“Why Wales Studies needs to be protected and preserved”

An article by Professor M Wynn Thomas FLSW, Vice-President for the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences was featured in the Western Mail on 23 March.

The achievement of Wales Studies deserves to be celebrated not only within Wales but well beyond. The Irish long ago turned the multifaceted study of Ireland into a global brand, a ‘soft power’ initiative of staggering world-wide success.

Since the devolution settlement, Scotland has been engaging in similar state-supported enterprises.  But Wales…..?

Not only have we totally failed to capitalise on our successes, we have neglected even to protect the infrastructure on which they depend.

[…] Ours is a brave new fractured and fractious world of consumer-led, individual-fixated  Higher Education. But it is vital for the future of Wales as a national collective that a programme of research devoted solely to promoting the general good of our own culture and exploring its extensive links to the world at large be protected and preserved.

The full text of the article is available to read here