Following the award of the 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature to Emeritus Professor Abdulrazak Gurnah we have great pleasure in celebrating this wonderful achievement with a display of his works in the Templeman Library Welcome Hall.   

Running from 10 February until 15 April, you can take your own journey to ‘Paradise’ and explore his stories of love and war, politics and history: in short, of human nature and the human heart in its infinite complexity.  

His books, some of which were first drafted in the Templeman Library, have touched millions worldwide and shine a light on human experiences that are so often ignored. The Nobel Committee awarded this year’s Prize to Professor Gurnah for ‘his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents.’ 

We are very excited to share the collection with our students, staff and visitors to the Library in-person or online! You can browse and borrow any book from the display or discover more in our digital resources list of e-books. 

In an exclusive, sold out appearance at the Gulbenkian Arts Centre on Thursday 24 February 2022, Nobel Laureate & Professor Emeritus of English and Postcolonial Literatures Abdulrazak Gurnah returns to Kent to reflect on his life, writing, and sense of place and belonging. This event will be live streamed on the University’s YouTube channel so you will still be able to enjoy Professor Gurnah’s talk.

Our children’s holiday camps for 5 to 12 year olds are coming back and they’re bigger than ever!

We’re now including non-traditional sports plus games and activity sessions in the daily timetable, including Nerf, Drums Alive, Mini Golf, New Age Kurling and much more. Your child will still receive professional coaching in traditional sports, such as football, rugby, and cricket, with all sessions being delivered by experienced and DBS verified camp staff, providing the perfect way to keep your 5 to 12-year olds entertained over the school holidays.

EasterZone

Our next children’s holiday camp is EasterZone on Monday 11 to Thursday 14 April 2022. You can book your child’s place here.

Booking and payment

Booking and payment for EasterZone 2022 is easy and can be completed through our EasterZone online store. A booking form will need to be completed for each child you wish to book on our holiday camps. Spaces can be booked either for individual days or the full four days. Spaces are limited so book your space early.

EasterZone 2022 prices

Late pick-ups are available from 3pm to 5pm and include staff-led fun games and creative activities.

If you have any questions about our children’s holiday camps, please email sportsdevelopment@kent.ac.uk or call 01227 816391. Alternatively, please contact us if you would like to be added to our mailing list for future camps.

The University is celebrating its strong tradition of creative reuse as part of international Fair Use / Fair Dealing Week

For the first time, Kent will be taking part in Fair Dealing Week from 21-25 February – a celebration of the flexibility in copyright law allowing creative reuse of copyright material.

At our online event (via MS Teams) on Wednesday 23 February from 17:00 to 18:30, we will demonstrate how research, education and engagement at Kent are underpinned by a copyright literacy strategy. We will also outline associated policy, which encourages Kent staff and students to make informed use of legal provisions.

Draft programme

• Introduction from Professor Richard Reece – Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education and Student Experience) and Chair of the Copyright Steering Group
• The University of Kent Copyright Literacy Strategy and fair dealing – Chris Morrison, Copyright and Licensing Specialist
• A Journey of Creative Reuse in Filmmaking – Dr Richard Misek, Senior Lecturer, School of Arts and independent film maker
• Teaching Digital Arts students through games and play – Dr Alexandra Covaci, Lecturer, School of Engineering and virtual reality researcher
• Parody, pastiche, pandemic songs and copyright – Dr Ben Marsh, Reader, School of History and musical director of the Marsh Family internet sensation. In conversation with Chris Morrison and Dr Jane Secker (co-founders copyrightliteracy.org).

Sign up now

Sign up for the online event now via this Eventbrite link.

Our talented LGBTQ+ students have created a range of art pieces based on their experiences of ‘LGBTQ+ In Lockdown’. You can view the display in Keynes Atrium all month.

For millions of people across the UK, and the world, the Covid-19 lockdowns were a turbulent, emotional and difficult time that placed intense pressure on an individuals’ mental health. Many are still living, and struggling, with the aftereffects.

This exhibition showcases the creative talents of LGBTQ+ students at the University as they reflect on their experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic, and in particular the lockdowns throughout 2020 and into 2021.

For LGBTQ+ students, alongside the pressure of trying to juggle studies, work and the anxiety caused by the global pandemic, there was the additional pressure of being away from their university support networks, potentially being forced to live in a hostile environment, or having to pause or further delay treatment or medical processes for an unknown period of time. For many, lockdown was incredibly traumatic.

For other members of the community, the lockdowns represented an opportunity for deep self-reflection and discovery; a chance to explore their identities.

This collection of art and poetry, commissioned from over 20 student artists from the LGBTQ+ community, reflects the diverse range of feelings and experiences that are reflective of our wider community, both at Kent and beyond and offers a window into the different meanings that the word ‘lockdown’ had for students.

The artists were encouraged to reflect upon what lockdown meant for them as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, both the positives and the negatives. For some, lockdown was an experience that they hoped would never be repeated. For others, it was a period of contemplation and enlightenment. For many, it was both.

Thanks to Student Services and Kent County Council who funded this project. 

See more LGBT+ History Month events. 

Thank you to everyone who has already offered to help at this year’s Celebration Ceremonies and Congregations.

Graduation is a key moment in the lives of all our students and, following the pandemic, we’re keen to ensure this year’s ceremonies from March onwards are extra special.

It’s great that so many colleagues across the University have already shown an interest, but we always need more help – for roles from ticket collection to graduate registration, ushering and handing out certificates.

