On Wednesday 14 May, members of the Society’s Council visited historians and students from Aberystwyth University and the surrounding region. We were joined by historians from the universities of Cardiff, Swansea and Bangor who took part in the panel discussions.

The visit — led by the Society’s President Professor Lucy Noakes — combined sessions at the University and the National Library of Wales. A morning panel considered the provision of teaching and research of Welsh history, and the place of history in Welsh HE, prior to the proposed higher education review by the incoming Plaid Cymru government.

Aberystwyth and Bangor are now the only two universities in Wales with dedicated Departments of History and Welsh History, and where history is taught in Welsh. Cuts across higher education place this limited provision under greater strain. Panellists also considered writing history in Welsh, and the need for structures such as REF to appreciate the importance of history communication, across the UK, in languages other than English.

Afternoon panels debated historical practices and approaches — with a focus on ‘Ethics and Oral History’ and ‘Artificial Intelligence and History’ — and a final session on the work of the Royal Historical Society and how it supports historians within and beyond higher education at this time.

 

 

The visit closed with a public lecture, given by our guest speaker Professor Miri Rubin (Queen Mary, University of London). Miri spoke on ‘Black/Beautiful: Meanings of Blackness in a Biblical Verse’, a discussion of blackness as conducted by medieval scholars — Jews and Christians — in their commentaries on Song of Songs 1:5: ‘I am black and/but beautiful’.

Many thanks to Miri for her excellent lecture, and to all who joined us, in Aberystwyth and online, for this event.

Our great thanks also to all who participated in our panels; to staff and students from the National Library of Wales and Aberystwyth’s Department of History and Welsh History for their welcome; and especially to Dr Steven Thomson, Head of Department, for organising and hosting this visit.