Category Archives: Student Guide

Road Closure in Canterbury 25 May – 1 June

During half term (from 25 May to 1 June), there is a road closure in Canterbury that may potentially cause delays. The road is closed between the junctions of St Stephens Close and Malthouse Road. This is to allow for the installation of a new pedestrian crossing.

Alternative routes for through traffic are as follows:

Southbound (towards A2) via B2248 Kingsmead Road, A28 Tourtel Road, Military Road, Broad Street, Lower Bridge Street, Upper Bridge Street, Rhodaus Town, Pin Hill, A290 Rheims Way, St Peter’s Place, St Dunstan’s Street and North Lane
Northbound (towards A28) light vehicles only as above, but in reverse Northbound for all traffic unable to negotiate Westgate Towers via A290 St Dunstan’s Street, London Road, A2050 London Road Roundabout, Rheims Way before joining the remainder of the northbound diversion above Limited local access to the remainder of B2248 St Stephen’s Road continues from either direction up to where the road is actually closed.

You can find out more information here.

Be a Helping Hand – Welcome Helpers Wanted!

Each year, hundreds of volunteers help new students move and settle into their new University life and Kent Union are now recruiting for Freshers’ 2019. Welcome Helpers play a vital role in the welcome experience, being the first face new arrivals meet. And whether it’s giving advice, pointing them in the right direction or simply helping with their luggage, every interaction helps put them at ease.

Settling new students is really rewarding Welcome Helpers are always telling us, remembering how nervous they were. Plus, its a good chance for student groups to showcase themselves and find new recruits. Welcome Helpers get to add to their volunteering portfolio, earning Employability Points as well as a Kent Student Certificate in Volunteering. Plus there’s free food, drinks, t-shirts and even free Venue entry during Welcome Week.*

Arrivals Weekend takes place 14th – 15th September 2019, with Welcome Helper training on Friday 13th September. More details and sign up forms can be found here.

Successful end to our Belong and Grow week

Our Belong and Grow week (13-17 May) included over 40 events, with 391 ‘tickets sold’, many events sold out and some with over 20 people attending.

The event was organised by Learning & Organisational Development as part of ‘Belong and Grow – it’s your bag’ week’. It encompassed EDI and wellbeing awareness, Learning at Work, International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOT) day, Staff Network Day and Deaf Awareness Week.

Picture shows: The star of Canine Therapy

We send a huge thank you to all of our facilitators who ran amazing sessions encompassing all of the areas above; giving their time and sharing their expertise with staff and students. A special thank you to Kent Sport who also laid on a number of events during the week.

We were so lucky with the weather and our outdoor sessions of Tai Chi, Meditation and the guided Labyrinth walk were just perfect in the sunshine. You can find all of the details and photos on our Twitter page: UoKLDev.

Also, please do send us your feedback on the week, either to Ldev@kent.ac.uk, or by using #bagweek

Same time next year? We think so!

Soapbox Science Canterbury returns in June

After last year’s success, the School of Anthropology and Conservation (SAC) are organising another Soapbox Science Canterbury event to promote women’s research to the public.

Come see some fabulous women scientists from SAC alongside the Schools of Biosciences and Physical Sciences at Kent, and hear speakers from Birkbeck and NIAB EMR talk about their exciting research.

The event will take place on Saturday 15 June between 13.00 and 16.00 in Westgate Gardens in the centre of Canterbury.

Hear twelve women speak about their scientific work on a broad range of topics including forensic anthropology, planetary science, molecular biology, illegal wildlife trade, biological anthropology and conservation science. Come and learn about capuchins and elephants, your brain and your teeth, and many more interesting topics in the lush surrounds of Westgate Gardens.

The event is free and open to all ages. whether you choose to drop by for ten minutes or stay the full three hours.

Our Soapbox speakers:

Dr Emmy Bocaege (School of Anthropology and Conservation, Kent) – Toothy tales from an archaeologist
Dr Gillian Forrester (Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck University of London) – Your 500 million year-old brain
Dr Julieta G. Garcia-Donas (School of Anthropology and Conservation, Kent) – Dem bones, dem bones!: What forensic anthropology tells us about the dead
Dr Ana Loureiro (School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science, Kent – From 1 to infinity
Dr Emma McCabe (School of Physical Sciences, Kent) – Superconductors and levitating magnets!
Ms Louisse Paola Mirabueno, (NIAB EMR and University of Reading) – Xylella fastidiosa: a fussy bacterium
Dr Marie-Jeanne Royer (School of Anthropology and Conservation, Kent) – Climate change and cities, how green can help
Dr Agata Rożek (School of Physical Sciences, Kent) – Space potatoes and rubber ducks: shapes of asteroids and comets
Dr Helena J. Shepherd (School of Physical Sciences, Kent) – Shapeshifting Molecules in the Spotlight
Dr Jill Shepherd (School of Biosciences, Kent) – Where are my stem cells?
Dr Barbara Tiddi (School of Anthropology and Conservation, Kent) – Female (monkey) power: how black capuchin females choose their mates
Ms Laura Thomas-Walters (School of Anthropology and Conservation, Kent) – Saving rhinos and elephants from the illegal wildlife trade

Soapbox Science is a novel public outreach platform for promoting women scientists and the research they do. The events transform civic areas into an arena for public engagement and scientific debate.

Design Our Space student competition

Kent Sport is challenging students to Design Our Space for a chance to boost their creative portfolio and win some fabulous prizes.

What is the space?

