Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium: 2007

Thursday, 20 December 2007

Welsh Audiences Line Up to See Scottish Gaelic Film Rejected in Oscar Language Controversy

Searchd Opens in Cardiff, a Scottish Galeic film at the heart of a language controversy with the Oscars . . .

"SOME OSCAR CONTROVERSY!"

"Seachd has not been put forward by BAFTA as the UK's official non-English language Oscar nominee."

See more here:

Forget Highlander and see Seachd, the first REAL Scottish Gaelic film

Searchd opens at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff this weekend:

Fri 21 - Sun 30 Dec
Gwe 21 - Sul 30 Rhag

Friday, 21 December 2007 17:00 Cinema 1

Saturday, 22 December 2007 15:00 Cinema 1

Saturday, 22 December 2007 17:00 Cinema 1

Sunday, 23 December 2007 17:00 Cinema 1

Thursday, 27 December 2007 17:00 Cinema 1

Friday, 28 December 2007 11:00 Cinema 1

Friday, 28 December 2007 17:00 Cinema 1

Saturday, 29 December 2007 15:00 Cinema 1

Saturday, 29 December 2007 17:00 Cinema 1

Sunday, 30 December 2007 17:00 Cinema 1

{Pictured above: publicity still from the Gaelic Language feature film, Searchd: The Impossible Pinnacle (2007).]

Scottish film director Simon Miller has put out an appeal for help, as it's been reported to Celtic Cult Cinema that the Scottish Parliament is poised to debate BAFTA Oscar Controversy over the alleged snub of the Gaelic Feature Film 'serachd: The Impossible Pinnacle (2007).

Simon Miller's Gaelic language feature film opens across Scotland this week, just as the BAFTA Oscar nomination controversy has caught fire.

It’s a film specifically about storytelling, and about the firm location of old stories in particular landscapes."

"A fitting theme for the first ever feature film in Scottish Gaelic."

[Quoted above from the programme book of the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2007]

What the critics are saying:

"Gorgeously-realised blend of magic realism and family drama" THE HERALD
"Dramatic, funny, spectacular and steeped in Gaelic mythology" THE LIST
"Glows with warmth and humanity" THE OBSERVER
"Visually breathtaking" BBC

Simon Miller writes:

"As you may have seen in the Seachd group blurb on facebook BAFTA (The UK's film academy) has failed to put forward any non-English language films for the Best Foreign Language Film category at next year's Oscars - which includes Seachd."

"THERE IS SOMETHING YOU CAN DO TO HELP, PARTICULARLY THOSE OF YOU FROM OUTSIDE THE UK..."

"Of 18 Western European countries invited by the Academy to put non-English language films forward for the Oscars, the UK is the only one to fail to do so."

"BAFTAs decision is sensless and really could not have been made on some measure of the "quality" of the film, given the strong early reviews we have had (“excellent” The Sunday Times, “breathtaking” BBC, “tender, graceful…gorgeously-realised” The Herald, “worth shouting about” The Scotsman, “dramatic, funny and spectacular” The List, and “an astonishing production” Eye For Film). And surely they wouldn't have put forward such obviously English language turkeys as they have in recent years if quality really was the issue?"

"BAFTA is an institution designed to promote British film - in whatever language - and their decision feels dangerously close to censorship and it will mean - ultimately - that less people will get to see the film in the UK internationally."

"YOU CAN HELP CHANGE THAT..."

"We have been able to gather a great deal of support to help overturn their decision within the film industry in the UK, and also from the Academy who have written to BAFTA asking for an explanation. And we have just learned that this issue is on the agenda to be debated in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday this week."

"HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP..."

Read the entire story here:

http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,2177934,00.html

Searchd: The official Website

Saturday, 8 December 2007

For NAASWCH Welsh Scholars and Artists Aiming for Toronto for August 2008 Deadline Looms Dec. 21, 2007

North American Association for the Study of Welsh Culture and History (NAASWCH)

International Conference on Welsh Studies -- Call for Papers

July 31-August 2, 2008 The Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto

The NAASWCH Program Committee seeks diverse perspectives on Wales and Welsh culture

-- as well as proposals focused on the Welsh in North America

-- from many disciplines including: history, literature, languages, art, sociology, anthropology, economics, political science, philosophy, music, and religion.

NAASWCH invites participation from faculty, postgraduate/graduate students and independent scholars from North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

Those wishing to present a paper suitable for a 20 minute reading may submit an abstract (maximum one-page).
Proposals for thematic sessions, panel presentations, or other formats are also welcome.

Please include a brief (one-page) vita with your submission.
The abstract – proposal deadline is Dec. 21, 2007; but early proposals are encouraged.

Participants will be notified by mid-February. E-mail submissions are welcome and will be acknowledged promptly.

If you have not received confirmation of your electronic submission within one week, please resend the document.

NAASWCH works to promote scholarship on all aspects of Welsh culture and history;

to develop connections between teachers and scholars in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom who are committed to the study of Welsh culture, history, language, and literature;

to provide an intellectual forum in which scholars and teachers of Welsh culture may share their research and teaching experience, and to provide support for the study of Welsh-North American history and culture.

