Dr Tamara Rathcke, Lecturer in Linguistics in the Department of English Language & Linguistics,  has been awarded a Leverhulme Trust Research Project Grant as Primary Investigator for a study entitled ‘Does Language Have Groove? Sensorimotor Synchronisation for the Study of Linguistic Rhythm’.

The study will ask ‘is language rhythmic?’ For decades, linguists have been controversially debating this seemingly simple but profoundly important question that connects language with other aspects of human cognition.

The present project is an original study of language rhythm from a cross-linguistic, typological perspective. The project’s innovative methodological approach capitalises on the recent advances made by music psychology and movement sciences in the understanding of rhythm through studying perception-action coupling in sensorimotor synchronisation tasks.

The results will lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying rhythmic experience in language and a more elaborate linguistic concept of rhythm, ultimately helping to resolve the long-standing controversy.

This research is expected to be of great interest to an interdisciplinary community of linguists, musicologists, psychologists, clinicians and computing scientists, and to fuel new energy in  this research field.

Dr Rathcke will be undertaking the project with co-investigators Dr Simone Falk (University of Paris III, Sorbonne Nouvelle) and Professor Simone Dalla Bella (International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research).

For more details on Leverhulme Trust Research Project Grants, please see the Leverhulme webpages.

This Thursday and Friday (11-12 Jan), Kent will be hosting ‘Radical Pedagogies: A Humanities Teaching Forum’. The full programme information is attached and online.

We have a range of sessions and talks over the 2-days, with highlights including a keynote by Prof. Richard Hall from 16.00-17.00 on Thursday in Rutherford LT1 entitled ‘Dismantling the Curriculum in Higher Education’, followed by a drinks reception at 17.00. We have sessions on Tactile learning, BME Challenges and Widening Participation.

Our keynote on Friday from 13.00-14.00 in RLT2 is from Dr. Shahidha Bari from Queen Mary. Her talk is entitled ‘The Art of an Education’.

Do feel free to drop into any of the sessions that might interest you. You can also follow the event on Twitter with the hashtag #radicalkent18.

PROGRAMME

09.30-09.55 Registration and Refreshments
Rutherford Foyer

09.55-10.00 Welcome from Clarie Hurley & Tom Ritchie
Rutherford Lecture Theatre 1

10.00-11.00 Paula McElearney – ‘What ‘Gives Life’ to Critical and Radical Pedagogies’
Rutherford Lecture Theatre 1

Chaired by Kathleen M Quinlan

11.00-12.15 Panel Option One: BME Challenges
Rutherford Lecture Theatre 2

Dave Thomas – ‘Critical Race Theory (CRT): A framework for libertaing, learning, teaching, assessment and the curriculum in higher education (HE)’

Chaired by Richard Hall

11.00-12.15 Panel Option Two: Pedagogical Consciousness
Rutherford Seminar Room 4

Kathleen M Quinlan – ‘How High Education Feels: Commentaries on Poems that Illuminate Emotions in Learning Teaching’

Darren Webb – ‘To explore “the archaeology of consciousness” as an aspect of utopain pedagogy’

Chaired by Sian Harris.

12.15-13.15 Lunch
Rutherford Foyer

13.15-14.30 Panel Option One: The Student Journey 
Ruterhford Seminar Room 4

Geoff Bunn – ‘The Student Journey’, Power Relations and the Development of Agency.

Benjamin Poore – ‘Some Versions of Tranistion’.

Charied by Lee-Ann Sequeira

13.00 – 14.30 Panel Option Two: Experimental Teaching
Rutherford Lecture Theatre 2

Reanne Crane – “Going easy o names and notions’: An Education in Direct Experience and the Antidote to Dogma’.

Maria Kukhareva – Dramatising the learning experience : student engagement through student-led enquiry, emotional connection and subjectivity’.

Chaired by Darren Webb

14.30-14.45 Refreshments
Rutherford Foyer

14.45-16.00 Panel Option One: Widening Participation
Rutherford Seminar Room 4

Sheree Palmer – ‘How can I incres my impact as a teacher upon WP and BME students?’

Lucy Watson – ‘Intercultural Perspectives in EAP: Putting international Students on the Map’.

Chaired by Tom Ritchie

14.45-16.00 Panel Option Two – The Student Voice
Rutherford Lecture Theatre 2

Claire Hurley joined by first-year undergraduate students from Queen Mary.

Chaired by Claire Hurley.

16.00-17.00 Richard Hall Keynote Address: ‘Dismantling the Curriculum in High Education.’
Rutherford Lecture Theatre

Chaired by Tom Ritchie

17.00-18.00 Drinks Reception
Rutherford Foyer

DAY TWO – Friday 12 January

9:00 – 9:45 – Refreshments
Rutherford Foyer

9:45 – 10:45 Lee-Ann Sequeira – ‘The Problem with Silent Students –It’s You, Not Them’ Rutherford Lecture Theatre 1

Chaired by Benjamin Poore

10:45 – 12:00 Panel Option One: Tactile Learning
Rutherford Lecture Theatre 2

Laura Way – ‘A return to ‘cutting and sticking’…Punk Pedagogy and Zine Making in HE’

Louisa Horner and Emma Wilkinson – ‘Flooding: An overwhelming approach to teaching ‘messy Histories’’

Chaired by Shahidha Bari

10:45 – 12:00 Panel Option Two – Collaborative Learning
Rutherford Seminar Room 4

Madeline Worsley ‘Learning Partnership: Collaboratively embedding a model that reinforces personal and professional development’

Catherine Bates & Kay Sidebottom – ‘Finding spaces to dance – collaboration and co-production as a form of resistance’

