We hope you are enjoying the changes to the Campus Shuttle. The changes were made based on results from the shuttle survey, completed by over 450 students and staff. Summary of the changes:

• Passengers can now board the Campus Shuttle at Liberty Quays for travel to Pembroke campus and the Dockyard (Western Avenue)
• To allow for passenger boarding time without losing the hourly service, the shuttle now only stops once on the Canterbury campus, at Keynes bus stop
• The service no longer stops at Darwin bus stop
• The on-the-hour timetable continues with some changes to peak travel times to improve reliability
• Change of route: Keynes- Liberty Quays- Dockyard (Western Avenue)- Pembroke- Dockyard (Western Avenue)- Liberty Quays- Keynes
• The new booking system allows you to book a seat on the day
• There are two new, larger Campus Shuttle vehicles (53 and 34 seaters) wrapped with a University of Kent design

There are other benefits of the service, the Campus Shuttle:

• is a free, regular service
• runs on weekdays and weekends
• has on-board Wi-Fi
• has on-board USB charging points
• new booking system is mobile-friendly

If you would like to provide feedback on the Campus Shuttle please contact TransportTeam@kent.ac.uk

This Valentine’s day, we want you to love yourself. That’s why we’re offering students an exclusive one-day-only 20% off flash sale where you can save up to £32. So if you’re not already a member of Kent Sport, this is a great opportunity to join us. You can even purchase for that special someone; you simply need their student ID number, found on the back of their Kent One card.

The 20% student membership discount is available on Thursday 14 February only. Gold will be reduced to £131.20 (was £164) and Silver will be £112 (was £140). Student memberships are valid until 31 August 2019.

Purchase membership online at before 11.59pm and use discount code VDAY20 at the checkout. Alternatively, visit the Sports Centre and Pavilion receptions to purchase.

To stay up-to-date with the latest Kent Sport news, activities and special offers, Like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram and Twitter @UniKentSports.

Not every student’s experience is going to be the same and we do not think it should be. However, what are the key ingredients for a great learning experience at Kent?

Last year we spoke to nearly 2,000 students and 60 staff members to try to answer that question and articulate what every student should experience while at Kent.

Our research found that through your studies and co-curricular activities you want to experience:

• Learning that is relevant to your goals, interests and ambitions

You thought the University offered opportunities that support your passion for your subject and personal growth. You also said that teaching needs to make explicit connections to the real world and potential careers.

• Active learning with feedback

Learning happens when you read, talk, write, explain, make connections between ideas, try things out and observe the results, analyse, evaluate, apply, and organise your knowledge in meaningful ways. When you do these things, staff can give you feedback, which also helps your learning.

• A challenging, supportive and inclusive environment
  

We hear that you value challenge, but also need guidance about new expectations, how you can rise to them and how you can take best advantage of co-curricular opportunities.

• A diverse student and staff population from around the world
  

Many of you want to engage with peers intellectually. You also recognise that peer interaction – in and outside of classes – supports a range of educational goals.

• Meaningful interactions with staff

You particularly appreciate inspiring or helpful interactions with staff members. Yet the report shows that many of you are disappointed when you do not experience this.

• Work experience, real world projects, public exhibitions/performances or study abroad

Many of our courses offer a fourth year in industry/abroad or a final year project. You told us that these experiences help to enhance your learning and student experience at Kent.

Work has already started to enhance course and co-curricular opportunities. If you want to get more from your time at Kent visit the Student Guide and Kent Union website for all the opportunities available to you.

Thank you to everyone who took part in this study. If you would like to know more you can read the full report online (pdf).

Applications are now open for the Consortium for the Humanities in South-East England (CHASE) Comparative Literature summer school, running this year between 24-26 June 2019 following the success of last year’s inaugural event.

This summer school will offer intensive training in the principles and practices of comparative literature. Following the success of the inaugural CHASE summer school in comparative literature in June 2018, this second iteration will build on the first event while taking its intellectual focus in a new direction.

The programme is designed for humanities students working on comparative research projects who wish to broaden their knowledge of the discipline, and their use of comparative methodologies, in the light of both classical comparativism and more recent theoretical frameworks within the emerging discipline of world literature and the rise of the global South. The summer school will bring together postgraduate students working in the various fields of comparative/world literature, introducing them to leading specialists in the discipline and offering them a valuable opportunity for both intellectual training and institutional networking.

Applications are invited from postgraduate students, either currently undertaking or about to start a PhD, working in the field of comparative literature broadly defined. The summer school is fully funded by CHASE; accommodation costs and tuition fees of successful applicants will be covered.