See the NAASWCH website for additional information:

NAASWCH

Please submit abstracts or session proposals by no later than Friday, Dec. 21, 2007 to:

Dr. Katharine Anderson, History Department,
Ohio Dominican University, 1216 Sunbury Road,
Columbus, OH 43219, USA; andersok1@ohiodominican.edu .

Those who are not submitting proposals but would like to receive conference information should contact: Dr. Melinda Gray, NAASWCH Secretary, 15 Woodbridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02140, USA; mgrayk@comcast.net.

AIM: ATRiuM Intelligent Media

Chapter Arts Centre Cardiff

Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries

mwoods[at]glam[dot]ac[dot]uk

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

Smart & Sexy? Your Queer Advantage is waiting!

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Queer Advantage, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai Razing Ziggurats, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai's Post-Evangelical-Granola on the World Wide Web.

Friday, 7 December 2007

Finnish Filmmaker Eija-Liisa Ahtila Opens Artes Mundi at the National Museum Cardiff, Cathays Park in Cardiff on Tuesday 11th December 2007 at 7.15pm

[Pictured above: The Wind, 2002 Eija-Liisa Ahtila © 2002 Crystal Eye Ltd, Helsinki]

Artes Mundi: Celebrating Art in Cardiff
Start Date : Tuesday 11th December
End Date : Tuesday 11th December

The Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries is organising an event as part of the Artes Mundi Advance – Aspects of Humanity series.

The Artes Mundi 2 Prize winner Eija-Liisa Ahtila will be back in Cardiff to talk about her work at the National Museum Cardiff, Cathays Park in Cardiff on Tuesday 11th December 2007 at 7.15pm. For further details please download the following leaflet:

Artes Mundi Advance – Aspects of Humanity

Location Tuesday 11th December 2007 at 7.15pm at the National Museum Cardiff.

Contact Details: If you would like to attend please contact Naomi Wells on 01443 668523 or email njwells@glam.ac.uk by Friday 7th December 2007 so that we can reserve seats for you.

About Artes Mundi:

Artes Mundi supports and celebrates international contemporary art.

Our aim is to recognise exciting emerging artists from around the world whose work comments on the human condition and humanity from different cultural perspectives, and present this to a wide audience.

Every two years our programme culminates in the major Artes Mundi Exhibition in Cardiff, Wales and the awarding of the prestigious Artes Mundi Prize.

[Pictured above: The House Eija-Liisa Ahtila © 2002 Crystal Eye Ltd, Helsinki]

This is accompanied by visiting artist presentations, activities with schools and communities and a conference.

Since the early 1990’s Eija-Liisa Ahtila’s films and still photographs have told stories of human relationships and the elementary emotions that underlie these relationships: love, anger, jealousy, sexuality and vulnerability.

Ahtila describes her films as “human dramas.” Her fictional narratives are acted out by actors and actresses and emerge from interviews and extensive research, as well as her own observation and memory.

The Present - The Monique Zajfen Collection

[Above this video -- in English and Dutch: Onder de naam The Monique Zajfen Collection werkt het Stedelijk in samenwerking met The Broere Charitable Foundation aan een collectie van hedendaagse kunst, die in langdurig bruikleen van het museum zal komen. De werken drukken ditmaal, in uiteenlopende disciplines, diverse aspecten van la condition humaine uit en stellen de menselijke figuur centraal. Kunstenaars: Marlene Dumas, Thomas Schütte, Neo Rauch, Wilhelm Sasnal, Mike Kelley, Pawel Althamer, Paul Graham, Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Lisa Yuskavage en George Condo. ]

Eija-Liisa Ahtila’s films take full advantage of the gallery space, often showing on multiple screens or within complex installations.

This allows her stories to unfold simultaneously both in time and space, creating a multilayered experience that engages the viewer physically.

Eija-Liisa Ahtila was born in Hämeenlinna, Finland in 1959; she lives and works in Helsinki, having completed her studies in cinema in California and London.

Artes Mundi

For additional info please contact Dr. Mark Leslie Woods at mwoods[at]glam.ac.uk

AIM: ATRiuM Intelligent Media

AIM -- ATRiuM Intelligent Media, Cardiff, Wales, U.K. on Face Book

Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries

mwoods[at]glam[dot]ac[dot]uk

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

Smart & Sexy? Your Queer Advantage is waiting!

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Queer Advantage, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai Razing Ziggurats, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai's Post-Evangelical-Granola on the World Wide Web.

Tuesday, 27 November 2007

Acclaimed Authors George Szirtes, Grahame Davies, Niall Griffiths Headline Glamorgan Writers' Lectures for the Coming Welsh Literary Season

Professor Tony Curtis at the University of Glamorgan English & Creative Writing courses has announced the guests lecturers for the coming term:

Here are the guest writers for this year: all are at 6.30 in Glamorgan Business Centre, located on the main University of Glamorgan campus in Treforest, Pontypridd on Fridays and are FREE -

Dec 7th, 2007 George Szirtes - poet and translator

[Pictured above: George Szirtes - Hungarian poet and translator]

George Szirtes was born in Budapest in 1948 and came to England as a refugee in 1956. He was brought up in London and studied Fine Art in London and Leeds.

