Kent in the news
Kent experts continue to feature strongly in international and national news coverage. There have been contributions from, among others, the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research (SSPSSR), School of Biosciences, Kent Law School and the Centre for Journalism. International broadcast coverage of University expert research and comment included Professor Peter Taylor-Gooby, of SSPSSR, being featured for his research on how austerity may mean more riots, on EuradioNantes (France); Professor Sally Sheldon, of Kent Law School, on sex selection in abortion for the BBC World Service; Professor Chris Rootes, of SSPSSR, discussing the development of Greenpeace during its first 40 years for Austrian Radio FM4 and the significance of Occupy London for Voice of Russia; and Professor Tim Luckhurst, of the Centre for Journalism, interviewed on James Murdoch’s resignation for American National Public Radio. National broadcast coverage included Professor Darren Griffin, of the School of Biosciences, being interviewed on the Male Y chromosome for BBC Radio 2’s Simon Mayo Show; Professor Sally Sheldon, of Kent Law School, featuring on BBC Radio 4’s PM programme on sex selection in abortion; Professor Frank Furedi, of SSPSSR, on BBC Radio 2 discussing the Criminal Records Bureau and protecting children; and Professor Tim Luckhurst, of the Centre for Journalism, interviewed on arrests at News International and the future of The Sun for BBC1’s Breakfast News and the BBC Politics Show, respectively.
Green update
Obituary
Professor Frank Cioffi, 1928-2012 Professor Frank Cioffi was born in New York City on 11 January 1928 and died at his home in Canterbury on 1 January 2012. After a spell with the US army in Japan just after World War II and a brief period in Paris, he entered Ruskin College Oxford. He then became an undergraduate at the newly founded St Catherine’s College, where a friendly Alan Bullock helped him to negotiate his way through the various university formalities. He was tutored in the philosophy part of PPP by Friedrich Waismann and Anthony Quinton. After his degree, he spent some time researching in social psychology at Oxford with Michael Argyle. From 1956 to 1965, he was lecturer in philosophy at the University of Singapore. Frank came to England as one of the founders of the University of Kent in 1965 and it was here that I met him in 1966. As was the case with other new universities at the time, Kent was inventing new combinations of studies in an attempt to overcome too early specialisation. Part One, which initially lasted four terms, consisted of a course entitled Britain and the Contemporary World, in which students had to study a combination of literature, history and philosophy. Frank, with his immense range of reading in all three areas, was eminently fitted for teaching such combined studies and was inspiring for both staff and students. His wonderful introductory lectures to philosophy induced many students who did not know the subject to take it in Part Two. He had a wonderful way of delivering his lectures spontaneously, with powers of anecdote and humour which, however, never detracted from their deep seriousness. Often, they were applauded at the end and, when the timetable permitted, students would ask him to continue. In his published work, he made important world-recognised contributions to the study of Wittgenstein and the criticism of Freud.
It’s been a busy few months for environmental activities at Kent. This year’s Green Impact scheme has been a great success with 23 teams competing from the Canterbury and Medway campuses. For Fairtrade Fortnight, from 27 February to 12 March, the University’s Fairtrade steering group organised a host of events including a talk by the Director of Communications and Policy for the Fairtrade Foundation and an exhibition on Fairtrade history. The University’s Environmental Co-ordinator Catherine Morris returned from maternity leave in February to a new role working full-time for the University (previously a split role between the University and Kent Union). Over the next year, she will be focusing on two main areas – firstly, improving the communication and raising awareness of the University’s environmental performance by upgrading webpages and utilising newer technologies such as blogs, Twitter and Facebook and, secondly, helping Kent obtain ISO14001 certification. This standard will enable the University to control and improve its environmental performance, and will be a real boost to our environmental credentials. For further information, or to get involved in anything mentioned here, please contact Catherine Morris (c.morris@kent.ac.uk).
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KENT Magazine
When Frank was offered a professorship at the University of Essex and the chance, in effect, to found the new department of philosophy there, a group of teachers and students at Kent went to the Dean of Humanities and the Vice-Chancellor asking that he be given a professorship here. The request did not succeed and Kent’s loss was Essex’s gain, for he went on to found an extremely successful department there. After his retirement in 1994, he and his wife Nalini came back to live in Canterbury and he became an Honorary Research Professor here. No one who knew Frank will ever forget him. Sadly, his wife Nalini (whom he had devotedly cared for in her illness) died on 18 February. Edward Greenwood, retired Senior Lecturer in English Literature