The Creative Access Showcase as part of Creative Careers week will be taking place on Monday 7 March from 17.00-18.00.

This virtual high visibility event will include a panel of creative professionals and alumni from Creative Access, who’ll share their creative journeys, what their current roles entail, top tips and guidance. The event is designed to appeal to all students, not only candidates from Black, Asian and diverse ethnic groups, disabled people or those from lower-socioeconomic backgrounds.

The event will be made up of speaker introductions, panel discussion followed by Q&A.  

Find out more about the creative professionals involved:

April Brown – Programme Manager, Creative Access

April specialises in developing and managing inclusive, multi-disciplinary programmes for emerging creatives. She holds an MA in Arts & Cultural Management from King’s College London and has worked with a range of organisations including Somerset House, Tate, LIFT and Theatre Royal Stratford East.  She is committed to supporting diverse talent to flourish.  

Rami Kadri, Digital Marketing Manager – MUSIC   

Rami is a Digital Marketing Manager with over eight years’ experience in the music industry and runs her own digital marketing agency – Two Tabs Social. She has led on a number of ground breaking social campaigns including two of the biggest and most successful artist campaigns across the Sony Music group for Little Mix. More recently she has worked with artists such as Ms Banks, Pa Salieu, Potter Payper, Loski and Ivorian Doll as well as companies including Warner Music, 0207 Def Jam, LiveNation and Since93. Rami studied Criminology and Social Policy at the University of Kent.  

Lydia Hamilton-Morl, Programme & Digital Editor, ITV News – TELEVISION 

  Lydia has spent eight years working in television news, travelling around the British Isles with ITV, after studying Journalism at the University of Kent. She currently produces ITV Border’s flagship six o’clock news programme, Lookaround, leading a team of journalists to create bold and distinctive TV news programmes and online content. She strives towards creating an inclusive workplace and providing her audience with diversity in storytelling.  

Alisha Artry, Neighbourhood Theatre Producer at Young Vic – THEATRE   

Alisha is a Creative Producer from South London and advocate for change through the arts. She has been working in Theatre since graduating from the University of Kent with a Drama and Film degree. She has worked in Participation at the Lyric Hammersmith, Frantic Assembly and is currently the Neighbourhood Theatre Producer in the Taking Part department at the Young Vic. Alisha is the Co-Founder of the producing company Sculptress working with talent to cultivate new and exciting stories to share with audiences.

To take part follow this  Zoom webinar link 

Webinar ID: 860 1511 6629

Passcode: 973854  

You are invited to attend the (online) Kent Global Showcase – 16 March 2022 

Dr Anthony Manning, Director and Dean for Global and Lifelong Learning explains more here: 

Register to attend 

Professor Richard Reece will outline the next steps for consultation on the approach to Global Engagement at Kent
This year, the Kent Global Showcase event will be held from 14:30-16:00 (UK time) on the 16 March. Colleagues from across university will provide an overview of some of the current global engagement initiatives in focus and examples of good practice from our divisions. At the event Professor Richard Reece will outline the next steps for consultation on the approach to Global Engagement at Kent. 

During the event we will also hold the next session of our Solidarity with Ukraine group. This will provide an update on the available support organised by the University for both our staff and students. 

Spotlight Sessions
During the session there will be a spotlight session delivered by Kent’s Catherine Morris, Environmental Advisor, on the important intersection between sustainability and internationalisation. Emma Marku, Internationalisation Officer and Laura Charleton, Senior Lecturer in LSSJ, will also focus on virtual mobility, exchanges and Summer/Winter schools.  

Attending the Showcase will offer you an excellent opportunity to gain updates from Kent colleagues relating to Partnerships, Recruitment and Alumni engagement.  

As always, there will be lots of opportunities to ask questions and identify avenues for support during the event.  

Register to attend

From Philip Pothen | Director of Engagement

Among the groups most affected by the pandemic have been our schoolchildren. The impacts of home schooling and stop-start lockdowns, the effects of mask-wearing, social distancing, bubbles and other measures in the classroom and the lack of continuity and predictability in their learning have disrupted their lives and their educational development.