His poems began appearing in national magazines in 1973 and his first book, The Slant Door, was published in 1979. It won the Faber Memorial prize the following year.

After the publication of his second book, November and May, 1982, he was invited to become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Since then he has published several books and won various other prizes including the T S Eliot Prize for Reel in 2005.

Having returned to his birthplace, Budapest, for the first time in 1984, he has also worked extensively as a translator of poems, novels, plays and essays and has won various prizes and awards in this sphere.

His own work has been translated into numerous languages.

Beside his work in poetry and translation he has written Exercise of Power, a study of the artist Ana Maria Pacheco, and, together with Penelope Lively, edited New Writing 10 published by Picador in 2001.

George Szirtes - Hungarian poet and translator

Feb 29th, 2008 Grahame Davies - poet, novelist and BBC executive

[Pictured above: Dr Grahame Davies - poet, novelist and BBC executive; photograph courtesy Mauro Philip Conti Photography London-Miami-NYC.]

"One of the clearest public poetic voices of his generation," Emyr Lewis

"An unequalled satirist,” John Gruffydd Jones.

“He sees through the deception and falseness of urban media life better than anyone, and he’s scathing in his vision of the emptiness of city existence...this poet has sufficient mastery of language to disturb and reach the roots of the soul.” Alan Llwyd.

"Poems which brilliantly describe Welsh life in the capital." Peter Finch.

“There’s a new world-view on our everyday lives here, overloaded with memorable images and phrases,” Menna Elfyn.

“He has an incredible gift of expression. There’s scarcely a poem in the volume that doesn’t contain truly original and clever phrases.” Meirion MacIntyre Huws.

Poet, editor and literary critic, born in 1964 and brought up in the former coal mining village of Coedpoeth near Wrexham in north east Wales.

After gaining a degree in English Literature at CCAT (now Anglia Ruskin University) Cambridge, he qualified as a journalist with the Thomson Organisation at Newcastle-upon-Tyne and worked on newspapers in south Wales from 1985 until 1991, since when he has worked for BBC Wales.

His career as a journalist and producer has brought him a number of Welsh and UK industry awards. He is currently Editor Broadcast development for BBC Wales.

In 1997, he was awarded a doctorate by the University of Wales for his study, written in Welsh, of the work of R.S.Thomas, Saunders Lewis, T.S. Eliot and Simone Weil, whom he identified as part of an anti-modern trend in Western culture in the 20th Century.

In 1997, his first volume of poetry, Adennill Tir, (Barddas,) a book arising from the 10 years he spent in Merthyr Tydfil in the south Wales Valleys, won the Harri Webb Memorial Prize.

In 1998, he was second to Emyr Lewis in the competition for the National Eisteddfod Crown.

In 1999, his study of Wales and the anti-modern movement, Sefyll yn y Bwlch, (University of Wales Press, 1999), the product of his doctoral research, was published. It went "straight to the front rank of criticism of our day," according to the critic Dr Dafydd Glyn Jones (Barn), and was described as “a signal book” by the critic Dr Angharad Price (New Welsh Review).

In 2000, he co-edited Oxygen, (Seren) a bilingual anthology of Welsh poets aged under 45.

In 2001, his second volume of poetry, Cadwyni Rhyddid, (Barddas) appeared . It went to a second edition within a few months of publication, won the Wales Arts Council's 2002 Book of the Year award at the Hay on Wye Festival of Literature, together with a prize of £3,000.

In 2002, Seren press published his literary anthology, The Chosen People, which details the relationship of the Welsh and the Jewish people as reflected in literature.

Also in 2002, he edited a 160-page edition of the Bulgarian literary magazine Plamak (“Flame”) dedicated to Welsh literature, the first such anthology of Welsh writing in the Balkans.

In 2002 Ffiniau/Borders appeared from Gomer press, a bilingual volume of poetry jointly with Elin ap Hywel.

In 2003, he chaired the panel of judges for the Welsh Book of the Year Awards. The first prize of £5,000 went to Jerry Hunter's Llwch Cenhedloedd.

In 2004 his first novel Rhaid i Bopeth Newid, was published by Gomer. It was longlisted for the £10,000 Book of the Year prize, 2005, and was described by Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas in Taliesin as 'the first post-national novel.'

Also in 2004, his selection of Welsh poetry in Asturian translation appeared in Spain from Kêr ar Mor press under the title Nel país del borrina (The Country of the Clouds).

In 2005, his selection of Welsh poetry in Galician translation appeared under the title of No país de la brétema from VTP Editorial.

In 2005, Seren published The Big Book of Cardiff, an anthology of contemporary writing about Cardiff, co-edited by Peter Finch and Grahame Davies.

Also in 2005, his third volume of original Welsh-language poetry appeared from Barddas, under the title Achos (Cause).

