The School of Arts is currently hosting an artwork installation as part of the Platforma 5 festival, currently running across the Kent and Medway region.

The biennial Platforma festival for the arts by, with, and about refugees and migration is produced by Counterpoints Arts. It brings together artists, organisations, funders and others for discussions, workshops and the chance to share practice and showcase new work.

The piece, entitled ‘Lilacs in Bloom’ by artist Joy C Martindale, is a participatory artwork made in collaboration with survivors of modern-day slavery and human trafficking. The participants of the project were a gentleman from Lithuania and a mother from West Africa and her three young children. Working with paint and scraps of colourful cloth collected by Joy along the tidelines of the coast in Southeast Kent, the artist and the participants explored creativity as a means of being free in the moment to choose how to express thoughts, feelings, and ideas.

You can read more about the process of putting together the artwork here.

The artwork is currently on display in the Jarman foyer, until 25 October 2019.

Kent Sport prides itself on the knowledge of its staff in and out of the Fitness Suite. In order to keep up on trends, open itself to new ideas and provide first-rate classes, Kent Sport Fitness Instructors attend various fitness events throughout the year.

For the 10th year running, Jeni Dexter-Mullane, Emma Cooke and Liz Coult attended the Fitness Fiesta in Camber Sands at the beginning of October. It’s a gruelling schedule with up to six hours a day of back-to-back classes. Classes included everything from Yoga to Spinning to Dancing to even Nordic Walking (perhaps not one that you’ll see one of our timetables soon). Each instructor did more than 36,000 steps a day!

The team attend these events to upskill themselves, learning tricks of the trade and insider secrets to make their classes the best they can offer.

Why not have a go at one of the many fitness and dance classes available at Kent Sport and experience how fun they are for yourself?! Visit www.kent.ac.uk/sports/events for class information or pick up a copy of Active Kent in the Sport Centre or Pavilion receptions.

The crew expect to check out the next event in the upcoming months of November 2019 and March 2020. To learn more about the event, visit fitnessfiesta.com.

Not a member yet? We have new membership options to suit your fitness journey. For Kent Sport news, events and special offers, Like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram and Twitter @UniKentSports.

To stay up to date with Kent Sport news, Like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram and Twitter UniKentSports. If you have any questions you can email sportsenquiries@kent.ac.uk.

The University of Kent, with one of our longstanding international partners, Ghent University, Belgium, is pleased to announce the call for joint Kent-Ghent collaborative projects taking place in 2020.

The funding will support mobility between colleagues at the two institutions (for example short-term staff/student exchange, seminars, workshops, preparatory meetings to establish longer-term collaboration such as double degrees, joint research projects and other activities such as those funded through the Erasmus+ Key Actions).

Since 2009, the Universities of Kent and Ghent have enjoyed a strategic international partnership covering activities in student exchange, Erasmus Mundus, co-supervision of research, joint research and the exchange of knowledge and best practice between staff in professional services.

Marking the tenth year of this partnership, we are increasing the funding available and seeking to support both small scale and/or exploratory initiatives as well as collaborations at a more advanced stage.

To date, over forty projects have been funded in a wide range of Kent Schools and Centres.  These include Anthropology and Conservation, Arts, Economics, Engineering and Digital Arts, English, European Culture and Languages, History, Kent Business School, Kent Law School, Medway School of Pharmacy, Physical Sciences, Politics and International Relations, Psychology, Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, Sport and Exercise Sciences, Centre for Journalism, Centre for the Interdisciplinary Study of Film and the Moving Image.

Funding available: up to £3,000 per project (subject to meeting certain criteria)

How to apply: Applications are now open via the International Partnerships website.

Application deadline: 31 January 2020

Further information can be found on the website.

Alternatively you can contact Jan Lowe, International Partnerships Email:

j.lowe@kent.ac.uk  Tel: 01227 824108

Professor Shane Weller, Head of School and Professor of Comparative Literature, has given a talk titled ‘Europe: The History of an Idea’ at St John’s College Old Divinity School in Cambridge as part of this year’s Cambridge Festival of Ideas.

