Category Archives: Student Guide

Don’t miss this chance to try your hand at journalism for free

Study Plus and the Centre for Journalism at Medway are running a free journalism course from 12-16 June. If you’ve ever thought of a career in journalism, this is your chance to find out if you’ve got what it takes to gather and report the news.

The course offers an intensive immersion in the basic principles and practices of journalism in the multimedia age. During five days of teaching, you will learn what professional journalists do and how they do it. You will experience the pressure and pleasure of making real journalism to real deadlines under professional leadership.

The course is taught at the Centre for Journalism on the Medway campus, but is open to all Kent students. You can catch the free shuttle bus from Canterbury campus to Medway (you need to book this online): https://www.kent.ac.uk/campus-shuttle/

For more information on the course, please see the Study Plus website:

https://www.kent.ac.uk/studyplus/courses/coursesSkillsEmploy.html

To sign up, go to SDS>Workshops> Study Plus and choose KE044: Journalism

SMFA Postgraduate Presentation Days

Monday 5 June, 14.00-17.00 and Tuesday 6 June, 10.00-17.00, in the Galvanising Shop Performance Space, for the fourth consecutive year, the School of Music and Fine is hosting Postgraduate Presentation Days.

Our current PhD students and graduating MA cohort will be presenting their current areas of work, practice and research within the disciplines of Music, Music Technology and Fine Art, highlighting the exciting array of activity that takes place within the school.

The event will open with presentations from both PhD and MA students on the 5 June, followed by a full day of PhD presentations and an informal networking lunch for students and audience members on Tuesday 6 June. The audience will be invited to ask questions and open discussion with the presenting students.

Cycling and pedestrian disruption- Kent Union Summer Ball

There will be some disruption to cycle and pedestrian access in the Eliot area for the annual Kent Union Summer Ball.

Saturday 3 June from 18.00 (6pm) to Sunday 4 June 03.00 (3am)

All walk ways through to Eliot and Locke building will be closed.
No access to the Eliot cycle shelters or cycle bays to the side of Marlowe. See hatched area on map for the cycle areas that are closed.

We strongly advise that you relocate your bicycle to a different cycle shelter before 17.30 on Saturday.

Wednesday 31 May to Saturday 3 June

There will be some disruptions while Kent Union set up the area for the ball, these are as follows:

Eliot car park will be closed all week. (This disruption has been sent to all permit holders, see blog post). However you can still access the bike shelters until 17.30 Saturday.
Eliot garden will be closed.
All walk ways will remain accessible until 18.00 Saturday (see above)
The taxi rank outside the Venue will be closed on Saturday from 18.00.
Rutherford car park will be closed on Saturday to create a temporary taxi rank for the event.

Rutherford College – Emergency Light Testing

On the 30 May 2017 between 13.30 and 17.00, the annual emergency lighting test will be taking place.

The test will take approximately 3 hrs and lighting levels will be reduced for the duration.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused and your patience in this matter is greatly appreciated. If there are any queries please contact the helpdesk on Ext. 3209.

New way to find study spaces in the Templeman Library

You can see at a glance where there are free study spaces in Templeman West, without having to walk around the Library.

A screen near the Welcome Desk shows maps of the study spaces on floors 1,2 and 3 of the Templeman West extension, with dots showing which seats are free and which are being used.

It can give you an idea of where there are free spaces, so you know where to look when you go upstairs.

We’re piloting this service and plan to extend it to the rest of the Templeman Library during the 2017/18 academic year.

Tell us your views

What do you think of this? Does it make it easier to find study spaces? Let us know so we can improve our service: fill in our feedback form or email is-feedback@kent.ac.uk.

‘Stay safe’ guidance

Recent world events have led to requests for advice on how to respond in the unlikely event of an incident on- or off-campus.

The ‘Stay Safe’ principles (Run, Hide, Tell) set out by the UK Government provide some actions to consider in a terrorist or firearms incident, and the type of information that police officers may need in the event of an attack.

While there are no specific threats to the University of Kent, this ‘Stay safe’ guidance is available on the Campus Security webpages. Please find time to read through this information.

You’ll also find useful information on our security provision, SafeZone app and other aspects of personal safety.

The University’s Campus Security team are based at both the Canterbury and Medway campuses. If you have any concerns, they can be contacted on internal ext 3333 or 01227 823333 (emergencies only) or for enquiries on 3300 or 01227 823300.

Vegan cookery masterclass for University chefs

During the Easter vacation, a small group of chefs from the University of Kent were given the opportunity to take part in a two day cookery workshop led by local food based company, Dr Legumes. This workshop was designed to teach skills in vegan food preparation as well as raise awareness of how we, as a population, can support our health and wellbeing through a more plant-based diet.