In 2006, his anthology of work by and about refugees and asylum seekers in Wales, Gwyl y Blaidd / Festival of the Wolf, appeared from Parthian/Hafan, edited jointly with Tom Cheesman and Sylvie Hoffman.

In 2007, Seren published Everything Must Change, an English-language novel based on the successful Rhaid i Bopeth Newid.

Also in 2007, Seren will be publishing Real Wrexham, a work of psychogeography in the Real series edited by Peter Finch.

He is a full member of the Welsh Academi and was the Welsh-language editor of Poetry Wales magazine for several years until 2002. He won the vers libre prize in the National Eisteddfod in 1994, the sonnet prize in 2004 and the Welsh Academi’s Stomp competition in 2001.

His work has been translated into several languages, including English, German, Latvian, Maltese, Bulgarian, Polish, Asturian and Galician, and is widely anthologised, appearing in publications as diverse as The Times, The Times Literary Supplement, Poetry London, the Literary Review in America, Orbis (#136 Spring 2006) and the Yearbook of Welsh Writing in English.

He is a frequent contributor of articles and reviews to journals such as Poetry Wales, Barn, Taliesin, Planet and New Welsh Review, and his poetry is on the syllabus for school pupils in Wales.

Dr Grahame Davies - poet, novelist and BBC executive

May 9th, 2008 Niall Griffiths - novelist.

[Pictured above: Niall Griffiths - novelist]

The BBC Wales Profile on Niall Griffiths writes that:

"Niall Griffiths was born in Liverpool and has since moved to Aberystwyth. Both towns have a strong hold on his imagination. His first two novels were set on the west coast of Wales, his third re-visited his native city."

"His novel Stump traces a trajectory of violent retribution between Liverpool and Aberystwyth, following two shell-suited gangsters on their journey from Merseyside to the seaside town to settle a score."

"There has always been a strong Welsh influence in Griffiths' life. He was born to a Toxteth family with Welsh roots, in 1966."

Niall Griffiths Official Website

Academi -- Welsh Academy of Writers

Many prestigious published and award-winning authors and poets
teach on our the University of Glamorgan English & Creative Writing , so students and colleagues can be confident they’re getting the best teaching and support.

We also use our experience to help students forge working relationships with industry professionals.

The university has an outstanding reputation for creative writing. The subject was one of 12 areas rated “Excellent” by the Government’s Teaching Quality Assessment body.

In the most recent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), English was awarded a grade 4 rating, equivalent to national excellence in all areas.

For additional info please contact Dr. Mark Leslie Woods at mwoods[at]glam.ac.uk

AIM: ATRiuM Intelligent Media

AIM -- ATRiuM Intelligent Media, Cardiff, Wales, U.K. on Face Book

Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries

mwoods[at]glam[dot]ac[dot]uk

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

Smart & Sexy? Your Queer Advantage is waiting!

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Queer Advantage, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai Razing Ziggurats, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai's Post-Evangelical-Granola on the World Wide Web.

Tuesday, 13 November 2007

New Welsh Beacon to bring universities and public closer, will share in a £9.2M funding pot over four years

People in Wales will be able to play a much more interactive role in the work of higher education institutions thanks to a collaborative partnership of leading Welsh organisations.

Cardiff University, University of Glamorgan, Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales, Techniquest and BBC Wales have come together and successfully bid to become Wales’ only Beacon for Public Engagement, and will now lead Welsh universities in working more closely with the public.

Cardiff University

University of Glamorgan

Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales

Techniquest

BBC Wales

The Beacon for Wales will encourage universities to make wider contributions to society by engaging communities more fully in their work and is part of the biggest initiative of its kind ever launched in the UK.

[About this video: Torchwood is a 13-part British sci-fi thriller TV drama series from BBC Wales aimed at a post-watershed audience. Written by Russell T Davies.]

BBC WALES Torchwood Trailer

A total of six beacons are to be set up, including others in Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, London, and Edinburgh.

There will also be a UK-wide co-ordinating centre based in Bristol, which will work across the initiative to promote best practice and provide a single point of contact for the whole higher education sector.

The Beacon for Wales was chosen from 87 bidders from around the UK, and will share in a £9.2M funding pot over four years.

Acting as a catalyst for other higher education institutions across Wales, the Beacon for Wales will open up opportunities for people outside academic communities to better understand, support and challenge research undertaken in universities.

[Pictured above: Welsh National Assembly First Minister Rhodri Morgan]

First Minister Rhodri Morgan said: “Wales is gaining a reputation as a world-class “research hub” with a wealth of very exciting research being undertaken at Welsh universities, which is relevant to our everyday lives.

I welcome this initiative because I am confident that it will bring the work of Wales’ academic talent to a wider audience.”

Professor Ken Woodhouse, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Engagement at Cardiff University, the lead partner in the Beacon for Wales, said:

[Pictured above: Cardiff University Pro Vice-Chancellor for External Affairs Professor Ken Woodhouse MD FRCP ILTM]

“This initiative will ensure that the public has a greater understanding of the work of higher education institutions, as well as making sure our universities understand how the public feels about issues ranging from science, business and the arts, to language, the environment, history and health.

