Dr Antonio Lázaro-Reboll, Senior Lecturer in Hispanic Studies in the Department of Modern Languages, has just published a new collection: The Films of Jess Franco (Wayne State University Press, 2018), co-edited with Ian Olney, Associate Professor at the York College of Pennsylvania.

Jesús ‘Jess’ Franco (1930–2013) was a Spanish filmmaker, who directed around 160 films. He is best known as the director of jazzy, erotically charged horror movies featuring mad scientists, lesbian vampires, and women in prison, but he also dabbled in a multitude of genres from comedy to science fiction to pornography. Although he built his career in the ghetto of low-budget exploitation cinema, he managed to create a body of work that is deeply personal, frequently political, and surprisingly poetic.

Arguing that his multifaceted, paradoxical cinema cannot be pinned down by any one single approach, the new collection features twelve original essays on Franco’s movies, written from a variety of different perspectives. It opens up fresh avenues for academic inquiry by considering his oeuvre from a range of viewpoints, including transnational film studies, cinephilia studies, and star studies. The book effectively meets the challenge of Franco’s multidimensional cinema with multifaceted criticism – attentive to the shifting historical contexts, modes of production and consumption, and formats of Franco’s work – that supplements current Franco scholarship and suggests exciting new directions for its further development.

The Films of Jess Franco seeks to address the scholarly neglect of this legendary cult director and to broaden the conversation around the director’s work in ways that will be of interest to fans and academics alike.

For more details, please see the publisher’s page here.

Do your reading

Learning at university is way more independent than in college/sixth form. You have signed up for the degree and have therefore committed to managing your own workload throughout your three years at university.

This may suit those with different learning styles as it’s less regimented than school and nobody is going to check whether you have done the reading, but it may be fairly apparent during a two hour seminar if you have nothing to say.

So my advice is to occasionally check those further reading lists and get ahead on the topics you enjoy early otherwise when the deadlines start piling up, you will wish you’d done the extra reading to help you get the higher grade.

Check out the study support  on offer to help you through university life.

Get organised

The word independence pretty much covers all aspects of uni life. Whether you’re already quite mature and independent or have no idea how to start a washing machine, university definitely forces you to take some responsibility as you go into adulthood.

This may seem daunting but its ultimately really good for propelling you into working life-  but don’t worry you have three years to grasp it.

Budget for Fresher’s, don’t get carried away with the fancy dress and offers, because after Fresher’s Week you’ll find many more excuses to go out the following weeks. Don’t forget your student loan needs to last a whole term! Check out our budgeting tips. 

Also, depending on your course, you may have to buy a few expensive books but before you get onto Amazon check out the university library (I made the mistake of buying the entire reading list when half of the books were available in the library…annoying). And Amazon Prime is half price for students!

Stay healthy

Initially it seems great waking up whenever you want and having whatever you want for dinner, and really it is I mean who complains about freedom? However health is always forgotten and let’s be honest, eating well is at the back of your mind during fresher’s however fresher’s flu is no myth, and once you get ill at some point you’ll be sick of pizzas and pot noodles and all you’ll want is your mum’s famous stew.

So, if cooking is totally unfamiliar to you, before heading to university ask your parents for some tips, check out a few simple recipes and learn off your housemates because you may as well build your immune system up, until exam time comes and you’re sitting in the library with a family size bar of chocolate for dinner.

Check out the University’s wellbeing services and advice.

Utilise your time

When you start university the first term is all about getting to grips with your course, buying books, checking out the expectations and deadlines and aside from that, going out with your flatmates (nearly every night) and embracing uni culture.

However, once you have been to every event and that initial novelty wears off or fresher’s flu attacks you, you may realise that you have a lot of free time outside of your course. Now, of course this depends on your subjects, contact hours but generally first year is the time to utilise those empty hours in the evenings with volunteering, attending extra seminars/workshops, finding a student job or joining and committing to a society.

Weekends are commonly quiet during the day and after a term of Netflix marathons, maybe it’s time you explored the opportunities Kent Union offers, check your emails and the Student Guide and discover societies’ socials or if you’re already part of one, start committing those extra hours. Not only do these things look great on your CV but you meet so many different people who share that same interest as you, and who you may not have met if you hadn’t joined!

