I decided to study History at University for the simple reason that I enjoy the subject, and I still delight in it: there is always something new to learn, and this curiosity can help to understand the world we live in today. So, over 20 years since I came to Bangor University as an undergraduate student (then MA and PhD) I am still here, and a Lecturer in Modern History and Welsh History since 2013.

I mainly look at history from the close of the Victorian era to the beginning of the 21st century, and have two main interests in my research and teaching. Firstly, exploring national identities, specifically in Wales. Secondly, delving into the history of everyday life, which gives us a view of how ordinary people have lived in the past. Together this means that many of my modules are eclectic in content, with discussions of topics ranging from nationalism, the monarchy, devolution and gender to areas such as the nuclear industry, landscape studies and histories of  food, animals and tattoos.

Among the modules I have on the books at the moment are Wales in the Modern World; Re-igniting the Dragon: Wales after 1939; Britain in the Jazz Age; Nationalism in the UK and Raving in the 1990s. At MA level I coordinate the Welsh history module Global Wales. I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and I love teaching in Welsh and English.

I'm currently writing a monograph on north-east Wales between 1950 and 1962, involved in oral history projects through the Institute for the Study of Welsh Estates (ISWE) and collaborating on research into nuclear communities in north Wales. I enjoy chatting about my research with local history societies and schools.  I also contribute to radio and television programmes on subjects such as the monarchy and nationalism.

I am fortunate to be supervising talented PhD researchers, who are looking at areas such as the history of mountaineering and right-wing nationalism. I also co-supervise a number of ISWE doctorates on topics such as squatters & rural settlements and women in agriculture.

In terms of my administrative work at the University, I am a History Admissions Tutor and a History/Heritage co-ordinator in Bangor with the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol.

• Nationalism in the 20th century
• Monarchy
• Protest and the Welsh language
• Devolution
• Landscape history and rurality
• Nuclear communities
• North-east Wales
• Animal history
• The history of everyday life (e.g. tattoos, food, sports).

I enjoy gardening (particularly flowers) and love animals: I have dogs and chickens.  I'm also a big football fan.  Many of these interests crop up in my teaching and research too!

BA

• Cymru yn y Byd Modern / Wales in the Modern World 
• Ail-Danio'r Ddraig/ Re-igniting the Dragon
• Britain in the Jazz Age
• Nationalism in the UK
• Raving in the 1990s?  
• Making History
• Crefft yr Hanesydd

MA 

• Global Wales
• People, Power and Political Action
• Documents and Sources Modern
• Themes and Issues