“We are excited at the prospect of working with our partners to spread ambition and best practice that will inspire academic and research staff across the whole of Wales.

"We are keen to see public engagement activities such as debates, dialogues or exhibitions, media appearances or outreach work become as much of a priority for university staff as the more the traditional roles.

"This is why one of our earliest tasks is to put in place the right structure to support academia in planning and delivering innovative and rewarding activities that run side by side with research and teaching.”

Beacons for Public Engagement is funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, Higher Education Funding Council for England, and UK Research Councils UK in association with the Wellcome Trust.

Beacons for Public Engagement

Higher Education Funding Council for Wales

Higher Education Funding Council for England

UK Research Councils UK

Wellcome Trust

It brings together a number of different funders with the common goal of achieving a more joined up and embedded approach to public engagement and was created in response to a survey that identified barriers to participation in public engagement by higher education institutions.

The Welsh Beacon will address these issues by taking practical steps to encourage and reward innovative, exciting engagement activities that reach all groups throughout Wales.

It will pilot four new public engagement programmes and develop best practice guidance on how to reach audiences with activities that encourage social, ethical and scientific debate.

The four pilot projects will explore subjects as varied as our place in the future; health and well being; climate and sustainability and the Welsh identity in the 21st century.

[Pictured above: Professor Rod Dubrow-Marshall, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Glamorgan]

Professor Rod Dubrow-Marshall, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Glamorgan said:

“Our Beacon is about engaging with, listening to and learning from the communities with whom we live and work and we are ready to put our plans into action.

"By combining the expertise, experience and geographical reach of these leading Welsh institutions, the Beacon for Wales will give public engagement a renewed sense of status, a renewed sense of purpose and a renewed energy, not only within our institutions but throughout Wales.”

[Pictured above: Professor Philip Gummett, Chief Executive of HEFCW]

Professor Philip Gummett, Chief Executive of HEFCW, said:

“Backing this initiative with other UK partners has given us a wonderful opportunity to support institutions in Wales to build on their existing excellent work to make what they do more understandable to the public in Wales, as well as get a real dialogue going.

"The diversity of the partners within the Beacon for Wales means they will be able to collectively work with and learn from communities all across our nation.”

[Pictured above: Professor Alan Thorpe, RCUK Champion for Science in Society and Chief Executive of the Natural Environment Research Council]

Speaking on behalf of Research Councils UK, Professor Alan Thorpe, RCUK Champion for Science in Society and Chief Executive of the Natural Environment Research Council, said,

‘Much of the work carried out by higher education institutions has a direct effect on people’s lives, so it is important that they are able to access them and have their say.'

'The Beacons will do this by giving people the chance to get involved directly.'

'They will also help redefine what it means to be a university in the 21st century, making public interactions and social considerations a core part of the role of any member of staff or student in any discipline.’

tagged: hesas

Issued by: University of Glamorgan, Pontypridd, CF37 1DL
Contact: Press Office on 01443 483362
E-mail: press@glam.ac.uk

For additional info please contact Dr. Mark Leslie Woods at mwoods[at]glam.ac.uk

AIM: ATRiuM Intelligent Media

AIM -- ATRiuM Intelligent Media, Cardiff, Wales, U.K. on Face Book

Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries

mwoods[at]glam[dot]ac[dot]uk

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

Smart & Sexy? Your Queer Advantage is waiting!

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Queer Advantage, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai Razing Ziggurats, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai's Post-Evangelical-Granola on the World Wide Web.

Monday, 12 November 2007

‘Iolo (Morganwg), Druidism and Dr William Price’ Seminar Offered at Centre for Modern and Contemporary Wales University of Glamorgan Wed. 21 November

[Pictured above: Dr. William Price 1800-1893; Iolo Morganwg (Edward Williams) 1747-1826]

This first of this year’s Centre for Modern and Contemporary Wales seminar series will be on Wednesday 21 November at 2 p.m. in B134 on the University of Glamorgan campus in Treforest, Rhondda-Cynon-Taf.

Title: ‘Iolo, Druidism and Dr William Price’. (Iolo being Iolo Morganwg, radical, fantasist and literary forger; Dr. William Price of Llantrisant, Chartist and pioneer cremationist).

Speaker: Brian Davies (curator, Pontypridd Museum and Historical Centre)

Forthcoming:

February 2008 (date tba) Professor Dai Smith (Chair, Arts Council for Wales), ‘Funding the Arts in Wales’

16 April 2008, Martin Johnes (Swansea University), ‘Where have all the Britons gone? History, Wales and Britishness.’

All welcome / Croeso i Bawb

Professor/Yr Athro Gareth Williams
Centre for Modern and Contemporary Wales
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
University of Glamorgan Pontypridd CF37 1DL

For additional info please contact Dr. Mark Leslie Woods at mwoods[at]glam.ac.uk

AIM: ATRiuM Intelligent Media

AIM -- ATRiuM Intelligent Media, Cardiff, Wales, U.K. on Face Book

Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries

mwoods[at]glam[dot]ac[dot]uk

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

Smart & Sexy? Your Queer Advantage is waiting!

