Alumnus Marcus Brooker, who completed his BA (Hons) in Film this summer, has contributed to a news item about his father’s cancer diagnosis for the BBC programme Inside Out, broadcast on BBC1 last night, Monday 7 October 2019.

The item uses footage from a documentary that Marcus is currently producing. Marcus conceived of making the documentary while at university, when he spoke to his father about his cancer diagnosis. After the story was featured in a local paper, the BBC contacted Marcus to ask him to make a segment for Inside Out. Marcus has also received interest from Channel 4 regarding a new programme about terminal illness.

Marcus says: ‘I understand that having cancer is a tough time, and my dad has suffered with cancer since I was around 11/12 so I am aware of what it is like to live with someone who has cancer. The documentary I have set out to make focuses on my father as his terminal diagnosis gets worse, up to the point of his death. I wanted to show people how an ordinary person like my dad can live with cancer and still have a life. I told my brother about the documentary and we are now both making the documentary. Although the overall story of the documentary will follow my father, we both want to bring other people in to tell their stories and how they live with cancer, be that of a terminal diagnosis or people who have battled cancer and won. My father has had cancer three times and has some really interesting stories to tell’.

Although the segment on Inside Out will focus on Marcus’ father and his story, Marcus aims to feature other people and their stories in his full-length documentary. Marcus says: ‘We are looking for ordinary people with unique stories to tell, and the long term plan is to help people who may be scared or unsure about how to live with a terminal diagnosis, and overall just relate to my father’s story’.

If you are interested in getting involved with the project, please get in touch with Marcus here: MarcusBrooker@hotmail.com

The segment on Inside Out can be found on BBC iPlayer, available at 10 minutes and 25 seconds here.

Kent Innovation and Enterprise will be hosting an event focusing on the research, products and services being developed to promote healthy ageing in an ageing society at the University of Kent Canterbury campus on Thursday 17th October, from 9.30am – 3pm. Join us for an insight into the research, products and services that are being developed to promote healthy ageing.

The number of people over 75 in the UK today is one in 12. By 2040, it will rise to one in 7. We’re also living for longer and a third of children born now are expected to live to 100. This presents a challenge to health services, but it is also an opportunity for businesses and researchers who can help people to stay active and productive as they age.

If you are a business or academic working in this field, this event will give you the chance to learn more about the various funding streams available and the opportunity to network with like-minded people, opening up the possibilities of future discussion and collaboration.

With speakers from across Kent and Medway this event will discuss innovations, case studies and opportunities for businesses to engage in this key issue. Particular focus will be on the following 7 themes of Healthy Ageing:

1. Sustaining physical activity
2. Designing for age-friendly homes
3. Maintaining health at work
4. Managing common complaints of ageing
5. Creating healthy and active places
6. Care support for people with cognitive impairment
7. Reducing social isolation

For more information and to register your place, please click here.

Ben Hutchinson, Professor of European Literature in the Department of Modern Languages, is helping run an Intellectual Speed Dating event as part of this year’s Wimbledon Bookfest (3-13 October 2019).

The event celebrates the publication of the 600th in the ‘Very Short Introduction’ series, published by Oxford University Press.

The Very Short Introductions are a fabulous way to discover a new subject: high-level but digestible overviews written by experts in their field. The audience will be split into small groups who will move around the event, enjoying ten minutes with each author for a snappy introduction to their topic, plus time for questions. When the bell rings, you must move on! It’s speed dating – for ideas.

Ben, author of A Very Short Introduction to Comparative Literature, said: ‘Literary festivals represent an important opportunity for discussing questions of literature with the general public. ‘Intellectual speed dating’ is an ideal format for the Very Short Introduction series, emphasising as it does the virtues of brevity, concision, and wit. Less is more on first dates!’

An Accessibility Tour of Canterbury campus will take place on Monday 14 October starting at 13.00 from the Student Entrance of the Registry Building.

The aim of the tour is to identify areas which could be improved to provide greater accessibility for our staff and students.

This will be an external tour taking in the Gulbenkian, Library and Grimond building, before crossing over the road by the bank and following the path to the Sibson building and then onto the Sports Pavilion.

Our route back will take us past the Student hub, via Park Wood, coming out by the Sports Centre.

There’s no need to book or to let us know you are coming –  just turn up.

Escape into a tranquil forest on campus…

On Thursday 10 October, we will transform Colyer-Fergusson Hall into a calm sensory forestscape with audio and projections.

Come along for a free, drop-in meditative session with a natural forest soundscape accompanying projections of tranquil forest images in a dimly-lit environment. You are free to come and go as you wish at any time during the event.

Leave the chaos behind and step into calm; part of a series of university events for World Mental Health Day 2019.

Event details are available on the Music Matters blog.

How might technology work together with soil-less food production such as aquaponics/hydroponics?

How are technological innovations such as apps and AI changing our relationship with nature and urban spaces?

These are some of the questions to be discussed at the Technology and Green Spaces Symposium  in central London, on 29 October 2019, from 09.00-16.15.

The symposium, organised by our Kent School of Architecture and Planning and the charity Social Farms and Gardens, will explore how technology is transforming our perception of the urban green scene.

Speakers include Michael Hardman from the University of Salford and Kate Hofman, CEO of GrowUp.

Full event fee (including lunch) is £30 and concessions £15 (for students, ECRs and those working with the FEW-meter project).

Places are limited. Please use this Eventbrite link to book your place.

Keen ears might have heard some music echoing through the Templeman Gallery lately! To find out more about our latest exhibition, read on…

Keep Smiling Through: British Humour and the Second World War explores the use of humour in cartoons, letters, books, ephemera and artefacts from the First and Second World Wars. This exhibition has been curated to support the symposium of the same title held here at the University of Kent on 12–13 September 2019, with the assistance of Special Collections & Archives’ inaugural exhibition interns.

Using the British Cartoon Archive’s extensive collection of cartoons, ephemera, letters, and artefacts, this exhibition explores how humour was used throughout the Second World War to discuss politics, military campaigns, and improve morale both on the front line and at home. It also explores how the British press portrayed other theatres of war. The exhibition offers an insight into the reactions of the British public and traces responses to the present day as contemporary cartoonists echo the iconography pioneered by 20th century artists. The archives of Carl Giles and KEM, held here at Kent, are showcased extensively – including films made by Giles for the Ministry of Information during the War.

Entry is (as always) free and the gallery is open during the Templeman Library’s opening hours. The exhibition runs until 25 October. We hope to see you soon!