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

The aim of this article is to analyse the different readings available regarding the history of the Welsh settlement within official narratives of the past in Chubut Province, Argentina. This not only includes the products of the provincial state, but also those of other actors in Chubut society, including the Welsh community itself. In order to do this, the analysis will focus on interpretations produced over three periods: firstly, between the 1930s and 1955, when Chubut was a national territory; secondly, a portion of the first years of the existence of Chubut Province between 1958 and 1975; and finally, between the 1980s and the present, with particular attention given to the celebrations of the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the landing of the first settlers in 2015. The changes observed between different historical narratives, as well as the elements of continuity between them, are also considered. Throughout these three periods, it is shown that official narratives of Chubut’s past have placed the history of Welsh colonization as a cornerstone for the establishment of the province, giving it a hegemonic role. Author: Guillermo Williams

The recent online public discussion about Welsh Patagonia has been characterized by a tendency to condemn the settlers from Wales on moral grounds. This article takes on this debate, weighing up how, and to what extent, it is possible for us to place Y Wladfa and its people on the scales of morality. It gives detailed attention to the writing of Geraldine Lublin and Lucy Taylor on the history, as examples of reflective, multi-layered analysis that succeeds in conveying the complexity and difficulties of the situation. Having offered this outline, Iris Marion Young’s ethical framework is applied to the history, in order to highlight key ethical considerations, following Catherine Lu’s application of the same ‘social connection’ model to Japanese colonial history. Some initial conclusions are offered about what is revealed.  Author: Huw L. Williams