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Queer Advantage, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai Razing Ziggurats, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai's Post-Evangelical-Granola on the World Wide Web.

Saturday, 3 November 2007

Is History Your Thing? University of Glamorgan in Wales Celebrates Late Autumnal Harvest of Histories and Anthologies (Some Great Xmas Gift Ideas!)

This is to invite you to a celebration of recent publications by members of the History Division in HASS, University of Glamorgan.

Please join us at Blackwells bookshop on campus on Tuesday, 4 December 2007 at 5 p.m. for wine and light refreshments.

Titles include:

Witchcraft, gender and society in early modern Germany (Brill) by Jonathan Durrant

Baltic iron in the Atlantic world in the eighteenth century (Brill) by Chris Evans and Göran Rydén

Debating the revolution: Britain in the 1790s (IB Tauris) by Chris Evans

Brittany 1750-1950: the invisible nation (University of Wales Press) by Sharif Gemie

Galicia: a concise history (University of Wales Press) by Sharif Gemie

The other Germany: perceptions and influences in British-East German relations, 1945-1990 (Wißner) edited by Norry LaPorte and Stefan Berger

The very salt of life: Welsh women’s political writings from Chartism to suffrage (Honno) edited by Ursula Masson and Jane Aaron

A woman’s work is never done (Honno) edited by Ursula Masson

Sport: an anthology (Parthian Press) edited by Gareth Williams

RSVP to Dr Norry LaPorte ([nlaporte[at]glam[dot]ac[dot]uk])

Descriptions and reviews of recent books by University of Glamorgan scholars include:

Sharif Gemie, Galicia: a concise history (University of Wales Press, 2006)
Sharif Gemie’s innovative study provides an introduction to the landmarks of Galician history, from pre-history to the present.

Clearly written and easily understandable, it alerts the reader to some of the controversies and debates linked to Galicia’s development, and points out the connections between Galicia and Spain, Europe and the Atlantic world.

The study concentrates mainly on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and analyses issues such as the strengths and weaknesses of Galician nationalism, the status of Galego (the Galician language), Galicia during the Civil War and the Francoist dictatorship, and the rise and fall of the Fraga and the conservative Partido Popular in Galicia after 1981.

Elizabeth Andrews, A Woman’s Work is Never Done and other writings, edited and introduced by Ursula Masson (Honno, 2006)

The autobiography of Andrews (1882–1960), a prominent Labour activist in South Wales during the party’s ‘heroic age’, is reprinted with a scholarly introduction by Ursula Masson and a foreword by Glenys Kinnock MEP.

Chris Evans, Debating the revolution: Britain in the 1790s (I.B. Tauris, 2006)

‘A wonderful book: authoritative, informative and full of intriguing interpretations and interesting perspectives. A historiographical tour de force’. Professor Stefan Berger, University of Manchester.

Chris Evans and Göran Rydén (eds), The industrial revolution in iron: the impact of British coal technology in nineteenth-century Europe (Ashgate, 2005)

“Chris Evans’s introductory chapter is a masterful summary of British technology and the historiography of nineteenth-century iron . . .

This book makes an invaluable contribution to our understanding of technology transfer and the global modernization of the iron industry.

It gives Anglophone readers access to literatures that have until now been unknown to many of us.” Technology and Culture, July 2006.

Ursula Masson (ed.), Women’s rights and ‘womanly duties’: the Aberdare Women’s Liberal Association 1891–1910 (South Wales Record Society, 2005)

The minutes of of the Aberdare WLA, which had over 500 members at its peak, shed light on a rich period in the history of women’s political activity, when women campaigned on issues dear to the Liberal Party such as Home Rule for Ireland, Welsh Church disestablishment, temperance and reform of the House of Lords, but also on many aspects of women’s fight for equality in all walks of life.

Stefan Berger, Andy Croll and Norman LaPorte (eds), Towards a comparative history of coalfield societies (Ashgate, 2005)

A selection of papers from the international conference on coalfields and their peoples organised by the Labour History Society and hosted by the University of Glamorgan in 2002.

Stefan Berger and Norry LaPorte, The other Germany: perceptions and influences in British – East German relations, 1945–1990 (Wißner, 2005)

Britain did not recognise the German Democratic Republic until 1973, but throughout the forty years of the GDR‘s existence there were significant political and cultural exchanges between the two.

This path-breaking book explores the cold war relationship between the ‘friendly enemies’.

Norman LaPorte, The German Communist Party in Saxony, 1924–1933: factionalism, fratricide and political failure (Peter Lang, 2003)

”...contributes new and important material to the major debates on the history of German Communism during the Weimar Republic.” Central European History, 2006.

”...essential reading for all scholars of German communism… LaPorte offers a cogent analysis of the historiographical questions regarding the KPD.” H-German, June 2005.

