Reflections on Studying the Past – Meddyliau ar Astudio'r Gorffennol
The French and Indian War (1754-1760) was the last of the intermittent colonial conflicts that had erupted between Britain, France, their respective North American colonies and Native American allies during the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Unlike the conflicts that had preceded it, the French and Indian War proved decisive, resulting in the conquest of … Read more
Conflict, Reconstruction and Memory (CRAM) research group. 28-29 June 2021 This workshop will explore debates surrounding the cultural and political uses of monuments, reflecting upon their role in the memorialisation and imagining of the past. It considers artefacts such as war memorials, cenotaphs and public statuary as well as urban sites damaged through war, or … Read more
On 20 May 2021, a vigil for a young man who had recently died turned into an hours-long riot in Mayhill, Swansea. The widespread shock and dismay that followed showed both a determination to do something about their causes and to punish the offenders. There were arguments over the perpetrators deserved help or condemnation. Whether … Read more
The Reformation had a great impact on many aspects of daily life and lived religion. It proposed to alter a system of rituals and worship that had evolved over centuries and which promised to ensure a better future in the afterlife; the Reformation denied established culture and brought the fate of many souls into jeopardy … Read more
The persistent legacies of colonial domination have become a flashpoint in recent years. On the one hand, movements like Black Lives Matter and Rhodes Must Fall have provided a platform through which we can analyse how structural hangovers from imperialism continue to impact on the lives of underrepresented groups. On the other, that observation alone … Read more
One of Swansea’s least well-known monuments stands in the city’s Maritime Quarter. Formerly the site of the docks that facilitated much of the industrial activity upon which Swansea thrived in the nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth, this quarter was redeveloped into a residential district in the 1970s and 80s. In the part … Read more
Hundreds of thousands of people were threatened by famine, disease, and displacement as a consequence of the First World War and the conflicts that followed in its wake. Around one hundred years ago, a wide range of humanitarian organisations were established which sought to cater for these civilian victims of war. Some of these organisations … Read more
On 1 May 1851 – almost exactly 170 years ago – the Great Exhibition first opened its doors to the public. Housed in Hyde Park, in the vast temporary structure that was quickly christened the Crystal Palace, the exhibition remained open until 15 October. During that time, it attracted millions of visitors, many of whom … Read more
In December 2020 there was a rare astronomical event at the winter solstice: a great conjunction. A conjunction occurs whenever two astronomical objects appear close together in the sky. A great conjunction is a conjunction of the planets Saturn and Jupiter, the slowest-moving planets visible to the naked eye. A great conjunction occurs every twenty … Read more
Professor Martin Johnes recently gave an online talk for the genealogy website FindmyPast about using the census to understand the history of the Welsh language. Drawing upon his research into the role of education in the decline of Welsh in the late 19th century, Martin explored how the census collected language data, questions around its … Read more