Keynes (pronounced “kaynz”) College celebrates its 50th birthday this year and a programme of events has been put together to celebrate. From exhibitions and presentations, to competitions and festivals, there is something for everyone.

For a copy of the most up to date programme please visit Keynes College Events. Please note that the programme will be updated regularly.

For more information on any of the events, or to contribute to the programme, please contact Chloe Gallien, Master of Keynes College: C.Gallien@kent.ac.uk

Peter Stanfield, Professor of Film and Media in the School of Arts, featured in The Sunday Post at the beginning of the week, interviewed for an article entitled ‘Ride Off Into the Boxset: From Westworld to Red Dead Redemption, Why We All Just Love Cowboy Westerns’, in the edition dated 29 October 2018.

The article ties in with the release of the video game Red Dead Redemption 2, which immerses players in the Wild West to engage in gun slinging and cattle rustling.

The article draws upon Peter’s research expertise in the Hollywood Westerns. Peter explains that the themes of the classic Western are timeless: ‘It is mouldable to whatever age in which it’s made. When it was a really popular genre, it spoke to the popular concerns of the day. The Gene Autry films were about the plight of the working man and the Great Depression.’

To read the full article, please see the page here.

Dr Helen Brooks, Reader in Theatre and Cultural History in the School of Arts, has featured in a documentary on Untold Stories of World War 1. The documentary, presented by historian Dan Snow for the digital channel History Hit, premiered on 1 November 2018.

The ambitious documentary is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council(AHRC) and draws together expertise and material from 26 universities and organisations. Helen contributed her expertise from her research as part of the Great War Theatre project and her involvement as a co-investigator on Gateways to the First World War: an AHRC-funded consortium for public engagement with the centenary of the conflict.

As well as exploring the plays that were produced during the conflict, the documentary also features the use of stately homes as hospitals, uncovers material from German photographer Käthe Buchler who documented her hometown during the war, and examines an excavation of a military base.

The trailer can be viewed below, or via the following link:
https://youtu.be/Img1sBuh0X8

The annual 25 Year Lunch was held in the Beagle Restaurant on Monday, 22 October, with the Vice-Chancellor hosting and Alison Ross-Green, Director of HR & OD, accompanying her.

The lunch celebrates and recognises the contribution each staff member has made over the years at the University.  In recognition of their time at Kent, invitees can choose to receive a gift (we work in partnership with Fenwicks) which will be presented to them by the Vice-Chancellor or, they can opt to have a donation made to a charity of their choice.  Nine members of staff attended to celebrate their 25 years at the university and, although the gathering was smaller than usual, the Beagle Restaurant was the perfect venue and a thoroughly enjoyable time was had by all.

Kent Law School Professor Diamond Ashiagbor has been elected as an Honorary Bencher of the Middle Temple, one of the four Inns of Court.

Honorary Masters of the Bench are recognised by the Inn’s members as distinguished individuals from other walks of life who have excelled in their respective professions. Professor Ashiagbor, who was elected at a ‘Bench Call’ ceremony on Wednesday 31 October, joins a group of 141 Honorary Benchers whose number include Professor Kate Malleson (Queen Mary University of London), Clive Stafford Smith (Director of Reprieve), Loretta Lynch (83rd Attorney General of the United States), Sir Mark Rylance (actor) and Sir Paul Nurse (geneticist and cell biologist, Nobel Prize winner).

Masters of the Bench, or Benchers, are responsible for the governance of the Inn. They are elected by their peers from among the Inn’s members who have been Called to the Bar; the majority are Queen’s Counsel or senior members of the judiciary.

Professor Ashiagbor joined Kent Law School last month. She was previously Professor of Law and Director of Research at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London. She has research interests in labour/employment law; regional integration (the European Union and the African Union); labour law, trade and development; human rights, equality and multiculturalism; economic sociology of law; socio-legal studies; law and the humanities. She is the author of the monograph The European Employment Strategy: Labour Market Regulation and New Governance, which won the Peter Birks/Society of Legal Scholars Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship 2006.

Do you need help with your spoken English for seminars and presentations? Would you like to refine your spoken accuracy, fluency and pronunciation?

The Centre for English and World Languages are offering FREE individual speaking tutorials open to all international students. Each session lasts 45 minutes during which you will meet with an academic member of staff who will provide you with advice and feedback on your speaking.

To book your free session, please email cewl@kent.ac.uk.

For more information, please visit our website.

Colleagues are invited to the e-learning forum on Tuesday 27 November, 12.00-13.30 in the UELT Seminar Room, Canterbury Campus.

This session will encourage practitioners to think creatively about alternative uses of lecture capture technologies, and showcase innovative uses from academics at the University of Kent.

Participants will also be encouraged to share their own experiences and to consider strategies for incorporating content recorded using capture technologies into their overall educational approach. The ideas and best practices discussed could provide valuable insight for any academic thinking about trying to improve student experience and increase engagement with the curriculum.

Participants will engage in an action learning activity ‘Capture Technology Bingo’ where they will be presented with a series of alternative use cases for capture technology and use it to critically evaluate their own practice/institutional practice. Participants will be encouraged to share examples from their own experience and consider strategies for successfully incorporating captured content into their overall educational approach.

Themes for discussion during this session will include:

• How might alternative uses of (lecture) capture technologies impact positively on student satisfaction?
• How might the functionality of (lecture) capture technologies be used to improve assessment and feedback processes?

To book a place please complete the online booking form.

If you have any queries please contact cpdbookings@kent.ac.uk

Dr Beth Breeze, Director of the Centre for Philanthopy, was delighted to receive £10,000 from Blackbaud to support two scholarships for excellent students who wish to register for the MA Philanthropic Studies.

For almost 40 years, Blackbaud has been developing software and services for not-for-profit organisations. They are offering the scholarships as they value the importance of fundraising education and recognise the benefit of strengthening provision at Kent to support good practice across the UK.

Fundraising is widely understood as an essential but complex role, for which most practitioners lack appropriate and substantive training. Research shows that the vast majority of UK fundraisers learn ‘on the job’ and with the benefit of very minimal in-job training, such as one day courses and reading trade magazines.

Filling this education gap is a key priority of the Centre for Philanthropy at the University of Kent, the only university outside of North America to offer a Masters-level degree programme in Philanthropic Studies. This two year part-time course, taught by distance learning including on-campus days, is designed to fit around the professional and personal commitments of practitioners. The programme has recruited over 70 students since launching in September 2016

These scholarships will ensure the programme is as accessible as possible to meet the widespread demand for trained and talented fundraisers by making it affordable for charities and fundraisers. Dr Breeze said “We are thrilled to receive this generous funding from Blackbaud, who share our desire to help professionalise fundraising in the UK”.