As we finally but tentatively emerge from Covid, our thoughts turn to how we can begin to make up for the missed learning, the lost fun, creativity and opportunities that schoolchildren and young people have missed out on over the last two years.

One of the most ambitious and exciting initiatives to address this challenge is Kent County Council’s Reconnect programme. It represents a significant commitment to our county’s schoolchildren and young people and, as a university with a similar commitment to the learning, progression and skills of everyone in our region, I believe this initiative fully deserves our support.

It was this commitment that drove our wish to apply to host and deliver an event which would help address some of these challenges. The recent news that we are being funded to deliver a Youth Summit is fantastic for the university but great for the programme and our young people too as I think we have a great deal to offer.

In summary, the Kent Youth Summit will be a vibrant multiplatform event co-designed with Kent County Council and with young people themselves for young people living in our county. Over five days at the end of June our Summit will address many of the negative impacts of the pandemic, reconnecting young people to a world of learning, engagement and creativity and providing a platform for them to express themselves on subjects of importance to them.

Typically, learning activities will be designed to take place in the weeks leading up to the event, with engagement building up to and culminating in a week-long, on-campus Youth Summit, involving keynote speakers, debates, competitions, exhibition spaces and much more. These activities – some delivered by our academics and some by students – will be linked to real-world themes underpinned by high-quality teaching and world-leading research expertise.

We’ll also amplify these activities across the county through the work of KMTV, through our own communications channels and through regional media so that as we emerge from the pandemic we can ensure we recognise, reward, and celebrate young people’s efforts and achievements, and ensure that their voices are heard.

It’s great to receive good news – but the hard work starts now! Watch out for regular updates on the Summit as we bring plans together and do get in touch if you think your work could be a part of it.

Dr Bashir Abu-Manneh | Head of School of English

On 24 February, the School of English (in association with the iCCi and the British Council) hosted Abdulrazak Gurnah, our own Nobel Laureate in Literature, for an “In Conversation” dialogue with Amy Sackville and me. The Gulbenkian Theatre was packed and the event was livestreamed.

With characteristic charm, generosity, and straight talking, Gurnah elaborated on key aspects of his worldview and fiction. We discussed the problems of departure and arrival, his sense of what belonging means, how justice informs his work, his critical intervention in English literary studies, his teaching and its relation to his fiction writing, and telling stories that need to be told. Gurnah talked about why stories about neglected lives and forgotten people matter, about the human effort to survive in the face of adversity and hostility, and about the importance of travel, journeying, and understanding the cosmopolitan histories of pre-colonial East Africa. He also foregrounded the particular dimensions of forced displacement and the human responsibility to provide refuge for those escaping war, state violence, and terror.

“Writing made my life feel useful and fulfilling”, he affirmed. As his work captured loss, tragedy, and past injury, it facilitated a process of retrieval and restitution. His work, he said, thus lingers on necessity and tries to get at truth: “It always feels very important to me as a writer to say that I am speaking as truthfully as I can”. So he challenges the exclusions and ideologies of power and insists on universal human needs. If human cultures can be “ugly, monstrous things” and an unexamined sense of belonging risks self-delusions, remaining cautious and open to the experience of others can save us from narcissistic self-regard.

After such rich ruminations on literature and writing, I left the event thinking that Gurnah’s singular literary achievement feels truly historic for Kent. His impact on our School of English and on our critical and creative practices felt deep and enduring. For me, Gurnah epitomises the best of Kent: a confident educational institution committed to neglected voices and democratising narratives and publicly engaged in the pursuit of global justice. What better civic mission for our University?

If you missed this event you can view our livestream here.

Living with Covid

Following the recent Government announcements on ‘Living with Covid’, all legal Covid-19 restrictions in England have now ended. However, this doesn’t mean that Covid has gone away – we continue to encourage all staff to keep the health and safety of each other in mind, particularly those who are vulnerable or who have close friends or relatives who are shielding.

That means:

• Staying at home if you have Covid-19 symptoms until you have had two negative lateral flow tests 24 hours apart – you can work from home during this period if you feel able to
• Wearing a face mask in crowded indoor spaces as we have been
• Getting tested regularly if you can when you are coming onto campus

Where can I get test kits?

