Greater Swansea Area
I'm a professor of history at Swansea University. I have published widely on the histories of Wales and modern British sport and popular culture. My books include: "England's Colony? The Conquest, Assimilation and Re-creation of Wales (2019), Christmas and the British: A Modern History (2016), Wales since 1939 (2012) and, with Iain McLean, Aberfan: Givernment and Disasters (2000). I am currently CI on a major-AHRC project entitled "Beyond Borders: The Second World War, National Identities and Empire in the UK". The project is in conjunction with the University of Edinburgh and the Imperial War Musuem. I have significant experience across the delivery and management of higher education, having held senior roles such as Head of Department and unit of assessment lead in the REF. I am currently Reseach Lead for Swansea's School of Culture and Communication. I teach modules on the histories of Wales and modern Britain and supervise undergraduate and postgraduate students at all levels. I am a regular peer reviewer for research councils, journals and publishers. I also contribute to the broadcast and print media on historical and political issues and was the presenter of the BBC television series England's Colony? (2019). I am committed to the role of humanities in wider society and regularly give public and school talks about history. I have served on two Welsh Government inquiries into the history curriculum. My latest book, Welsh Not: Elementary Education and the Anglicisation of Nineteenth-Century Wales, was published by the University of Wales Press in autumn 2024. It explores the perception and treatment of the Welsh language in nineteenth-century schools, and goes on to analyse the role education played in linguistic change in Wales.