One of our squash courts has become a multi-use sports facility for a variety of activities including martial arts and boxing. Kent Sport would like you to creatively enhance the space to provide an inspiring and enjoyable experience for the students who will use it. You have four walls as your blank canvas to unleash your imagination on; show us what you can do!

Who is the competition open to?

The competition is open to all University of Kent students.

Judging and prizes

A panel of judges will review all submissions and select the best design. The winning participant will be able to transform the space and see their design in use and will receive a £300 Amazon voucher and a meal for two at the Pavilion Café Bar. The runner up will receive a £150 Amazon voucher. Five random entries will receive a Kent Sport goody bag including a £10 Amazon voucher.

When does the competition close?

The competition will close at 11.59pm on Wednesday 5 June 2019.

How do I get started?

So if you want to kick start your creative career or just rise to this exciting challenge, visit our website for further details including terms and conditions and start brainstorming your ideas!

www.kent.ac.uk/sports/designourspace

If you have any queries and to express your interest, email us on sportsenquiries@kent.ac.uk.

#DesignOurSpace

Kent wins in Talis Awards 2019 for ‘Diversifying the Library Collection with Reading Lists’ project

The 2019 Talis Aspire User Group Award for Creativity has been awarded to a group including Student Success Project Lecturer Dr Laura Bailey (also a Lecturer in the Department of English Language and Linguistics) and two first year undergraduate student researchers: BA Philosophy and Religious Studies student Wayne Laviniere, and BA Religious Studies student Miriam Jeyasingh.

This award connects to a recent collaborative project between the School of European Culture and Languages and Academic Liaison Librarians working in the University’s Templeman Library. The aim of the project was to make the case that as reading lists are the mechanism for developing library collections that support teaching and learning, they are therefore an ideal starting point for diversifying the curriculum.

Laura Bailey said: “We’re reviewing the diversity of reading lists as part of our goal to diversify and decolonise the curriculum in connection with the brilliant work done by Kent students as part of the Decolonise UKC project. Reading lists are a starting point for us to see where we can begin to make some changes, be more inclusive, and ultimately provide a better academic experience for everyone. I’d love to see more and more staff and students getting involved, evaluating their own modules, and suggesting items to add to lists or topics to cover. This is a really collaborative project, and one that we are sure will spark discussion and long-term change.”

The project produced a ‘diversity dashboard’ for reading lists that provides a point for academics to reflect on their resource choices and kick-start the discussion with students.

Professor April McMahon, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education, said: “This is a measure of all the fantastic work that [the group] have been doing in Library Collections and in the Student Success Project in partnership with students and the wider University. We are absolutely delighted that they all have been awarded the 2019 award for their work to diversify library collections and support the development of a more inclusive learning experience. It is great for this innovative, first-class and highly collaborative project to receive national recognition in this way – it is very richly deserved.”

Student bursaries for pilgrim workshop

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to undertake a pilgrimage? More than just a long-distance walk, a pilgrimage typically follows a historic route to a destination of particular significance. In our frenetic world, more and more people are choosing to slow life down by taking only their necessary possessions and embarking on a journey on foot or bicycle. The Camino de Santiago in Spain saw 300,000 such pilgrims walk its five routes in 2018. Motivations for these pilgrims range from a physical challenge to a search for spiritual fulfilment.

15 June, 2019 at Canterbury Cathedral, a full-day pilgrims workshop will explore the pilgrimage routes of Canterbury, including the Via Francigena to Rome. The programme includes a mini-pilgrimage in the Cathedral grounds, talks on engaging with the history and heritage of pilgrimage and a practical session with a panel of experienced pilgrims who can answer all of your questions on how to undertake your own pilgrim

Student bursaries are being offered by the Centre for Heritage and are open to all UKC students. To learn more about the workshop visit: https://www.kent.ac.uk/events/event/38280/pilgrim-workshop .

To apply for a bursary, please send a short statement of interest to organiser Julia Lewis: jep35@kent.ac.uk. Bursaries will be issued on a first come, first served basis.

Cockapoo cuddles during revision

Monty the cockapoo will be returning to the Canterbury campus to offer hugs to students during the busy revision and exam period.

Monty, who is a regular visitor to the School, will be in The Shed in Cornwallis quad on Friday 17 May from 10.00-12.00.

Orla Garratt, Marketing and Communications Manager for the School said, ‘Monty loves the attention that he gets when he visits our students. He is especially popular with students who have pets at their family home and are missing their own animals.’

The University offers other tools are available to help students through the stresses of the exam period which can be found on the student wellbeing website.

Student bursaries available for Pilgrims Workshop

On Saturday 15 June, a full-day pilgrims workshop at Canterbury Cathedral will explore the pilgrimage routes of Canterbury, including the Via Francigena to Rome. The programme includes a mini-pilgrimage in the Cathedral grounds, talks on engaging with the history and heritage of pilgrimage, and a practical session with a panel of experienced pilgrims who can answer all of your questions on how to undertake your own pilgrimage.

Taking place in the beautiful Clagett Auditorium in Canterbury Cathedral Lodge, this workshop will be of interest to ‘armchair’ pilgrims (those whose interests lie in the history and stories of pilgrimage), those who have walked or cycled a pilgrimage route and anyone who has the desire to go on a pilgrimage and would like to learn how to go about it.

Student bursaries are being offered by the Centre for Heritage and are open to all Kent students. To apply for a bursary, please send a short statement of interest to organiser Julia Lewis at jep35@kent.ac.uk. Bursaries will be issued on a first come, first served basis.

BAG week – the final countdown

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