@SwanseaHistory

Reflections on Studying the Past – Meddyliau ar Astudio’r Gorffennol

The perpetual evolution of a research project: Challenging Occupational Generalisations of the ‘Other’ in a Nineteenth-Century Welsh Industrial Community

Dissertations are the culmination of an exhilarating journey which invariably demands days lost to fascinating yet redundant research, but which is also rich with discovery and presents fresh perspectives of the world we thought we knew. This construction of history as we know it became central to my research. How have we interpreted our past,…Continue Reading The perpetual evolution of a research project: Challenging Occupational Generalisations of the ‘Other’ in a Nineteenth-Century Welsh Industrial Community

The Welsh and Empire: Early Reflections on India

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…Continue Reading The Welsh and Empire: Early Reflections on India

The Swansea-Mannheim City Partnership and the 1985 Mannheim Monument in Swansea’s Maritime Quarter

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…Continue Reading The Swansea-Mannheim City Partnership and the 1985 Mannheim Monument in Swansea’s Maritime Quarter

What can the census tell us about the history of the Welsh language?

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…Continue Reading What can the census tell us about the history of the Welsh language?

The Impact of the Black Death on Wales

In this short video, you can watch Dr Emma Cavell discuss the impact of the Black Death on Wales. Dr Cavell is a historian of the central Middle Ages with a particular interest in questions of gender. Her current research concentrates on Jewish men and women and the law….Continue Reading The Impact of the Black Death on Wales

The Medieval Economy of Wales

Dr Matthew Stevens’ book, The Economy of Medieval Wales, 1067-1536 has been attracting some glowing reviews recently. The book examines the economy of Wales from the first Norman intrusions of 1067 to the Act of Union of England and Wales in 1536. Key themes include the evolution of the agrarian economy; the foundation and growth…Continue Reading The Medieval Economy of Wales