The 2016 referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union triggered a passionate debate about the advantages and disadvantages of EU membership. However, in that debate, the distinction between the European Union and Europe more generally was blurred. What exactly do we mean when we refer to ‘Europe’?

In his talk, Shane sought to answer that question by considering the long history of the idea of Europe, which extends back to ancient Greece. He says: ‘I believe that, as we attempt to imagine possible futures for Europe, we have much to learn from the past.’

Paul March-Russell, Lecturer in the Department of Comparative Literature, has agreed to be the guest editor for a special issue of Humanities on “Modernism and Science Fiction”.

The issue assembles a special issue that explores the relationship between modernism and science fiction. Topics may include (but are not limited to): science fiction elements in the work of modernist writers and artists, technoculture and the avant-garde, science fiction, modernism and cinema, and more!

Manuscripts are welcomed and should be submitted online. For further questions, contact Paul March-Russell at P.A.March-Russell@kent.ac.uk.

Universities and trade union representatives have been in negotiations over the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) pension scheme since March 2017.  This is a difficult and complex situation and the University and College Union (UCU) are now balloting its members for industrial action

The Executive Group (EG) regret this situation and the impact it has on staff, particularly at such a challenging time.

Because the USS scheme is a national one, the situation cannot be resolved at a local level. As a result, the University is doing all it can to support efforts to reach a national agreement and the Vice-Chancellor and other members of EG members recently met with Universities UK (UUK), the national body which is representing employers like Kent in this dispute.

EG is clear that members of USS need to have in place a long-term and sustainable agreement on both benefits and contributions. At the meeting, they presented the case for a review of the regulatory environment, arguing that the current framework makes it harder for the sector to reach such an agreement. The Vice-Chancellor and colleagues stressed that the current framework does not recognise the unique nature of the university sector, which they said needs a more bespoke approach to pension valuations, and urged UUK to open direct line of communication with the pensions regulator, involving the University and College Union (UCU).

They also asked that all efforts to be made to expedite the delivery a second phase report from the Joint Expert Panel (JEP), the recommendations from which could also move the negotiations towards a resolution that is acceptable to all.

Further background and information about the issues facing members of the USS pension scheme is available on the dedicated USS pensions website.

Staff who are members of the SAUL pension scheme should be reassured that at the last valuation the scheme was confirmed as fully funded and is therefore not impacted by the issues currently facing USS.

Colleagues are invited to attend the CSHE Seminar on Thursday 24 October,13.00-14.00, in Grimond Seminar Room 1. The seminar titled ‘Exploring students’ experiences of race through interdisciplinary collaboration in higher education’ is presented by Dr Sonya Sharma, Kingston University London.

In this seminar Dr Sonya Sharma will address an interdisciplinary and collaborative four-year project, Taking Race Live, that explored lived experiences of race among second-year students. Utilizing qualitative methods to evaluate the project each year, she draws on students’ voices to address their experiences of race, partnering with interdisciplinary peers, and learning about each other. Attention is given to how this was done through engaging with the arts and embodied practices found within drama, dance and music.

To register to attend please complete the online booking form.

In the latest episode of the Nostalgia podcast series, Chris Deacy, Head of the Department of Religious Studies, interviews Martin Bloomfield, who is currently studying towards a PhD in Philosophy at the University of York.

Martin explains why Lampeter was a ‘collection of caricatures’, and we also find out about the range of schools he attended when he was young. The pair talk about how Martin (and his native York) have changed over the years, studying in Lampeter, seeing Bad Manners at Gassy Jacks in Cardiff, the karate and fencing societies he was involved with, why going to university helped him to discover who he was, how he did (and did not) stand for Parliament in 1992, being a floating voter, the days when ‘Top of the Pops’ was the gold standard, the time when Radio 1 didn’t play Status Quo, why Martin chooses the sweet over the bitter, being tested quite late for dyslexia, how happiness is not just about smiling, what advice he would give his 15 year old self, and why Martin has a synchronic view of time.