@swanseahistory

New Book: Modern Flu: British Medical Science and the Viralisation of Influenza, 1890-1940 (Palgrave, 2023)

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Ninety years after the discovery of human influenza virus, Michael Bresalier’s new book, Modern Flu traces the history of this breakthrough and its implications for understanding and controlling influenza ever since. Examining how influenza came to be defined as a viral disease in the first half of the twentieth century, it argues that influenza’s viral identity did not … Read more

Whose church is it anyway? Normans vs Welsh in medieval Neath and Wales

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English conquest led to the creation of new chapels and parish churches across Wales, as well as some unique buildings like fortified churches and new elements such as the Norman-style font. Some new churches, like St Thomas, Neath, were founded to serve an English incomer community, while others, like St Illtyd’s, were much older and … Read more

The Crusades and Apocalyptic Thought in the Middle Ages

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A photograph of Simon John standing in front of a projection screen on which is being projected images from Heidelberg along with the Centre for Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Studies and University of Heidelberg logos.

Simon John – In the first semester of 2022/3, I was on research leave from Swansea, which enabled me to take up a visiting fellowship at the Käte Hamburger Centre for Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Studies (CAPAS) at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. The aim of the Käte Hamburger Centres – a number of universities … Read more

Researching the History and Heritage of Wales’s Small-Scale Fishing Industry

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Katherine Watson – Wales has a long history of fishing. In South Wales this is clearer than anywhere else. Tenby was among the earliest and most noteworthy Welsh fishing ports in the 18th century. By the 19th century, Milford Haven, Swansea, and Cardiff were emerging as the largest trawling ports in Wales, with Milford becoming … Read more

Nostalgia – A Reassessment in the Era of Austerity

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Monday 10 October 10am-12 This online roundtable brings together scholars to focus on the role, and representation, of nostalgia in deindustrialisation studies. In their paradigm shifting piece, Cowie and Heathcott (2003) urged us to ‘move beyond’ smokestack nostalgia and tales of victimisation through closure. However, 20 years later, this perspective requires revisiting. Across the deindustrialising … Read more

Monumental Medievalism: Public Monuments and the (Mis)Use of the Medieval Past

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Online Workshop, 5-6 October 2022 ALL TIMES ARE IN BRITISH SUMMER TIME (UTC +1hr) Register at our Eventbrite page Contact: monumentalmedievalism@gmail.com Wednesday 5 October (Join sessions via Zoom: HERE) 12:45-13:00 Welcome Euan McCartney Robson and Simon John   13:00-14:45 Session 1: Monumental Medievalism in Modern Japan Chair: Simon John (Swansea University, UK)   Sven Saaler … Read more

History Online Research Seminars Winter 2022

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Unless stated otherwise, all seminars take place on Wednesdays from 1.15 to 2.30 pm.  Everyone is welcome! 26 October 2022: Ian Sanders (Host and Producer, Cold War Conversations Podcast), ‘Cold War Conversations Podcast’, CRAM-sponsored   2 November 2022: Ciarán Wallace (Trinity College Dublin), ‘The Virtual Record Treasury of  Ireland: Resourceful Commemoration?’, joint CRAM-, CHART-, MEMO-sponsored event  30 … Read more

Empowering Children to Take Ownership of their Own History Through Storytelling and Creative Heritage Practice

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Hannah Nielsen – I have always had a fascination with history and storytelling. I was most fixated on the people of the past and their individual stories. After finishing my BA in History at Swansea University, I wanted to understand more practically what all this knowledge of the past means for us today and I … Read more

Swansea Historians in the Media

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On 20 September 2022, Dr Christoph Laucht appeared on an episode of BBC Radio 3’s Free Thinking programme on ‘Cuba, cold war and RAF Fylingdales’ to discuss the historical context in which Ian McEwan’s latest novel Lessons is set. Dr Laucht spoke in relation to his research on responses to the nuclear threat in Britain … Read more