Study Plus courses are FREE to all Kent students and give you a chance to study for pleasure or improve your employability by learning new skills.

If you have summer travel plans, learn some useful phrases before you go, with Spanish (KE089), Japanese (KE090) or Arabic (KE091) for travel. You can take a beginners’ course in Business Mandarin (KE007) and if you already speak some Mandarin, you could take Discover Chinese Language and Culture (KE088).

If you’re looking to develop your employment prospects, look no further than Employability Skills (KE043), or Careers in the third sector (KE070). Post grad students can also sign up for Who are you? Improving your prospects by knowing your strengths (KE094). Our intensive 5-day course: Journalism (KE044) gives you the chance to experience the pressure and the pleasure of making real journalism to real deadlines under professional leadership.

The very popular Digital Photography course (KE122) is back, allowing you to get to grips with your digital SLR camera and learn to take better photos of people.

Dirty History (KE004) will appeal to Game of Thrones fans and anyone interested in separating medieval fact from fantasy.

Finally, Big Ideas (KE128-KE131) is a series of 4 stand alone workshops offering an introduction to western philosophy.

Most of the courses are on the Canterbury campus, but Journalism is at Medway. You can sign up for a course at Canterbury or Medway and use the free shuttle bus to travel to the course if it is not on your home campus.

You can sign up for a course via Workshops in the Student Data System. Please make sure that you are definitely able to do the course before signing up for it!
Find out more about Study Plus here.

You will be required to work 20 to 30 hours per week between 9am and 3pm (this will vary in accordance with business needs). Hours will vary from week to week and are not guaranteed.

Weekend working will be required and you must be available to work on Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 June 2017.

Successful applicants will be required to:

• Attend one of our HR inductions approx. 45 mins. on either 2,5,6,7,8 or 9 (returners only on 9) June 2017
• Attend a ½ day Housekeeping induction on either 5,6,7,8 or 9 (returners only on 9) June 2017

For the health, safety and welfare of staff and conference guests, all successful applicants will be required to attend a ½ day Housekeeping induction. Applicants must be able to demonstrate the required level of understanding in all areas covered in the training. Any staff not achieving the required standard will not be permitted to work.

• Start working on 12 June 2017

If you think this summer vacancy is for you, please apply by completing our online questionnaire: https://kent.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/summerhk2017

Closing date for applications: 24 May 2017 this may close early if we receive a large number of applications.

Our HR department will then email you by Tuesday 30 May to let you know whether or not your application has been successful. Please do not contact the HR department to check the status of your application, as they will be unable to answer individual enquiries.

Please find the following link to the Students’ Union (Kent Union) Code of Practice, which governs the arrangements for Kent Union, including the rights of members, opting out of membership and other important information.

Kent Union is a registered charity and therefore subject to the restrictions placed on charities by the law.  Kent Union’s charitable objects are the advancement of education of students at the University of Kent for the public benefit by:

1) Promoting the interests and welfare of students at the University of Kent during their course of study and representing, supporting and advising students;

2) Being the recognised representative channel between students and the University of Kent and any other external bodies; and

3) Providing social, cultural, sporting and recreational activities and forums for discussions and debate for the personal development of its students.

If you have any questions regarding this, please contact councilsec-staff@kent.ac.uk.

Jo Pearsall
Deputy Secretary of the Council

Adapted for the stage by Stephen Briggs, the University of Kent Players are proud to present Terry Pratchett’s Wyrd Sisters this April.

The University of Kent Players were founded in 2013 by Neil Hornsey and are made up of staff at Kent who love the theatre.

Follow witches Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick in Terry Pratchett’s Wyrd Sisters as they attempt to stop the destruction of their kingdom from the wicked Duke and Duchess. Expect ghosts, spells and a whole lot of fun as Pratchett’s reworking of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is brought to life.

Buy tickets from the Gulbenkian box office or online today!

This production will be raising money for The Orangutan Foundation and is directed by Vicky Gatward-Warner and Sophie Taylor-Gammon.

From Anthony Manning, Dean for Internationalisation and Rory Murray, Kent Union President

Dear Students

As you will be aware, the government has recently taken forward additional steps, through the triggering of Article 50, which will lead to UK’s exit from the European Union. Given this situation, Rory Murray, Kent Union President, and I would like to reiterate the fact that the University of Kent remains committed to the values of international education. These values are, and will always be, a fundamental aspect of the University’s Internationalisation Strategy and are also central to the key principles which underpin the activities of Kent Union.

The University and the Union remain committed to supporting students and staff as further details linked to the implications or Brexit emerge.

To find out more about what we’re doing and what support and advice is available to you, please contact

• Kent Union through Student Advice Centre on advice@kent.ac.uk or
• Student Services through online Contact Form for Student Support or via wellbeing@kent.ac.uk.

In addition UUK has complied a series of FAQs which may assist you with queries that you have:

• Will EU students still be able to study at UK universities?
• Will EU students continue to be eligible to receive loans and grants?
• What about students participating in the Erasmus+ exchange programme?
• Will UK universities still be able to employ staff from other EU countries?
• Will the UK continue to have access to EU funding for research and innovation such as Horizon 2020 and European Structural and Investment Funds?