Chaired by  Malcolm Noble

12:00 – 13:00 Lunch
Rutherford Foyer

13:00 – 14:00 Shahihda Bari Keynote Address: ‘The Art of an Education’
Rutherford Lecture Theatre 1

Chaired by Claire Hurley

14:00 – 15:15 Panel Option One: Co-operation, not competition
Rutherford Lecture Theatre 2

Malcolm Noble and Tracy Walsh – Learning and teaching for the post-capitalist economy

Chaired by Malcolm Noble &
Tracy Walsh

14:00 – 15:15 Panel Option Two: Assessment
Rutherford Seminar Room 4

Will Tattersdill – ‘Assessment and Feedback – A Discussion’

Rita Balestrini – ‘A teacher-learner collaborative appraisal of rubrics for performance based assessment in foreign languages’

Chaired by Katja May

15:00 – 15:30 Refreshments

15:30 – 16:30 Sian Harris – ‘Connections and Reflections’
Rutherford Lecture Theatre 2

Chaired by Maria Kukhareva

Final year students at the University of Kent are invited to pop into the 2018 Graduation Launch event which will be held on the Medway campus between 11.00 and 17.00

This event will take place on Wednesday 17 January 2017 and will give you details of:
– what to expect from your graduation
– what you need to before your graduation
– recent Kent alumni and where they are now
– and finally… which date and time you will be graduating!

There will also be representatives from local hotels and restaurants around Rochester who will be available to give information and take bookings for your graduation day. We recommend that students book their accommodation and meals early to avoid disappointment – Rochester sells out quickly graduation week!

More details will be divulged soon. Please note the event is not compulsary however, this will be the official release of your graduation date which will not be available until this time. So we highly recommend that you attend!

The Learning and Teaching Network provides sessions based around the categories used in the National Student Survey for staff working towards enhancing learning, teaching and assessment.

Details of sessions arranged for the Spring Term are now available to view at https://www.kent.ac.uk/teaching/networks/ltn/index.html

All staff are welcome to attend.

To confirm your attendance please email cpdbookings@kent.ac.uk

The next Pub Night will be on Tuesday 30 January with the theme of business start-up. This will be a great opportunity to network with fellow alumni and current Kent students and catch up on news from Kent.

The Kent Hub for Innovation and Enterprise will be joining us to talk about how you can start your own business and what help the University can give students, staff and alumni.

Come along to find out about business start-up workshops, online modules, mentors and workspace facilities that may help you get your business going.

You’ll also get the chance to hear from and speak to Kent graduate, David Browne, who started his own business with help from the University so it will be great for those who are not sure where to start or those just starting. David founded Convert Energy, a renewable energy design and project management company based in Canterbury, with his business partner Ben Glancy.

We will be at the Miller’s Arms in Canterbury on Tuesday 30 January from 18.00 – 20.00. Please come along even if you aren’t thinking of starting your own business to meet with current students and fellow alumni!

Click here to register and get your first drink free.

You may have seen in the news that a vulnerability has been found which affects central processing units (CPUs) in many of the devices we all use.

What we are doing:

Information Services are working hard to ensure that University Infrastructure is updated appropriately, and that any potential risks are mitigated.

What you should do:

We advise you to apply security updates for your own devices as you would normally. It is always important to keep your device updated with the latest security updates.

We will offer further advice through IS News as manufacturers respond to the issue. Further details and advice can be from the National Cyber Security Centre and on the BBC News website.

We are delighted to announce that the Student Success Staff Seminars will be taking place on a monthly basis, both Medway and Canterbury Campuses throughout the Spring and Summer terms. The purpose of these events is to update staff on the work of the project and allow colleagues from across the University to have input and exchange ideas. All staff are invited to attend so please do circulate this invitation to colleagues.

For full details of the seminars please visit the Student Success website

The first seminar “Virtual Student Advisor (Codename: MyDot)” will be delivered by James Grant, Systems Development Manager and Paul Sinnock IT & Technical Services Manager for EDA.

Thursday 18 January 2018, Canterbury Campus, Keynes College, Keynes Seminar room 16, 13.00-14.00

Friday 19 January 2018, Medway Campus, Pilkington Building, PK104, 13.00-14.00

University services are often presented according to the university organisational structure, rather than according to student need. The Virtual Student Advisor (codename: MyDot) aims to change this. The Student Success Project is proud to be working in partnership with the school of Engineering and Digital Arts, with the aim of consolidating the presentation of university services to students.

This seminar will explore how local need within a school is being used as a starting point to explore the narrative of innovation within the university. We will explore our processes, the system, and uncover some interesting and difficult questions.

To register attendance at this, or any of the other seminars published online please email through to studentsuccessproject@kent.ac.uk

There will be the opportunity to meet teams across Commercial Services (Kent Hospitality, Kent Sport and Gulbenkian), taste lots of delicious food samples from our catering outlets as well as chat about your forthcoming events and find out about the wide range of services and facilities we can offer including:

•       Event Management and delegate registration services

•       Conferences and Events – Canterbury and Medway campuses

•       Leisure and Special Interest groups

•       Bed & Breakfast

•       Beverley Farmhouse accommodation

•       Delivered catering

•       Beagle fine dining

•       Our catering venues

•       KentOne Card

•       Student accommodation

•       Housekeeping and reception services

•       Kent Sport

•       Gulbenkian

This event is not to be missed, so please register online today, make sure it’s in your diary and we look forward to seeing you on Thursday 11 January.

(Please note, registration closes on Monday 8 January).

For any queries relating to the Showcase, please contact the Conference Office on 01227 828000 or eventregistrations@kent.ac.uk