Swansea / Université Grenoble Alpes Workshop: ‘Well-Being and the Humanities in Post-Covid Times’

Swansea’s Medical Humanities Research Centre (MHRC) is pleased to be collaborating with medical humanities colleagues at Université Grenoble Alpes as part of the broader strategic partnership between the two universities on the theme of ‘Resilience’. On Friday 22 October, we will be hosting a joint virtual workshop ‘On Well-Being and the Humanities in Post-Covid Times’. … Read more

Reflections on Postgraduate Study at Swansea

Deciding to study postgraduate history at Swansea was one of the best decisions I ever made. From the variety of modules on offer to the guidance and support of the staff to the number of resources available, studying history at Swansea University was as enriching as it was rewarding. Following the completion of my undergraduate … Read more

A Path-Breaking International Conference: ‘Race’, Law and Group Identity in Medieval Europe

On 6 & 7 September 2021 Swansea University and Nicolaus Copernicus University (Toruń, Poland) co-hosted this interdisciplinary conference welcoming registered delegates, both historians and art historians from Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Finland, England, Wales, Ireland, Spain and Brazil. Delegates discussed, from a variety of cultural and historical perspectives, the complex relationships that existed … Read more

Get involved in CHART (Centre for Heritage Research and Training)

CHART is the new centre for heritage research and training at Swansea University, based in the Department of History, Heritage and Classics. CHART brings people with enthusiasm, ideas, and expertise together to create opportunities within and beyond the university. With projects ranging from global cultural protection to Jewish heritage, and the Welsh steel industry, CHART … Read more

What should we do about statues? A reflective blog post on writing, recording and publishing a podcast

The following is the second in our series of guest blog posts from History students exploring their experiences of creative assessment as part of their degrees. Hywel Squires is a Swansea University history graduate with an interest in heritage and museology Anyone who has spent more than five minutes in my company will be aware … Read more

Romanticising Rebecca: Reinterpreting the Mid-Nineteenth Century Revolts of Mid and South-West Wales

The nineteenth century was a time of significant change across rural Wales. Plagued with socio-political unrest, a series of factors laid the foundations for a series of uprisings known as the Rebecca Riots. The upper classes controlled all government and local parliaments, allowing for oppressive laws to be introduced and passed without resistance. The Turnpike … Read more

The Swansea-Mannheim city partnership and German impressions of Swansea University over the years

In an earlier blogpost I sketched the history of the city partnership between Swansea and Mannheim (Baden-Württemberg, Germany), from its establishment in the 1950s. That blog focused in particular on the creation of a monument to the partnership, a miniature replica of the German city’s main landmark, which was erected in Swansea in 1985. Since … Read more

The Curious Case of Ted Dexter and Cardiff South East

Sam Blaxland The former England cricket captain, Ted Dexter, died on 26th August 2021, aged 86. This article, about a peculiar event in his career, originally featured in the 2016 edition of the Conservative History Journal. In 1964 the electorate of Cardiff South East faced the unusual situation of having the England cricket captain as … Read more

Historians and Pandemic Policies: What role should historians play?

Earlier this summer, Dr Michael Bresalier organised and chaired a virtual roundtable with the Society for the Social History of Medicine on the role of historians and history in pandemic policies and policy-making.  The roundtable was organised to address a paradoxical issue: while academic historians have been called upon to provide all manner of perspectives … Read more