Informal enquiries should be directed to Dr Patricia Novillo-Corvalán, Head of the Department of Comparative Literature, at p.novillo-corvalan@kent.ac.uk. Suitably qualified students should submit a brief CV and a one-page outline of their project to chasecomplit@kent.ac.uk by 12 April 2019.

The tragic story of the doomed love of the Queen of Carthage for the Trojan prince comes to Colyer-Fergusson Hall this Friday, in a performance featuring student and staff musicians in the University Cecilian Choir, String Sinfonia and soloists.

The role of Dido will be sung by postgraduate Law student and Music Performance Scholar, Helen Sotillo, and the semi-staged hour-long performance of Purcell’s enduringly-popular chamber opera will be prefaced by live music on the foyer-stage and costumed courtiers presiding over the foyer from 6.30pm as the audience arrives.

Tickets are £10 full price and £5 for students; join the Music Department and musicians from across the University as the curtain rises this Friday at 7pm. Tickets can be purchased online.

Kostas Gravanis, who is undertaking a PhD in History and Philosophy of Art in the School of Arts, has just been accepted for a six-month internship in the Vatican Museums.

The Vatican Museums offer an education and training programme for young specialists and students in restoration techniques. Each intern is assigned to a specific project involved in the museum’s activities.

Beginning in April, Kostas will be working in the area of the Stanze di Raffaello (Raphael Rooms). The internship is directly related to Kostas’ PhD research, as his project is provisionally entitled ‘Sources, Functions and Meaning of Imagery in the Vatican’s Raphael Rooms’. His PhD supervisors are Professor Tom Henry and Dr Ben Thomas.

The Stanze are a series of reception rooms in the Vatican Palace, famous for their beautiful frescoes painted by Raphael and his workshop (1508-24). The internship will give Kostas the opportunity to get involved with projects for the forthcoming 500th anniversary of Raphael’s death in Rome as well as with on-going restoration work in the Sala di Costantino.

Commenting on the internship, Kostas said: ‘Working in the Stanze at this specific time is a great honour and privilege. The anticipation of Raphael year 2020 is a thrill beyond words while the restoration projects are revealing fascinating new aspects of Raphael’s art’.

Professor Tom Henry, Director of the Rome School of Classical and Renaissance Studies, also commented on Kostas’ achievement: ‘Kostas stood out on our MA in History of Art in Rome and developed his PhD topic while there. It is a tremendous achievement for him to now be offered this highly prestigious internship back in the Vatican Museums and at such an exciting moment.’

Click her for more details on the Vatican Museum internships.

Would you like to learn the skills you need to challenge fake news and get work in a 21st century newsroom? Now you can do just that by taking a Year in Journalism with Kent’s award-winning Centre for Journalism.

This freestanding, self-contained year, is open to students from other schools at Kent and can be taken after stage two or three. It’s classed as part of your undergraduate study programme so you can continue with student finance and living locally while you study.

During the year, you will work exclusively within the Centre for Journalism, based in a live newsroom environment taught by tutors including working reporters, former editors of national newspapers and specialist correspondents.

You will study for the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) Diploma in Journalism, a nationally recognised professional qualification for a career in journalism.

Find out more and apply online now or meet us at one of our Year in Journalism Kickstart Lunches, on Thursday 28 February or Thursday 7 March in the Colyer-Fergusson Foyer, any time between 12.30 and 15.00. Book your place now by emailing journalism@kent.ac.uk

Come talk with us about your experience as a Muslim student in the University. This is your chance to have your say and converse with your peers to inform the University’s policies through your opinion. As part of the decolonising the curriculum project we are looking to have a conversation with 10 Muslim Male students currently enrolled in the University from any School. In this one and a half hour session you will be provided lunch ( Pizza) and drinks along with a Book voucher at the end of the session.

Register on Eventbrite. We have limited spaces (only 10).

The Department of History of Art is delighted to announce a new partnership initiative with The Beaney House of Art and Knowledge, part of the Canterbury Museums and Galleries group, and the Esmee Fairburn Fund to offer nine spring-term internships for our students.

The project will enable Stage 1 and Stage 2 students to help research and record the museum’s extensive art collection which includes work by Henry Moore and David Hockney in addition to a wide selection of Old Master material. Volunteers will also be asked to contribute to strategies for sharing the archive contents with members of the public.

Canterbury Christ Church University will be offered a further nine places under the scheme which is funded until August.

Canterbury Museums and Galleries is a National Portfolio Organisation recognised for its health and wellbeing work.  As part of the ‘Happy Museums’ initiative, the project will also explore the personal and experiential benefits of working with exhibition collections and curation activity more broadly.

For further information on the programme, please contact Dr Grant Pooke, Head of History of Art, School of Arts.