Benefits for you

These are wonderful occasions to share with our graduates and help celebrate their success, but there are plenty of other benefits for you too, including:

• The ceremonies are a great way to get to know colleagues in both your own team and across the University.
• If you work two or more ceremonies, you will receive a free lunch/dinner.
• If you’re on grades 1-6, you can claim for TOIL (time off in lieu) or overtime payments.
• If you’re on a higher grade, you may be able to claim time back, subject to agreement with your manager.

Find out more

Watch our video on how you can help make our ceremonies extra special!

Further information on what’s involved is also available in our Congregations Factsheet and you can find out about the ceremony dates here. Feel free to email us at congregations@kent.ac.uk if you have any questions.

If you’re ready to sign up, please complete this form asap.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Liberty Chambers and Chloe Cooper, Congregations team

The E-Learning Team are pleased to announce that the next event in our series of ‘Digitally Enhanced Education webinars’ will take place on Wednesday 16 February from 14:00 – 16:45 (GMT), with the theme ‘Pedagogy and Practice when teaching and learning Online’.

Agenda:

• 14:00 – 14:05 – Dr Phil Anthony (University of Kent): Introduction
• 14:05 – 14:20 – Professor Kathleen M Quinlan (University of Kent): Returning to the lecture hall? how to trigger students’ interest in large group settings
• 14:20 – 14:35 – Jessica Moody (Advance HE): Building ‘belonging’ in online teaching
• 14:35 – 14:50 –  John Moran, Professor Debbie Holley & Adam Bancroft (University of Bournemouth): ‘Martian Attack: the story so far…
• 14:50 – 15:05 – Katalin Hanniker & Irina Niculescu (University of Surrey): Co-designing a module with students and staff from different universities, time zones and cultures
• 15:05 – 15:20 – Amy Rattenbury (Wrexham Glyndwr University): Locking down the fundamentals for Scaling Up your teaching
• 15:20 – 15:30 – Break
• 15:30 – 15:45 – Chris Morrison (University of Kent) & Dr Jane Secker (University of London): Copyright and online learning at a time of transition
• 15:45 – 16:00 – Dr Mark O Connor (University of Kent): Online and blended provision: What can we learn from MOOCs… and what else do we need?
• 16:00 – 16:15 – Ben Watson (UCL) & George Rhodes (University of Westminster): What are the foundations for meaningful adoption of a digitally accessible culture in the education sector? Lessons from multiple organisations.
• 16:15 – 16:30 – Dr Suzanna Klaf & Dr Amanda Irvin (Columbia University): Five Principles for Inclusive Teaching and Learning  
• 16:30 – 16:45 – Dr Julie McGurk (Yale University) & Dr Jamiella Brooks (University of Pennsylvania): Rigor as Inclusive Practice

Please share

Colleagues from outside the University of Kent are very welcome to join this community and so feel free to circulate. Please ask anyone wishing to join to complete the Digitally Enhanced Education registration form if they haven’t already. We add them to the mailing list linked to the series. 

 If you would like to present at a future event, please submit a short synopsis and Phil Anthony will be in touch. 

Best wishes,

The E-Learning Team

We were sorry to hear news of the death of Sir Crispin Tickell, Chancellor of the University of Kent from 1996-2006.

Sir Crispin was a career diplomat. He advised four prime ministers and, as cited in his Guardian obituary, had formidable intellect and displayed impeccable timing when intervening in policy.

In a long career, he had often found himself in the right place at the right time. In 1956, as a junior Foreign Office official, he dispatched a Royal Navy destroyer to deter a threatened Argentinian invasion of the Falkland Islands, an intervention that was successful.

He was involved in many negotiations on behalf of the British government, from arms control with the Russians, to entry talks to the European Community in 1972. But perhaps his greatest contribution to forming policy was on the environment. He argued for mandatory international pollution control, something that is finally taking shape.

In 1977, while taking a sabbatical at Harvard he wrote Climatic Change and World Affairs, one of the first, and for at least a decade, the only book on the coming climate crisis, and what governments should do to prevent it.

Sir Crispin’s final diplomatic post was as British ambassador to the United Nations and permanent representative on the UN Security Council from 1987 until 1990. It was in this post that he played an active part in the talks to end the Iran/Iraq war.

Following “retirement”, Sir Crispin chaired Major’s government panel on Sustainable Development from 1994 until 2000 and was a member of two Labour government taskforces. He was warden of Green College, Oxford from 1990 to 1997 and Chancellor of the University of Kent from 1996 to 2006. He was also president of the Royal Geographical Society (1990-93) and the Marine Biological Society (1990-2001).

You can read the full obituary for Sir Crispin on Guardian online.

If the winter blues or work stress is getting to you, it might be time to try singing the blues away!

Try something new and feel connection, create community and lift your spirits… We are delighted to invite you to join the University Community Choir, meeting weekly on Canterbury campus. 

The pandemic has been a challenging time and left many of us feeling a bit isolated. Create new connections within the University community and get away from your work and study in a relaxed and uplifting environment.

Singing in a Choir has many benefits, it’s informal, social, and helps you focus on something different as part of a group. Most importantly it’s fun!  

It’s free to join, and there are no auditions, and you don’t need to be able to read music. Come along to meet others, or bring a friend. Starting from 9 February, every Wednesday. Sign up now!   

Upcoming dates

• Wednesday 16 February, 14.00-15.00 (Grimond Lecture Theatre 3)
• Wednesday 23 February, 14.00-15.00 (Grimond Lecture Theatre 3)

Spread the word to anyone else (staff or student) who might enjoy this opportunity. If you have any questions, please email Mita Mondal