Gorffennol is the Welsh for Past. It is the online student journal of the History and Classics Department at Swansea University. It will produce two journal issues a year as well as regular blog posts. It is run by an editorial team consisting of 10 students and two members of staff from the Department.

The online journal will be published biannually and will showcase outstanding student assignments from all subject areas in our Department (hence ‘Past’ as this includes everything from ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome through the Medieval period to the early modern and modern periods).

There will also be regular blog posts by students and staff on module-specific research. There will be links to it from module Blackboard sites, so our Departmental students can look at what excellent work in particular modules looks like.

We are grateful for the funding this project has received from the Swansea Academy of Learning and Teaching (SALT). It will work as a pilot project not only to display  excellent student work, but also to help our students increase their career skills by providing them with editorial experience. We hope to open up the journal to all Arts and Humanities students once the pilot stage of this project is over.

The editorial team are being guided by Dr Evelien Bracke on a weekly basis and have also received a talk by Prof Thomas Jansen (TSD) who coordinates the Student Journal at Trinity Saint David.

Issue 1: January 2015

The first issue of Gorffennol can now be accessed here: Gorffennol Issue 1.

Articles can also be accessed individually.

Year One

Laura Wiseman, ‘Behind Hittite lines’, written for Introduction to ancient Egyptian History and Civilisation (CLE121)Laura Wiseman Behind Hittite Lines

Catriona Allon, ‘Was the Falange fascist?’, written for Europe of Extremes (HIH121)Catriona Allon Was the Falange fascist

Year Two

Oliver Leighton, ‘What benefits could a small city expect from joining a large hegemonic league?’, written for Greek City States (CLH264)Oliver Leighton What benefits could a small city expect

Sam Price, ‘In what way can the Wehrmacht be viewed as complicit in atrocities committed by the SS against Jews, POWs and civilians in Russia?’, written for Occupied Europe (HIH258)Sam Price In what way can the Wehrmacht be viewed

Edwin Rose, ‘How important was religious affiliation to the reception of the Copernican account of the universe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?’, written for Athens to Los Alamos: Science in the ancient and modern worlds (HIH260)Edwin Rose How important was religious affiliation

Year Three

Lois Robinson, ‘How important was rope to antiquity?’, written for Ancient History Dissertation (CLD300)Lois Robinson How important was rope to antiquity

Charlotte Watts, ‘Why is water an effective ingredient in rituals, when it is considered a source of danger in Ancient Egypt?’, written for Magic and ritual in ancient Egypt (CLE335)Charlotte Watts Why is water an effective ingredient in rituals

Howard Leung, ‘In what ways did the city of Batavia slowly adapt to the realities of life in tropical Java?’, written for European Empires in the East (HIH3178)Howard Leung Batavia was built as a clear cut copy

Gemma Almond, ‘To what extent has the concept of ‘deformity’ affected Richard III’s image and character?’ written for Blood and Roses: England 1475-1500(HIH3258)Gemma Almond Richard III