Test kits can be ordered online and can also be sourced from a number of community locations such as pharmacies and libraries. Unfortunately, as part of the recent Government updates we are no longer able to distribute test kits ourselves due to changes to the licences for universities.

“Responding to the impact of Covid-19 has taken an enormous effort across the University and everyone has really pulled together to help us through the worst of it. The recent Government changes move us into a different phase, with fewer restrictions in place across the country. However, lots of people will understandably have concerns around this, particularly vulnerable staff or students – it’s up to all of us to keep on thinking of others and doing the things we can to keep each other safe.” 
Martin Atkinson, Director of HR & Organisational Development

Get involved with the leadership development programme

T&OD are pleased to share with you details of a new leadership development programme and invite you to identify proposed participant to take place in the first cohort, starting in April 2022.

The leadership development offer has been reviewed and a gap for operational and first-line managers developing into a leadership role was identified.

The programme ‘Stepping up’ is proposed to address this gap.

The Stepping Up programme has been designed for members of staff with general people management experience over and above basic procedural knowledge and skills. These individuals will either be new staff or have been identified as having the potential to progress to a more senior management/leadership role. 

The brochure outlines the programme, including session dates and programme content. This is aligned with current and future organisational requirements, contemporary leadership and management practice. 

The programme is open to academic and professional services colleagues.

There will be a maximum of 15 people on the first intake, with plans to run further cohorts starting in both September and January. 

Within the brochure you will find a nomination form which needs to be filled out by the applicant and a statement of support will be required by their manager (Word version here). 

Please complete and return the form to the T&OD team (Ldev@kent.ac.uk) by 1st April 2022. They will confirm the cohort by the 8 April 2022. 

The most indulgent day of the year is almost here again. Nothing is more irresistible than a stack of pancakes, drizzled in maple syrup, slathered in Nutella, or spritzed and sprinkled with traditional lemon and sugar.

Shrove Tuesday falls a little later this year, which means we’ve all had plenty of time to practice our pancake flipping skills (in theory). But if you would rather leave the hard work (and washing up) to the experts, here’s where you can get your pancake fix…

Gulbenkian Café (Gulbenkian Arts Centre)

10.00 – 16.30 (whilst stock lasts)

American style pancake stack topped with:
– Bacon and maple flavour syrup £4.50
– Chocolate and banana (V) £4.50
– Apple, cinnamon, golden syrup, strawberry coulis, and soya yoghurt (Ve) £4.50

Mungo’s (Eliot College)

9.00 – 21.00 (whilst stocks last)

*HALF PRICE PANCAKES ALL DAY*

American style pancake stack topped with:
– Blueberry and maple flavour syrup (V) £2.25
– Bacon and maple flavour syrup £2.25
– Banana and honey (V) £2.25
– Nutella (V) £2.25
– Nutella and banana (V) £2.25

Vegan pancakes also available – just let a member of staff know.

V – Vegetarian | Ve – Vegan

Woody’s – Pancake Challenge

You can also head to Woody’s for their special pancake day menu. And join Woody’s later in the evening to see 12 people complete in the Woody’s Pancake Challenge and be in the chance of winning £100. 

Did your family come to Britain from South Asia in the 30s, 40s, 50s or later? Are you proud of both your British and South Asian heritage? Do you have a family history and story that you would love to share?

South Asian Heritage Week is being celebrated for the first time at Kent from the 28 March to the 1 April.

Alongside an exciting programme of events and activities taking place, we are looking to create an oral history exhibition exploring the culture and heritage of our British South Asian students and staff and are looking for students and staff participants. 

We are looking for stories and photographs showcasing family life, both in South Asian and in Britain, from the first day at school to the last day at work, from going on holiday to a family celebration.

We are particularly interested in the migration stories of your grandparents or great-grandparents, told either with their words or the words of other family members about their journey to Britain.

Key questions to explore could be:

• How did you come to Britain?
• Why did you choose to come to Britain?
• What were your expectations versus reality?

