This article discusses the industrial and personal connections between the Crawshay family in Merthyr Tydfil and the Dufaud family in France. It draws on travel diaries, notes and letters by Georges Dufaud and his son Achille Dufaud on their visits to Merthyr, providing insights into the Frenchmen’s impressions of Merthyr and its industrial superiority, and of the practicalities of travel and funding at the time. These texts also suggest the extent of the technological transfer from Wales to France, and reveal Welsh fears of industrial espionage. Following the wedding of Louise Dufaud and George Crawshay, Welsh workers and Welsh machinery (from Neath Abbey) were exported to France. Both played a decisive role in the development of the Fourchambault iron works near Nevers. Author: Heather Williams

The Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916 began a chain of events that led to the independence of most of Ireland, but at the time its momentous significance was not appreciated in Wales. For the vast majority of Welsh people, it was pure treachery as it happened at a time when Ireland (like the rest of the United Kingdom) was engaged in a war unprecedented in its savagery and scale. This article traces how events in Ireland were seen in Wales through the lens of the war against Germany, and how the notion that Ireland (like Wales) was better off within the protective embrace of the British Empire was so widespread that it could not be challenged. Author: Gethin Matthews

This article surveys the considerations regarding sleep in Welsh literature by analysing the popular poems of Vicar Rhys Prichard (1579–1644). Religious and cultural considerations regarding sleep, as found in the Vicar’s poems, are analysed. The main characteristics of the Vicar’s sleep poems are identified, and we gain an insight into how some people slept, or how the Vicar believed or wished them to sleep. As a result, the article shows the importance of sleep during the period and that people took it seriously. In doing so, it is emphasized that it should be remembered that real people, of flesh and blood, are studied, and although they only exist in texts from our point of view, they should be treated as human beings that, in the context of this article, slept. Author: Dewi Alter

It is often said that Wales’s devolved political institutions suffer from a ‘democratic deficit’, associated with a ‘media deficit’. This article uses the political philosophy of Jürgen Habermas to interpret these claims. The article begins by discussing the central problem and applying Habermas’s theory of legitimation to it (1), before turning to the theory’s key concept, namely the public sphere (2). Part 3 argues that an informal political public sphere is lacking in Wales today and that this undermines the legitimacy of the devolved political settlement, supporting this argument with data (3). The final part of the article places the Welsh case in a broader context, and opens the discussion regarding possible solutions (4). Author: Dafydd Huw Rees

This Welsh-medium e-textbook is a comprehensive introduction to the process of planning and conducting research. Aimed primarily at Psychology undergraduates, it accompanies Welsh-medium research method and dissertation modules. It is also a useful resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students in a wide range of other subjects. The authors of the textbook are Dr Awel Vaughan-Evans, Dr Gwennant Evans-Jones and Emma Hughes-Parry.

A 20 minute talk introducing resources created by Sociology lecturers. The resources that are showcased will be useful for teachers, pupils, learners and lecturers to support their teaching and learning. They can all be found on the Porth. These include: 'PAAC' resources which are on the themes of: Introduction to Sociology, Education, The Family, Research Skills, and Social Inequality Study of Contemporary Wales self study module Social Sciences: A Sociological Theory self study module Esboniadur Gwyddorau Cymdeithasol (Sociology Explainer - the Esboniadur is a collection of Welsh medium wicipedia style pages on a range of topics).  

The aim of this article is to analyse an under-researched aspect of Patagonian Welsh, namely its current lexical patterns. Based on data obtained from 134 questionnaires, it will be shown that the lexical variation that exists in this variety of Welsh is conditioned to a considerable degree by the variety of linguistic backgrounds found today among Chubut Province’s Welsh speakers. The results therefore not only show how historical dialect contact has played a crucial role in the evolution of traditional Patagonian Welsh, but also explore for the first time the extent to which a specific educational programme, namely the British Council’s ‘Welsh Language Project’, is influencing Welsh learners’ use of lexical features in the region. Another objective is to consider some of the results’ wider implications, including the relevance of language ideologies to the historical and contemporary lexical patterns of Patagonian Welsh. Author: Iwan Wyn Rees

A series of Welsh medium podcasts discussing topics related to health and social care.

These are recordings of two online sessions that were arranged for pupils who are considering studying LAW or CRIME at the University. The sessions provided a good opportunity for prospective students to get an idea of the type of career they can follow with a degree in those subjects.  In the first session there are contributors who have graduated in Law or Criminology and are now working in those fields.  The second session includes contributors who have graduated in Law or Criminology but went on to pursue a career beyond those subjects.

An appealing, contemporary volume presenting an accessible introduction to the discipline of the Welsh language, edited by lectures at the School of Welsh, Cardiff University; Dr Angharad Naylor, Dr Llion Pryderi Roberts and Dr Dylan Foster Evans. It presents the richness, breadth and passion of the language as an academic discipline, and will motivate interest and curiosity in familiar and new fields - such as language, literature, language sociology, literary critique, culture and inheritance and creative writing. Online Open Access (link below) Also available to buy as a paperback on the University of Wales Press website or in your local bookshop.

This material presents an account of China by naturalist and traveller Thomas Pennant (1726–98). The work forms part of Pennant's multivolume manuscript 'Outlines of the Globe', kept at the National Maritime Museum.

The aim of this article is to construct the history of the irrigation system in the Lower Chubut Valley created by the Welsh settlers that arrived in Patagonia (Argentina) in 1865, which complicated the relationship that existed between this infrastructure and the ever-changing sociopolitical framework. This will involve focusing on the institutions that the Welsh settlers themselves established and the conflicts that arose between them and the Argentine state, which took over the administration of irrigation in 1943. Emphasis will be given to the agency of water within the process that led to reinforcing and growing the irrigation infrastructure, and attention will also be given to the symbolic dimension of the objects that constitute this infrastructure, thereby enabling a reflection on their changing meanings. Author: Fernando Williams