As the UK’s European university, Kent’s connections with Europe and the wider international world, in the form of students, staff, educational-provision and research, are of critical importance to the nature of our global impact.

This is why, since the outcome of the EU referendum, we have been proactive in supporting our community and highlighting the necessary ongoing importance of Europe and the wider international world for Kent the wider UK Higher Education sector:

Some of our activities to date have been summarized below:

• Lobbying linked to key areas of Brexit-related impact for students and staff, with Universities UK (UUK), in line with the Brexit priorities document which is available here. This is very much with the support of our Vice-Chancellor, who is also the current national president of UUK
• New agreements and associated meetings with European Universities to allow ongoing European student exchange
• Development and support of European and other international partnerships to facilitate ongoing educational collaborations
• Support through Human Resources for our staff who feel impacted by the impact of Brexit
• Collaboration with UUK’s International division to inform governmental decision making linked to the future of Erasmus+
• Communications with students and staff through the Internationalisation Forum, staff meetings and the forthcoming Europe Day
• Student and staff communications through web and email via schools and professional service departments to clarify matters of concern as they have arisen, either in line with governmental information or the queries of individuals
• International and cultural events across campuses

As a manifestation of our recognition of the importance of the many dimensions of our internationalisation, please see one or more of the video-inks below which demonstrate how, as students and staff at Kent, there are many ways in which #WeAreEuropean and that, one way or another, we are #ALLinternational:

• Student WeAreEuropean Video
• Staff WeAreEuropean Video
• #ALLinternational Video
• #Student#GlobalCitizenship Video

Anthony Manning (Dean for Internationalisation) deaninternational@kent.ac.uk

Rory Murray (Kent Union President), Union-President@kent.ac.uk

Centre for Critical Thought Lecture: Paul Auerbach, Thursday 30 March 2017, 17.00 in Grimond Lecture Theatre 1 (GLT1).

‘Socialist optimism: an alternative political economy for the twenty-first century’

The Centre for Critical Thought invite you to their forthcoming talk with Paul Auerbach. Paul Auerbach, Reader in Economics at Kingston University, offers an alternative political economy for the twenty-first century in Socialist Optimism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016). Socialism as human development gives a unity and direction to progressive policies that are otherwise seen to be a form of pragmatic tinkering in the context of a pervasive capitalist reality.

All are welcome to attend, no booking necessary.

University of Kent School of Music and Fine Art (SMFA) lecturer and soprano Sarah Dacey released her debut solo album Calliope on 26 March.

Sarah – best known for being part of the Juice Vocal Ensemble – has teamed up with pianist Belinda Jones on the new album.

Featuring songs by some of the UK’s finest composers, including Kerry Andrew, Roger Marsh, Bushra El-Turk and Duncan MacLeod, the album is being issued by the SMFA’s Foundry Studio.

Studio Manager Phil Marsh described the songs’ subject matter as ‘eclectic’ and ‘a wonderful example of the breadth of 21st Century vocal repertoire that’s seldom published or recorded’.

For more information on Sarah Dacey see: www.sarahdacey.com

It’s the last pubTALK of the academic year already – where has the time gone?!

For April’s pubTALK we are excited to be welcoming Dr Michael Mills who will be discussing Doomsday Prepping and Contemporary American Politics. As usual, the talk will be held on the first Monday of the month (3rd April) at The Jolly Sailor, Canterbury.

At this pubTALK, we are also excited to be launching the University’s Pint of Science festival! Pint of Science is an international science festival that aims to deliver exciting and relevant research to the general public in an interesting, engaging and approachable way by bringing scientists to the pub and other accessible places. Universities across the world, simultaneously host their events each year in May and covers all aspects of research which are themed under the titles ‘Beautiful Mind’, ‘Atoms to Galaxies’, ‘Our Body’, ‘Planet Earth’, ‘Tech Me Out’ and ‘Our Society’.

This year will be the first time that the University of Kent is participating, so come along to pubTALK on Monday 3rd April (7pm to 9pm) to find out what Pint of Science events will be running and how you can get tickets.

We look forward to seeing you there!

An article by School of Music and Fine Art Graduate Teaching Assistant and PhD student, Moyra Derby, has been published in the Journal of Contemporary Painting. ‘Constraints between picture and painting: Some considerations at a distance’ appears in Volume 2, Issue 2.

A Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Founding Trustee of Crate Studio & Project Space in Margate, Moyra studied at University of Ulster at Belfast, Cheltenham School of Art and the Royal College of Art. Currently undertaking a practice based PhD in Fine Art with the support of a Vice Chancellors Scholarship, her research focuses on processes of attention as a productive context for contemporary painting.

Moyra also has work included in upcoming show Fully Awake from 6 to 21 April at blip blip blip, East Street Arts Patrick Studios, St. Mary’s Lane Leeds LS9 7EH. The Private View is 5 April 18.00-20.00, and the show is curated by Ian Hartshorne & Sean Kaye for Teaching Painting. More info http://www.blipblipblip.co.uk and http://www.art.mmu.ac.uk/profile/ihartshorne/projectdetails/884