Welsh (Taught)

For over a century the Department of Welsh at Aberystwyth has been an internationally renowned centre of research. The expertise of its 8 teaching members spans all areas and periods of Welsh literature and language as well as Celtic Studies. We offer tuition and supervision for research students (MPhil or PhD), and we welcome applications from well-qualified candidates.

The Department of Welsh is situated in the Parry-Williams Building, near the University's Hugh Owen Library with its outstanding Welsh and Celtic collections. Close at hand is the National Library of Wales, one of the few copyright libraries in Britain. Its manuscript and archival holdings in particular are a prime resource for Welsh scholars.

The University has a lively postgraduate scene: regular research seminars are held in the Department of Welsh and in other departments, and students may also attend seminars in the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies. There are ample opportunities to gain fluency in Welsh, and to practise Irish, Breton and Scottish Gaelic with other graduates and undergraduates in informal groups.

For these degrees any subject may be chosen from the whole field of Welsh language and literature. Researchers in recent years have worked on topics as varied as: personal names of men in Wales, Cornwall and Brittanny, 400-1400AD; masculinity and medieval Welsh literature; costume in medieval literature c1100-c1600; the early poetry of Guto’r Glyn; the Red Bandits of Mawddwy in folklore and literature; the poetry of Lewis Morris; the Lleifior novels of Islwyn Ffowc Ellis; aspects of the novels of Marion Eames; and the contribution of Myrddin ap Dafydd as a cultural figure. Students can draw on the very wide range of academic expertise provided by the Department’s staff in both Welsh and other Celtic languages.