For additional info please contact Dr. Mark Leslie Woods at mwoods[at]glam.ac.uk

AIM: ATRiuM Intelligent Media

AIM -- ATRiuM Intelligent Media, Cardiff, Wales, U.K. on Face Book

Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries

mwoods[at]glam[dot]ac[dot]uk

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

Smart & Sexy? Your Queer Advantage is waiting!

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Queer Advantage, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai Razing Ziggurats, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai's Post-Evangelical-Granola on the World Wide Web.

Friday, 2 November 2007

S'mae ti heddiw? A Conference Reminder "S4C: The First 25 Years"

S4C: The first 25 years
International conference to mark the first 25 years of broadcasting by S4C (Welsh language television)

Date: 2-3 November 2007

Location: The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth

The Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies in association with the Wales Institute for Cultural and Communication Industries and the Mercator Centre for Minority Languages is hosting a two day international conference at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth to mark the 25th anniversary of the first broadcast by S4C, the Welsh language television channel, on 1st November 1982.

The Conference aims to analyse significant events and scrutinise major decisions taken in the trajectory of S4C from the legendary broadcasting campaign right through to the channel’s vision of its future role and position in the market-led, post-analogue, multi-platform world.

In addition to academic papers and presentations, keynote speeches and panel discussion, the Conference will hold a number of unique witness sessions during which key figures will be interviewed in depth on the subject of their role in the creation / development of S4C.

While the focus of this Conference is firmly on S4C as a Welsh language broadcaster, its position as the first dedicated minority language channel will be addressed through the comparative international context.

Topics to be discussed include, but are not limited to:

The emergence of S4C as a cultural, economic and linguistic force in Wales
The relationship between S4C and other broadcasters in Wales and the UK
S4C as pioneer of minority language broadcasting
S4C as multi-platform content disseminator
S4C and cultural vitality in Wales
Commissioning and programming
Content
Audiences, citizens and consumers

Contact: For further information regarding the conference please contact us on mercator@aber.ac.uk or call us on +44 (0)1970 62 1982

Minority Language Media In The European Union

Mercator's main goal is to gather, store, analyse and distribute information through a documentation and information network for regional and minority languages in the European Union.

Mercator Media is one of the three research and documentation centres in the Mercator network. Mercator was founded as an initiative of the European Commission in 1987 to meet the growing interest in various aspects of minority and regional languages and the increasing need of the language communities to exchange experiences and cooperate in a European context. Through Mercator it has become possible to improve the accessibility and exchange of information of minority and regional languages in a more systematic way.

Conference Notice "S4C: The First 25 Years"

Deuddydd llawn o ddadansoddi datblygiad S4C drwy sesiynau tyst a chyfweliadau gyda ffigurau blaenllaw yn y diwydiant darlledu o’r cychwyn cyntaf hyd heddiw.

Cinio’r Gynhadledd yng nghwmni Prif Weithredwr S4C, Iona Jones.

Ymysg y siaradwyr bydd: Euryn Ogwen Williams, Geraint Stanley Jones, Huw Jones, Gwilym Owen, Geraint Talfan Davies, Rhodri Glyn Thomas...

I weld y rhaglen ac i gofrestru ewch i http://www.aber.ac.uk/mercator/cy/s4c25

Sesiynau yn cynnwys:

- Darlledu yn y Gymraeg cyn creu S4C
- Sefydlu Sianel
- Archifo’r Sianel
- Agweddau ar S4C
- Y Gymhariaeth Ryngwladol
- Mater yr Iaith
- Hunaniaeth y Sianel
- O bedair sianel i bedwar cant: S4C rhwng 1994 a 2005
- Yr Annibynnwyr
- Newyddion a Materion Cyfoes
- Gweledigaeth Ddramatig
- Y Berthynas Newydd - BBC ac S4C

Cynhadledd "S4C: Y Chwarter Canrif Cynta on FaceBook

For additional info please contact Dr. Mark Leslie Woods at mwoods[at]glam.ac.uk

AIM: ATRiuM Intelligent Media

AIM -- ATRiuM Intelligent Media, Cardiff, Wales, U.K. on Face Book

Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries

mwoods[at]glam[dot]ac[dot]uk

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

Smart & Sexy? Your Queer Advantage is waiting!

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Queer Advantage, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai Razing Ziggurats, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai's Post-Evangelical-Granola on the World Wide Web.

Saturday, 20 October 2007

Welsh Women and Gender Studies in Wales Glamorgan Scholars' Series Launch Saturday 27th October 2007

You are warmly invited to the launch of the book series Gender Studies in Wales in the Glamorgan Business Centre on Saturday 27th October 2007 at 2.00 pm.

A number of editors and contributors to the volume will be talking about their books and their hopes for the series:

Launching the New Series / Gender Studies in Wales

Saturday 27th October 2007 at 2.00 p.m./

Programme of the afternoon’s events

2.00
Arrivals and refreshments (tea, coffee, Welsh cakes)

2.15-2.20
Brec’hed Piette welcomes the audience and gives a brief introduction to the series, and to its Sociology strand in particular.