Enjoy it

There may be a few ups and downs, moments when you are homesick, feel stressed with your work load and you just want some home cooked food. But, ultimately uni life is great and once you’re settled everything will be fine so embrace the challenges and have fun!
Written by recent Kent graduate Sophia Cheraitia.

The Graduate School aims to ensure that your academic and social interests are appropriately provided for within the University wherever you are based.

Professor Paul Allain (Dean of the Graduate School) and his team, work in partnership with academic schools, faculties, central service departments and the Students’ Union to enhance the quality of the postgraduate student experience across all campuses and European centres to create a vibrant postgraduate community.

The Graduate School also supports a wide range of activities enabling postgraduates to promote their research interests and studies as well as opportunities to meet and socialise.

In addition to the initiatives highlighted below please keep an eye on the Graduate School’s events calendar for further information.

The Graduate School is located on the third floor of the Cornwallis East building on the Canterbury campus, with offices for its staff and a postgraduate training room. There is also an adjacent networking space which postgraduates can used for socialising and study.

Postgraduate inductions

University-level postgraduate inductions are taking place on the following dates:

Wednesday 19 September – Canterbury Taught Master’s students
13.00 – 14.30  Social Sciences (Woolf College Lecture Theatre)
14.45 – 16.15  Humanities and Sciences (Woolf College Lecture Theatre)

Thursday 20 September – Medway postgraduate students
10.30 – 12.00 Taught Master’s students (Rochester Building R2-09)
11.15 – 12.00 Taught Master’s and Postgraduate Researchers
(Rochester Building R2-09)
12.30 – 15.45 Postgraduate Researchers (Rochester Building R2-09)

Friday 21 September – Canterbury Postgraduate Researchers
9.30 – 10.45    Social Sciences (Cornwallis South East, COLT 2)
10.30 – 11.45  Sciences (Cornwallis South East Lecture, COLT 3)
11.30 – 12.45  Humanities (Cornwallis South East Lecture, COLT 2)

The GradPost newsletter

The quarterly postgraduate newsletter (The GradPost) is supported and coordinated by the Graduate School. Postgraduate students can join the GradPost editorial team and/or contribute articles for publication in the newsletter. Further information about the GradPost can be found online. Please email GradPost if you would like to become involved with the newsletter.

Postgraduate Community Experience Awards

Postgraduate students have the opportunity to bid for funding up to £1,500 via the Postgraduate Community Experience Awards to coordinate their own events and projects aimed at enhancing the postgraduate experience at Kent. Proposals for funding are required to have an interdisciplinary and/or external focus.

Projects funded previously have included a cross-disciplinary Latin American Society and Research Network, an interdisciplinary conference on Social Movement, and a short story reading group.

Postgraduate students will be notified when the awards are open for applications during the course of the academic year.

Postgraduate Festival

The annual Postgraduate Festival in the summer term provides our students with the opportunity to present their work to a wider audience, network with their peers from across the University and attend academic talks. If you would like to be involved in the planning of the 2019 Festival please contact Felicity Clifford, Postgraduate Experience Officer

Global Skills Award

The Global Skills Award programme for postgraduate taught Master’s students which comprises of a range of lectures on global issues and a series of workshops, has been specifically designed to improve your employability in a competitive job market. The programme is free and those who successfully complete the programme will receive an award certificate.

Researcher Development Programme

The Researcher Development Programme for postgraduate researchers is coordinated by the Graduate School.

The programme provides a range of workshops and online training opportunities designed to enhance your skills as a researcher and prepare you for a variety of careers.

The coverage of the programme has been developed in line with Vitae’s Researcher Development Framework and it reflects the UK Research Councils’ aims to develop exceptionally skilled researchers for the 21st century.

PhD students will be notified in September about booking a place on one of our ‘Kick-start your PhD’ Workshops.

Postgraduate Handbooks

All new postgraduate students will receive a copy of the 2018-19 Postgraduate Handbook at the induction. You can also download a copy online or pick one up from the Graduate School.

The handbooks contain useful information about postgraduate study and research at Kent, details of academic and regulatory processes as well as local information for students who are new to Kent.

We look forward to welcoming you to Kent – come and meet the Graduate School staff in Cornwallis East or contact us via:

• email: graduateschool@kent.ac.uk.
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