Alumnus Dr Simon Elliott, who completed his PhD in the Department of Classical & Archaeological Studies earlier in the year, has been elected as a trustee of the Council for British Archaeology.
The President of the Council of British Archaeology is television present Dan Snow, who hosts the podcast Dan Snow’s History Hit, which recently featured Simon on the 1 October edition.
Our congratulations to Simon.
Professor Ian Beckett, of the School of History, has completed a round of 16 radio interviews for local stations across the country following research he undertook for the military charity, Forces Net.
The new website www.forces.net/remembrance has an interactive map with additional material showing every conflict in which British servicemen and women have served since 1914 and the cost in lives.
The aim is to inform and educate the public about British participation in conflicts, peacekeeping missions and deployments from such well known conflicts as Afghanistan to those long forgotten such as military supervision of the plebiscite in Upper Silesia in 1921.
The research was accompanied by a survey. It revealed that 92% of those asked did not know how many members of the British armed forces had died in wars and conflicts since 1914 [1,088,879], 85% were not aware of more than half of those conflicts in which the armed forces had been involved since 1945 [61], and more than a third were unaware of any of current conflicts in which British forces were involved.
Depending upon region, between 83% and 91% did not know how many members of the armed forces had died on active service since 1945 [7.048]. An astonishing 56% of those aged 18-24 were not aware that British armed forces had participated in the Second World War!
Professor Beckett, Professor of Military History at Kent, said: ‘There is understandable emphasis upon the commemoration of the two world wars with the ongoing centenary of the Great war and the 75th anniversary of the Second World War. The public is also aware of recent conflicts such as Iraq and Afghanistan.The significance and value pf the Remembrance campaign is that it reminds us of those other occasions on which service personnel have made the ultimate sacrifice.’
The Centre for Critical Thought is delighted to invite you to a lecture by Dr Sean Molloy of the School of Politics and International Relations on Thursday 23 November.
The lecture, entitled entitled ‘Removing the ‘The Foul Stain of Our Species’? Mankind, Providence and the Prospect of Salvation in Kant’ will take place in Eliot Lecture Theatre 2 at 17.00.
All are welcome (University staff, students and the general public) and no booking is necessary.
Details of Dr Sean Molloy’s new book on Kant’s International Relations can be found here.
Academic and professional services staff are invited to try the digital classrooms in the Templeman Library. Be part of this pilot that will help shape how we use technology in the future.
Come to a digital classrooms drop-in session, and find out the features a digital classroom offers get hands-on experience of using the equipment chat to us about using a digital classroom next term.
Sessions are in the Templeman Library, TSR5: A Block, Ground Floor:
If you can, please tell us you’re coming so we have some idea of numbers: futurelearningspaces@kent.ac.uk.
If you can’t book a place in advance, please come along anyway! We will make sure everyone can join in.
Or contact us to find out more: email the Future Learning Spaces team at futurelearningspaces@kent.ac.uk
More about our digital classrooms pilot
The Library has two digital classrooms for the 2017-18 academic year. They are pilot rooms, designed under the Future Learning Spaces project. This is a collaboration between Estates, UELT, Information Services and Timetabling.
The project supports the University Education and Student Experience Strategy 2016-2020. It is exploring innovative teaching space design including:
How are they being used?
16 academics have taken the opportunity of teaching in the rooms, enabling them to understand the extended functionality and experiment with different teaching approaches.
At the end of the pilot, academics who have used the rooms will help us evaluate them. This will feed into teaching space provision.
Student Volunteer Week is a chance for you to get involved in making a difference in the community and going above and beyond! We want you to get involved in our volunteering projects, support the activities the student groups are running and fundraise!
This is a great opportunity for you to get involved and see what Kent Community Action has to offer so look at the timetable and sign up!
Find out more here.
Wildwood
We are going to Wildwood Animal Park again! The keeper team have asked us to clear out our old green lizard + hedgehog enclosures by the main entrance, to get the area ready for some sand lizards that are arriving at the park in the near future. The work will entail removing plants and a dividing small wall, raking and tidying it up. Afterwards there may be the opportunity to paint some small houses/miniature sheds in red + white ready to be part of our Christmas village we are getting ready for the holidays.
If you want to come sign up here.