We will be turning your family heritage into a display in Keynes Atrium to run throughout the duration of the week.  You can submit your stories either as a word document or as an oral recording.

The featured image in this story is a family photo from our Student EDI Officer Becky Lamyman, showing her grandmother, mother and uncles. We’d love to see your family photos too.

We are very interested in photos, including those of family life both in South Asian and in Britain right up to modern day. These can be submitted independently of a story if preferred.  Please submit these in a digital format with a relevant caption. 

If anyone is interested in writing a blog post about their memories, identity, family traditions or any other topic then these would also be most welcome.

Please do ensure that you have permission from the relevant family members to share the stories and pictures.

If you are interested in taking part, or if you want more information, please contact Becky Lamyman, Student EDI Officer on rsl7@kent.ac.uk for a participation form. 

The deadline for all entries is Wednesday 9 March 2022.

Join us on March 23 from 16:00 for the latest in the Stephen Gray lecture series.

The Stephen Gray Lectures are a series of talks named after one of Canterbury’s most prominent scientists. Gray had a broad range of interests spanning from solar astronomy to palaeontology but he is best known for his seminal experiments demonstrating electrical conduction and insulation (1729). The lecture takes place annually at the University of Kent’s main campus in Canterbury. It is organised by the university’s Division of Natural Sciences.

This March the series bring to you a talk by Professor Dame Jane Francis. This free hybrid event will be held on Zoom and in person (Covid permitting) with an opportunity to put forward your questions. Join us on March 23 from 16:00-17:30. During this public talk Dame Jane will discuss the topics of ‘Greenhouse to Icehouse: fossils of forests and dinosaurs amid icesheets of Antarctica’.

Submit your questions for Professor Dame Jane Francis

After the lecture, Professor Francis will be joined by a panel of experts from the University of Kent for a round-table discussion of questions posed by audience members. If you have questions for our panel of for Professor Francis, you can forward them to Natsnews@kent.ac.uk in advance of the event. There will also be the opportunity to ask questions during the event itself.

About Professor Dame Jane Francis

Professor Francis is Director of the British Antarctic Survey, a research centre of the Natural Environment Research Council (UKRI-NERC). She is involved with international polar organisations, such as the Antarctic Treaty and European Polar Board, and on several advisory boards of national polar programmes.

Jane Francis is a geologist by training, with research interests in past climate change. She has undertaken research projects at the universities of Southampton, London, Leeds and Adelaide, using fossil plants to determine the change from greenhouse to icehouse climates in the Polar Regions over the past 100 million years. She has undertaken over 15 scientific expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctica in search of fossil forests.

Jane was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (DCMG) in recognition of services to UK polar science and diplomacy. She was also awarded the UK Polar Medal by H.M. The Queen is Chancellor of the University of Leeds, and a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Tickets for this event are free, and you can book an in-person or virtual ticket on our Eventbrite page: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stephen-gray-lecture-series-guest-starring-professor-dame-jane-francis-tickets-265079719577

Professor Darren Griffin is raising money for the Donor Conception Network and Fertility Network UK by running… A LOT! Darren is a self-professed non athlete, but is challenging himself for these amazing causes.

Infertility affects 1 in 6 people of reproductive age all over the world. The Fertility Network UK is a unique national charity that provides free support for people experiencing fertility related issues. The charity has been running for over 2 years and provides a sorely needed, unbiased service that helps people deal with the repercussions of infertility.

The Donor Conception Network is a supportive charity network for families with children conceived with donated sperm, eggs, and embryos; alongside those thinking about, or undergoing donor conception procedures and for donor conceived people themselves. The Target:

• The Brighton Marathon on April 10^th
• 9x5K park runs – 3 down 7 to go!
• 2 half marathons the first February 27^th!!!!!
• 10 miles race – Completed in Canterbury
• 3x10km runs – One is Ashford already down!
• Virtual walk “Lands End to John O’ Groats” – 400 miles done!

Dig deep into your pockets, dive behind the sofa and support Darren to reach his target.

Follow Darren on social media as the plan unfolds and use the hashtag #NextGenFertility.

DONATE NOW.