Work by PhD student Adam James will be featuring at the Wellcome Collection in London from Thursday 24 October 2019, as part of an exhibition entitled ‘Play Well’.

Why do we play? How important is it for all of us, young or old? What does it mean to play well?

Play Well will explore how play transforms both childhood and society. Using toys, games, artworks and design, this exhibition will investigate how we played as children and how we play now we’re grown up: developing social bonds, emotional resilience and physical wellbeing. By featuring video games, playing blocks, comic strips and images of people at play everywhere from playgrounds to refugee camps.

Adam has been commissioned to devise a play space for visitors to consider the impact of play in their lives. The space was put together with advice and help from the School of Arts’ workshop.

Adam’s PhD project is titled ‘Emancipatory Play: Larp Based Performance and the Redistribution of Power’, supervised by Dr Michael Newall and Dr Shona Illingworth.

The exhibition is free and runs until 8 March 2020. For more details, please see the page here.

Professor Sophia Labadi, Professor of Heritage in the Department of Classical and Archaeological Studies, has published a book entitled The Cultural Turn in International Aid. This volume analyses a wide and comprehensive range of issues related to culture and international aid in a critical and constructive manner.

Assessing why international aid is provided for cultural projects, rather than for other causes, the book also considers whether and how donor-funded cultural projects can address global challenges, including post-conflict recovery, building peace and security, strengthening resilience, or promoting human rights.

With contributions from experts around the globe, the volume critically assesses the impact of international aid, including the diverse power relations and inequalities it creates, and the interests it serves at international, national and local levels. The book also considers projects that have failed and analyses the reasons for their failure, drawing out lessons learnt and considering what could be done better in the future.

Professor Labadi says that ‘this an important book not only for the academic debate on international aid, but also for any funder interested in funding cultural project’.

The granting of another extension to the Brexit deadline means that the UK will not leave the EU on 31 October.  The University’s Brexit Working Group, led by Professor Jeremy Carrette, Dean for Europe, will continue to monitor the situation.

Professor Carrette said: ‘As Parliamentary discussions continue, we will ensure that the interests of students and staff remain at the forefront of any planning. While much of our immediate activity has been contingency planning in case of a no-deal scenario, we have also been looking to the longer-term impact of Brexit and continue to seek clarification on areas of pressing concern such as mobility, fees, travel arrangements and access to research funding.

‘Whatever the final outcome, Kent will remain an outward-looking university, proud of its European centres and its  European collaborations. We will also continue to support staff and students during this uncertain time.’

The Brexit webpages will be kept updated with new information as soon as it is available.

Students and staff at Kent can now receive 25% discount on Sports Massage only appointments. Discounted prices are £15 for 1 hour, or £10 for 30 minutes.

Second and third year Sports Therapy & Rehabilitation students, under the supervision of vastly experienced therapists, provide the services at the University of Kent’s Sports Ready Clinic.

Through the use of state-of-the-art equipment and innovative techniques, you can reduce your pain and aid your recovery time within the following services:

– Sports Therapy & Rehabilitation (diagnose, provide treatment and an exercise plan for a specific injury or pain, not just sporting injuries!).

– Injury Prevention (reduce your risk of injury)

– Sports Massage only

– Alter-G (Anti-Gravity Treadmill) session only

Non-Discounted Prices are £20 for one hour or £15 for 30 minutes.

Discounts are available for Sports Therapy & Rehabilitation, Injury Prevention and Alter-G sessions:

-FREE for University of Kent Sport and Exercise Sciences (SSES) staff & students.

-50% discount for University of Kent staff & students (non SSES).

-25% discount for family of University of Kent staff & students.

-25% discount for University of Kent Alumni.

To book please contact the Sports Ready Clinic, Medway Park below.

Phone: 01634 888137          Email: sportinjury@kent.ac.uk

Book Online or visit the Sports Ready clinic webpage.

The School of Engineering and Digital Arts is delighted to announce the undertaking of a £3 million redevelopment and modernisation of engineering and design facilities, due for completion in July 2020.

This includes an engineering workshop and fabrication facilities, a dedicated makerspace for innovation, collaboration and the development of practical skills, a virtual reality suite, production studio (including photography, video and green screen facilities) and a large teaching and design studio.

These changes will deliver modern and advanced teaching and research facilities supporting all Engineering, Design and Digital Arts subjects.

Professor Farzin Deravi, Head of School, commented ‘Our new facilities will provide a creative environment, encouraging critical thinking and the development of practical skills, essential to a future career in Engineering and Design in the twenty-first century‘.

Stats Desk, the University’s statistical consultancy service, is the longest-running help service on campus. It began on 1 April 1994 as a three month trial!

Run by the SMSAS Statistics group, the service is free of charge and is supported by the Unit for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (UELT).

The core users of the service are postgraduate students undertaking research projects and who need some “quants” advice. Stats Desk can also assist academic colleagues, and the supervisors of research students are welcome to come along to appointments.

Undergraduate students wanting help with coursework should instead use the Maths and Stats clinic run by SLAS.

Find out more about the statistics consultancy service