Christmas Gifts Collection (available to staff too)
The Children’s Ward at Canterbury Hospital are looking for Christmas presents for children from newborn-16 year olds. Come and donate something from 10.00-14.00 in Keynes Atrium!
Alumni Pub Nights, the new social and networking series for Kent alumni and students, will take place in local pubs in Canterbury or London on the last Tuesday on the month every two months and we would love you to join us!
What are the events?
The events aim to bring together alumni, students and staff from a range of disciplines with each night themed to different subjects surrounding workplace skills, networks and employability opportunities. Events could include speakers, or they may be geared to people interested in a particular sector or skillset, but all events will be a great opportunity for you to meet up with local alumni to network and think about your future.
When is the next event?
The next event will be at the Miller’s Arms in Canterbury on 28 November from 18.00 – 20.00. Meet TeachFirst’s Graduate Recruitment Officer and former teacher, Ross Cooper, who will lead a short, interactive discussion on working in education and teaching. This is a great chance for budding teachers to meet up to find out more about the profession and meet others who are interested in education. However, all are welcome to come along and catch up with Kent graduates.
Please register and join the event on Facebook for relevant updates.
First drink free! If you have any questions regarding this event please email us.
A team of 10 alumni and students will work together to support social activities for the elderly at The Chase care home in Canterbury on Saturday 25 November 2017, 10.00-13.00. If you would like to get involved please contact us.
Alumni in Boston (27/10), Washington DC (02/11), Chicago (11/11) and Los Angeles (09/12) have also volunteered for local community projects through the scheme including creating and serving meals for critically ill people and children and supporting food banks for the homeless.
So far 10 students and 28 alumni have volunteered their time through the scheme for community projects in 2017.
The next project will be in Canterbury, Medway, the US, France, Belgium and Greece in May 2018 we are happy to take suggestions for projects from anyone who would like us to support their cause, just email us.
Network, donate your time and share stories with Kent students and alumni!
Colleagues are invited to attend the CSHE Research Seminar taking place on Thursday 16 November 2017, 13.00-14.00 in the UELT Seminar Room. Professor Carole Leathwood from London Metropolitan University will be presenting the seminar on Insecurity and Inequality in Academia: The shape of things to come?
The academic workforce has become increasingly casualised, with over 50% of all academic staff in the UK on some form of insecure contract. In this paper, Professor Leathwood will draw on both secondary data and primary research with academics (conducted with Barbara Read, University of Glasgow), to explore inequalities in the prevalence and distribution of insecure contracts and the experiences and concerns of academic staff.
Current trends suggest that increasing precarity in academia may be the shape of things to come, with serious implications for academics, research and the future of higher education. Such trends are not, however, inevitable, and Professor Leathwood will conclude by opening up a discussion of ways in which they might be resisted and challenged.
To book a place please email us.
From 22 November students and staff will need to scan their KentOne card to enter and exit the Templeman Library.
Visitors are still welcome and will be allowed in too.
If you have mobility issues and forget your card or do not have a card, there will be an intercom at the Library Road Entrance. This entrance is closest to the car park.
Welcome Desk staff will be able to open the gates to let you in and out at Library Road. You can also use the Main Entrance.
Card access will help us improve services and security. We will be able to analyse what types of students use the Library most, ie undergraduates, postgraduates, and their academic school. This data will be anonymised and used to help us review trends.
We will look at it alongside anonymised data that we already collect about how study spaces and PCs are used, and how books, journals and e-books are used.
We want to improve the experience of using our services and collections. We want to identify trends to gain insight into how usage may affect academic outcomes, so that this can lead to meaningful service improvements.
The University is committed to safeguarding the health, safety and welfare of its students, and accepts its responsibility to promote good health by raising awareness of the risks of alcohol and drug misuse.
We respect the privacy of students, but will be concerned if a student’s behaviour impairs his/her conduct, safety or academic performance and/or adversely affects other students, staff, campus life or the wider community.
The University of Kent policies and penalties associated with drug and alcohol related offences are outlined in the following documents:
1. University Policy Statement Concerning Alcohol
2. University Policy Statement Concerning Drugs
These are a part of the general regulations, which can be found here.
If you or any of your friends have any concerns about these issues, you can access support via Student Support and Wellbeing and the Masters’ Offices.