2.20-2.30
Paul Chaney, University of Cardiff, talks of his contracted volume for the series Equality and Public Policy: Wales in Comparative Focus

2.30-2.40
Nickie Charles, University of Warwick, talks of Charlotte Aull Davies (University of Swansea) and her contracted volume for the series Gender and Social Justice in Wales

2.40-2.50
Sian Rhiannon Williams, UWIC, introduces the History strand of the series, making particular reference to Ursula’s and her suffragette volume

2.50-3.00
Ursula Masson, University of Glamorgan, talks of her contracted volume for the series ‘For Women, for Wales, for Liberalism’?: Women and Liberal Politics in Wales
c.1880-1914

3.00-3.10
Jane Aaron introduces the Literature strand of the series, making particular reference to her published volume Nineteenth-Century Women’s Writing in Wales

3.10-3.20
Katie Gramich, University of Cardiff, talks of her published volume Twentieth-Century Women’s Writing in Wales

3.20-3.30
Sarah Prescott, University of Aberystwyth, talks of her contracted volume for the series The Cambrian Muses: Women Writers and Wales, 1600-1800

Chair asks for questions and comments from the floor, and concludes the formal part of the meeting any time between 3.40 and 4.00

Series Editors: Jane Aaron, University of Glamorgan; Brec’hed Piette, Bangor University; Sian Rhiannon Williams, UWIC

The aim of this series is to fill a current gap in knowledge.

As a number of historians, sociologists and literary critics have for some time been pointing out, there is a dearth of published research on the characteristics and effects of gender difference in Wales, both as it affected lives in the past and as it continues to shape present-day experience.

Socially constructed concepts of masculine and feminine difference influence every aspect of individuals’ lives; experiences in employment, in education, in culture and politics, as well as in personal relationships, are all shaped by them.

Ethnic identities are also gendered; a country’s history affects its concepts of gender difference so that what is seen as appropriately ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’ varies within different cultures.

What is needed in the Welsh context is more detailed research on the ways in which gender difference has operated and continues to operate within Welsh societies.

Accordingly, this interdisciplinary series of volumes on Gender Studies in Wales, authored by academics who are currently leaders in their particular fields of study, is designed to explore the diverse aspects of male and female identities in Wales, past and present.

Crynodeb

Mae cysyniadau o wahaniaethau gwrywaidd a benywaidd a luniwyd yn gymdeithasol yn dylanwadu ar bob agwedd o fywyd yr unigolyn.

Mae hunaniaethau cenedlaethol hefyd yn rhyweddol; mae hanes cenedl yn effeithio ar ei chysyniadau o wahaniaethau rhyweddol fel bod yr hyn a ganfyddir yn briodol fel ‘gwrywaidd’ neu ‘benywaidd’ yn amrywio o fewn gwahanol ddiwylliannau cenedlaethol.

Yr hyn sydd ei angen yn y cyd-destun Cymreig yw mwy o ymchwil manwl ar y ffyrdd y mae gwahaniaethau rhyweddol wedi gweithredu ac yn parhau i weithredu o fewn cymdeithasau Cymreig.

Yn unol â hynny, mae’r gyfres ryngddisgyblaethol hon ar Astudiaethau Rhywedd yng Nghymru, a ysgrifennwyd gan academyddion sy’n arweinwyr cyfoes yn eu meysydd o astudiaeth, wedi ei chynllunio ar gyfer archwilio’r agweddau o hunaniaethau gwryw a benyw yng Nghymru, gynt a nawr.

Mae’r gyfres yn anelu at gynnal fframwaith rhyngddisgyblaethol gan fod dimensiynau cymharol gyfyng y ffrâm a osodir gan ethnigrwydd yn yr achos hwn yn gwneud ymdriniaethau rhyngddisgyblaethol yn fwy dichonadwy.

Credwn hefyd, lle mae’r fath ymchwiliad yn ddichonadwy, ei bod yn dal yn ffaith drwy chwalu’r rhaniadau confensiynol - ond mympwyol - o ddisgyblaethau academaidd y gellir datgelu darluniau llawnach o fywydau dynion a menywod.

Ni fydd pob teitl a gynhwysir yn y gyfres yn cynnwys elfen ryngddisgyblaethol ond disgwyliwn i’r gyfres fel cyfanwaith elwa o’i dimensiwn rhyngddisgyblaethol cyffredinol.

Bydd i’r gyfres hefyd ddimensiwn dwyieithog a bydd yn cynnwys teitlau Cymraeg yn ogystal â rhai Saesneg.

For additional info please contact Dr. Mark Leslie Woods at mwoods[at]glam.ac.uk

AIM: ATRiuM Intelligent Media

AIM -- ATRiuM Intelligent Media, Cardiff, Wales, U.K. on Face Book

Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries

mwoods[at]glam[dot]ac[dot]uk

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

Smart & Sexy? Your Queer Advantage is waiting!

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Queer Advantage, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai Razing Ziggurats, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai's Post-Evangelical-Granola on the World Wide Web.