Congratulations to Dr Tamar Jeffers McDonald, Reader in Film and Head of the School of Arts, for having recently having two of her books nominated for awards.

Tamar’s edited collection with Lies Lanckman, Star Attractions: Twentieth-Century Movie Magazines and Global Fandom (University of Iowa Press, 2019) has recently been nominated for the Society for Cinema and Media Studies Best Edited Collection Award.

And Tamar’s collection edited with Dr Frances Kamm, Lecturer in Film, Gothic Heroines on Screen (Routledge, 2019) has been nominated for the 2020 Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards in the Moving Image award category.

Our congratulations to Tamar and all the contributors to these collection.

University musicians and alumni will be presenting a performance of the ever-popular Peter and the Wolf in the Colyer-Fergusson Hall on Sunday 8 March at 15.00, an hour-long orchestral fairy tale for all the family, however young or old.

The concert will be conducted by Director of Music, Susan Wanless and features William Wollen as the narrator (pictured).

William’s background in physical theatre saw him working with Jim Henson’s Creature Shop in the 2005 film of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and his creature work features in the 2016 release of major motion picture The Legend of Tarzan (Warner Bros.). As an actor, and actor-musician playing sax and tin whistle, he has performed all over the country at all scales of theatre, and sang the role of the eponymous villain in Cherub Company’s 2001 production of Hans Krasa’s operatic fable Brundibár (written 2 years after Prokofiev’s musical tale).

He is Senior Lecturer in Drama at University of Kent, where he leads on the acting modules. William’s wealth of theatrical and musical expertise will come to the fore as he brings alive the story of Peter and his friends the bird, duck and cat, the grumpy grandfather and the big bad scary wolf!

Tickets (Full £8 / Students & Children £5) are available from the Gulbenkian Tickets & Information, T: 01227 769075. To book online visit the Gulbenkian website.

As part of the University of Kent’s Worldfest celebrations next month, FitnessFest 2020 will offer seven different classes to get you moving. In our annual fitness class shakeup, Kent Sport invites you to sample a unique evening at the tenth annual FitnessFest medley on Monday 9 March.

FitnessFest 2020 kicks off with a free Bollywood Workshop and free Indian Dance workshop at 3pm and 4pm, respectively. Open to all staff and students, join dance company Beeja for something unique! These events are hosted privately, so please book on the Eventbrite website.

At 17.30 we mix things up with FitSteps – an energetic, upbeat dance fitness class featuring all of your favourite strictly dances.

Join us for Cultural Circuits at 18.10 with the effervescent Del. Come dressed up as your favourite country to get into the spirit of Worldfest.

Feel the beat with our next class – Drums Alive® with Jeni at 18.30. Drums Alive® is a program that fosters a healthy balance physically, mentally, emotionally and socially!

Following on at 19.30 John spins us around the globe in an inspiring Spinning class.

To close the evening, epic duo Jeni and Kealy bring you Zumba at 20.30. If you love to move, then this is the perfect class to let loose.

Click ‘Going’ on our Facebook event and tell all your friends about this epic night of fun!

All FitnessFest classes are free for Premium Plus and Premium Members. Plus and Pay to Play pay £2 per class. Booking online is available up to seven days in advance.

If you’re not a member it’s easy to join, ask at the Sports Centre or The Pavilion reception or visit the Kent Sports website.

For Kent Sport news, events and special offers, Like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

You are invited to our next Drill Hall Dialogue event.

Dr.Richard Webb from Canterbury Christ Church University will be joining us for this discussion.

Richard will be discussing the following:

Vitamin D has been well documented along with Parathyroid hormone in the homeostatic control of calcium levels within the body. Reduction in Vitamin D has been shown to result in Ricketts and long bone malformation/defects. Current Differentiation cocktails continue to exclude vitamin D in favour for growth factors or a base differentiation media.

In this study we have replaced growth factor with vitamin D and early results indicate 100 fold increase in calcium deposition when vitamin D is used as a component of differentiation media when compared to standard base differentiation media where dexamethasone, ascorbate-2-phosphate and beta glycerophosphate are utilised.

All welcome, however, please RSVP to Jackie Wright for numbers attending.

