, more broadly, in the world.

Rather than dodge complicated themes about race and identity, the film grapples head-on with the issues affecting modern-day black life. It has been lauded as the first mega-budget movie to have a Black director and predominantly Black cast.

Its themes challenge institutional bias, its characters take unsubtle digs at oppressors, and its narrative includes prismatic perspectives on black life and tradition.

Please head to the Kent Union website for more information.

International Partnerships will be hosting a Go Abroad Talk this Friday 16 October from 14.00 – 15.00 on Zoom. This session will outline the application process to study abroad, the support available to you and any other important information including finances. There will also be a Q&A section at the end of the meeting.

If you are required to undertake a period of study abroad as part of your degree, or if you are interested in exploring your options, please come along and find out more about the opportunities available to you.

We will also be running two Virtual Drop-in Sessions on Tuesday 27 October and Thursday 5 November from 14.00 – 15.00.

For details of how to join any of the above sessions, please email internationalevents@kent.ac.uk.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

The Go Abroad Team

The next Webchat takes place on Thursday 15 October at 15:30 and it is aimed at our commuting students and online learners.

The talks will cover topics such as how to access resources and support for online learning, plus how to maximise your education and experience as a commuting student.

We will have some brilliant students taking part in the talk, who are studying online internationally and/or commuting. They will be sharing their real experiences of what it’s like to commute, or study online/remotely.

Sign up for your chat session and we will send you the Zoom link.

You can book place here.

If you’d like a WebChat on another theme, then just let us know and we’ll set one up. Suggestions can be mailed to directorstudentservices@kent.ac.uk.

Saturday 10 October was World Mental Health Day.

It’s an extremely important time to acknowledge the difficulties many people have faced over the past 6 months especially, and talk about ways we can support one another in our University community and beyond. Whether you have previously struggled with a mental health condition and require specialist support from our Student Support and Wellbeing Team, or simply want to meet other students to share experiences at peer support groups and wellbeing events, the University of Kent has a wealth of resources to help students and staff enhance their wellbeing and safeguard their mental health.

On World Mental Health Day, we launched a campaign called #UoKMomentsAway so the student community at Kent can inspire and encourage one another, even in these times when gathering together is difficult. What gives you a moment of hope on an otherwise challenging day? How have you adapted to find new ways to connect, to be calm, and have fun? Check out what’s providing joy and solace to others, and add your ideas to the mix, following @UniKentSSW and using the hashtag #UoKMomentsAway.

Although the current conditions can feel very isolating, remember that you are not alone in your experience – have a look at our Wellbeing Ideas for Uncertain Times webpage – with guided meditations, ideas for comfort books or inspirational reads, and wisdom from your fellow students on surviving and thriving in this unprecedented time.

In celebration of Black History Month, the Student Success team are inviting students from the Division of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences to a screening of Hidden Figures. The screening will take place on Monday 19 October at 18:00 at The Gulbenkian.

This inspiring film shares the untold story of Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, three African-American women working at NASA as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history, the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. It went on to receive numerous awards.

Please head to the Kent Union website for more information.

Kent Innovation i-Teams links the most innovative and creative students to industry, facilitating solutions to real world business challenges. i-Teams originated at MIT and was brought over to the UK by the University of Cambridge in 2006. Several other UK Universities have since adopted the model and implemented their own programmes. Following a very successful Kent programme in 2020, we are excited to present our second year of i-Teams in 2021, which is supported by EIRA.

i-Teams is an 8 week programme where three student teams, who are selected from across all academic disciplines, work on their business challenge with the support of i-Teams mentor, Tudor Price, Deputy CEO at the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce.

The programme commences 27th January 2021; sessions take place Wednesday evenings from 5:30 – 8pm culminating in a Grand Final on 17th March where each team will present their findings and conclusions to their business challenge sponsor, along with an audience of business and academic experts.  We will deliver the programme in a Covid-19 secure environment meeting all requirements current at the point of delivery.

Open to all current University of Kent students.

Deadline for applying is 23.59 on 29 November 2020

Successful applicants are expected to attend all sessions and to complete a 2 hour online training module ‘Enterprise Design Thinking’.  Each session and training module attracts 15 Employability Points.

Details of our 2020 I-Teams programme can be found on the Hub for Innovation and Enterprise.

For all the details, and application link see our i-Teams 2021 webpage.

If you have any questions please email: eirakent@kent.ac.uk

[Picture showing was taken in February 2020 prior to lockdown in March 2020].

Do you want to increase your knowledge of different cultures, further develop your intercultural communication skills and have the opportunity to meet students online from various cultural backgrounds?

If the answer is yes, the International Programmes Department is delivering a series of individual workshops this term called ‘Talking Cultures’ (EW334). These engaging and interactive workshops are open to all University of Kent students and have been in existence for the past six years due to popular student demand. There will be four two-hour workshops this term which will focus on the following themes:

– Week 3: Cultural Knowledge and Identity

– Week 5: Considerations of Intercultural Communication

– Week 6: Barriers to Intercultural Communication; Useful Tools and Strategies

– Week 9: Enhancing Cultural Awareness

To sign up for the workshops, go to the Student Data System (SDS), click on ‘Workshops’, then click on ‘Study Skills’. All workshops are free, non-credit bearing and will be delivered online. Students can receive 5 Employability Points for each workshop attended.

We look forward to ‘Talking Cultures’ with you.