What is Dr Legumes?
Dr. Legumes is the brainchild of Folkestone based duo, Jim and Lee, who aim to impact the health and wellbeing of the local community in a positive manner. Their mission is to show how we can support our health and happiness with plant-based nutrition and sustainability in mind. They deliver Secret Dinner Clubs, pop-ups, community events, cooking workshops and more, working not only with the public, but also schools, colleges and community groups.

During their time at the University, the duo had a great time sharing and cooking nine new recipes, including Mushroom Carpaccio, Cashew Stuffed Peppers, Wild Mushroom Pie, and Chocolate Beetroot Brownies. These dishes were then shared with eager staff and students from Sibson building who were delighted to sample new and exciting vegan dishes while learning about the health benefits.

The number of people in the UK who consider themselves vegan has risen by 350% in the past decade. Today, 542,000 people identify themselves as vegan, with another estimated 500,000 vegetarians considering the move. This plant-based movement has predominantly been driven by the young, with close to half of all vegans aged 15-34 (42%).

Watch Dr Legumes masterclass video here.

Kent Union’s Campus to Campus Cycle Challenge

Kent Union’s sports clubs and societies are a vital part of Kent students’ university experience, helping them maintain their mental and physical health, allowing them to make friends for life and providing them with invaluable life and career skills.

Our Access to Activities Fund provides support to students who wish to participate, but are unable to financially. It helps to pay membership fees, purchase essential equipment and contribute toward competitions, amongst other things:

“Horse riding has been an immense passion for me since I was young, but with the cost of going to university I was resigned to giving it up for a very long time. With the Access to Activities Fund I’ve been able to pay the Equestrian Society fee as well as some lessons. I’m overjoyed!”
Foundation Year Physics student

Unfortunately, the demand from students is higher than we are able to cater for at the moment; this year the fund was oversubscribed by over £15,000.

In light of this, we have set ourselves the ambitious target of raising £10,000 for the Fund for next academic year, by cycling between 4 University of Kent campuses in 4 days; From Thursday 8 June until Sunday 11 June, we will cycle from Medway to Canterbury, then Brussels, and finally on to Paris, covering nearly 100 miles per day – that’s 380 miles in total!

To support the challenge, on 8 June the Rowing club will row 28.3 miles along the Medway river and the Cycling Club will cycle along from Medway to Dover; and from 7 June until 11 June the Athletics Club will run 350 miles from Canterbury to Paris!

Please support our challenge to help ensure no student misses out on an amazing experience at Kent.

Visit our campaign page to donate directly.

Beverley Farmhouse East Elevation – Window Refurbishment

From 17 to 31 May 2017, there will be 10 x windows and 1 x door that require refurbishment on the east elevation of Beverley Farmhouse.

The works will be all external and the contractors will not need any access into the premises. Noise and disruption will be minimal. The “salt“ store will also be undertaking a refurbishment including painting and roofing felt repairs.

All areas affected will be properly barricaded off with relevant signage advising of access routes.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused and your patience in this matter is greatly appreciated. If there are any queries, please contact the Estates Helpdesk on ext 3209.

Governance and planetary crises: challenges and agendas for human ecology

A School of Anthropology and Conservation Human Ecology special event, exploring the concept of planetary governance in an age of uncertainty and human-induced crises, will take place in Marlowe Lecture Theatre 1 from 10.00 to 13.00 on 2 June.

Attendance is free and open to all, but you will need to register online.

This half-day conference addresses a central paradox confronting industrial society, if not humanity, as it heads into the twenty-first century: the collective ability of humans, or of some humans at any rate, to fundamentally transform the Earth and its life-supporting capability is not matched by an ability to act collectively and concertedly in a way that supports those capacities over the foreseeable future.

Four internationally-renowned speakers will respond to the provocation that the Anthropocene, formulated in terms of governance and planetary-scale problems and processes, signals not just a new geological epoch, but a new epoch of thought and politics, with its corresponding epistemic, methodological, institutional, normative and legal dimensions.

Speakers:

Dr. Frank Biermann (Utrecht University, The Netherlands), Navigating the Anthropocene: From Environmental Policy to Earth System Governance.

Philipp Pattberg (VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands), Governing the Anthropocene: Challenges and Prospects.

Dr Rory Rowan (University of Zurich, Switzerland), Governing the Earth: Earth System Governance and the Post-Political .

Dr. Davor Vidas (The Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway), The Anthropocene: The New Meaning of Change and Stability Under International Law.

Further details can be found on the conference’s flyer.