The Government has updated its advice to include those who have recently travelled from Italy, Iran and South Korea, as well as Wuhan and Hubei province.

The University’s coronavirus response group is currently writing up the set of principles which we have established to help staff assess any travel plans line with government advice. These principles will also inform the support that we are giving to students who are impacted by the situation and will also advise schools and departments who have visitors coming to the University. These principles will be available shortly.

In the meantime, if you have visitors coming to the University from any of the areas identified by the Government, we would suggest you contact them to make sure they are aware of the steps to take to keep themselves and others safe, as outlined by Public Heath England and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

We would also like to remind you that all overseas travel, work and study undertaken on behalf of the University, as part of a University teaching programme or organised by the University must be risk assessed.

All travel on University business should be booked through Key Travel. Not only is this a procurement requirement, it also enables the University to know where travelling staff are just in case we need to support them due to the impact of the coronavirus or other issues.

It is also important that you are covered by the University’s travel insurance.  This will not only provide essential cover, but give you access to a wide range of travel advice, including the option to sign-up to daily intelligence briefings and SMS travel alerts.

The National Technician Development Centre (NTDC) ran its first technicians photo competition this year, as part of its work to promote the delivery of high quality and sustainable technical services across all sectors.

There was a huge response from across the country with applicants submitting high quality images of technicians undertaking a variety of roles across a wide range of disciplines. The judges were overwhelmed with the quality of submissions and faced a tough decision to select their winner and eleven runner up photos.

The School of Engineering and Digital Arts (EDA) very own Technician Ayman El-Kharrat was successfully chosen as one of the 9 runners up with his photo showing a specialist electronics technician fabricating printed circuit boards. Aymans photo will be featured in the NTDC competition winners’ calendar and used to promote technicians throughout the country.

Paul Sinnock, Director of IT and Technical Services and a member of the Kent technician commitment working group commented, “It is fantastic to see Ayman recognised for the quality of his work which highlights the essential role of technicians within the University. We have such talented technical staff who, often behind the scenes, deliver vital support to all aspects of our operations. I am so pleased the University of Kent has joined other institutions in recognising technicians by signing the technician commitment which aims to ensure visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technicians working in higher education”.

The University has for some time been thinking about its brand and we have now started a project to clearly define the University’s brand purpose.

As part of that project, we would like your views on which areas of the University’s strategy are most important and your thoughts about the future of the University.

This project will lead to a review of the University’s brand identity and tone of voice, ensuring that the way we present ourselves visually and how we sound is aligned with our purpose and values.

Please do take the time to have your say as this will shape our thoughts and thinking.

Many thanks

David Nightingale, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Engagement and Civic Mission

Sunday 8 March is International Women’s Day.

This year’s theme is #EachforEqual and a number of events are taking place across campus to mark the day:

Within the Templeman Library, there will be a display throughout March from our women’s history reading list in the library café.  There will also be a display of women in STEM books from 6 March that will be accompanied by slides of winners of a competition celebrating women in Physics.

Gulbenkian has a number of events planned around ‘This Girl Can Family day’ on 7 March. Kent Sport This Girl Can..lift is also happening on the day, which is part of our Lets Play suite of events/activities.

Kent Union has a number of events, including:

• Quiz in Woody’s on 8 March themed around women’s history and iconic women.
• Kent Uniboob has confirmed a photoshoot for body positivity with the money going towards the National charity. 29 Feb – 1 March. The shoot is £10 per person.
• Movie night on 12 March.

The Athena SWAN team will be hosting a special meeting of the Women’s Network on Thursday 5 March in honour of International Women’s Day, on the theme of inspirational women. We will be holding an informal discussion about the amazing women who have inspired us in work and life.

The event will take place from 12.00–14.00 in the UELT Seminar Room. Everyone is welcome to come along and join in the conversation, or just listen and get inspired. Lunch will be provided. Book your place via Eventbrite.

Engineering and Digital Arts have a an event titled Flexible Working in Project Management: How to make it work, and how not to on Wednesday 11 March, 12.30-13.30 in the upper area of Jay’s Tea bar, Jennison Building. Book your place via Eventbrite.