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Swansea University

By Sam Blaxland

Swansea University
Preview available
  • This is a book that is very different to most anniversary/institutional histories in that it takes a ‘bottom-up’ approach to its topic by focusing less on the elite decision-makers at Swansea University.

  • One of the main take-home messages of the book is that university life involved, and still involves, many multi-layered paradoxes and contradictions. Conflicting ideas and behaviours can be witnessed simultaneously - as in life - and this fundamentally adds to the discussion surrounding what a university’s purpose is. The book demonstrates how universities are complex and diverse places, and not just sites of academia and scholarship.

  • The book’s analysis rests on a foundation of oral history testimonies. This is not only an unusual approach to take but it ensures that the words, ideas and memories of those who lived the history permeate through the entire book.

  • The oral testimonies also provide splashes of colour, humour and intrigue that you might not always find in an institutional account.

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