Swansea University will celebrate the special contribution of the late Professor Hywel Teifi Edwards to the University, and to Wales, during the National Eisteddfod at Blaenau Gwent and Heads of the Valleys.
Swansea University is establishing a new Academy as a fitting tribute to Hywel Teifi Edwards, and his contribution to the academic and public life of Wales.
Before being appointed Professor of Welsh at Swansea University, Hywel Teifi served as a lecturer in the Department of Continuing Education for over 20 years and spent his entire career promoting Welsh and Welsh medium scholarship at Swansea University as well as throughout South West Wales and beyond.
The new Academy will be called Academi Hywel Teifi and located in a centre on the University campus, and will be the focus of the study and learning of Welsh.
The Academi will be launched today at the National Eisteddfod (Thursday, August 5, 12noon), by the broadcaster Huw Edwards, son of Hywel Teifi Edwards and Honorary Fellow of Swansea University.
By bringing together the current Welsh Department and the Welsh for Adults Centre to Academi Hywel Teifi, the goal is to develop a focal point and a powerhouse for learning and teaching through the medium of Welsh and promoting the Welsh Culture and Language in the University.
Academi Hywel Teifi will work with the Welsh-Medium Education Strategy of the Welsh Assembly Government and the Coleg Ffederal and will enable Swansea University to deliver social justice for those who seek to learn through the medium of Welsh and maximise wealth creation opportunities through the medium of Welsh.
The Academi will enhance the existing strengths of Swansea University’s Welsh-medium provision, including Welsh in the work place, and will develop further Welsh-medium opportunities in science, technology , engineering and maths subjects in particular.
Academi Hywel Teifi will also forge links between secondary, further and higher education by offering new provision for learners aged 16-18 in conjunction with partner institutions.
Swansea University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard B Davies said: “Hywel Teifi Edwards was a man who stood for Wales and all things Welsh. His passionate enthusiasm for his work was infectious and inspirational to all, not just in the University but across Wales. Academi Hywel Teifi epitomises Hywel’s vision, combining Welsh scholarship with an exciting move to reach out to the wider community.”
Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Iwan Davies added: “The Academi is a fitting and permanent tribute to the contribution of Hywel Teifi Edwards and our memories of him.
“Establishing Academi Hywel Teifi will enable Swansea University to support the Welsh Assembly Government’s Welsh Medium Education Strategy through increasing the number of students who are able to receive higher education through the medium of Welsh building upon the significant developments in Welsh medium teaching, and by ensuring that Welsh medium scholarship is given its rightful status, and is enriched by creating links with other disciplines.
“Academi Hywel Teifi will promote Welsh and Welsh medium scholarship within the University and will facilitate the teaching of Welsh as an academic discipline, and will provide opportunities to the hundreds of people learning Welsh within the South West Wales region.
“Swansea University has the highest number of Welsh speakers in the South-West Wales region, and with its 3,500 students, Academi Hywel Teifi will offer a strong academic foundation which will be able to foster a bilingual workforce by promoting Welsh within the workplace through for example work based learning especially in emerging knowledge intensive industries such as bio sciences.
“Establishing Academi Hywel Teifi will enable Swansea University to work more effectively with the Coleg Ffederal and to ensure the region is able to benefit fully from and develop the present investment in primary and secondary Welsh medium Education through into higher education.”
Academi Hywel Teifi comes into existence on the occasion of the launch at the Eisteddfod. It will have 26 members of staff in the first place and will aim to develop the provision of Welsh-medium scholarship both within and outside the University and promote the making of connections between and within academic fields, for example linking with Welsh medium students in other disciplines within the University such as Engineering and Business.
The post of director of Academi Hywel Teifi will be advertised soon, with the aim of appointing a director by January 2011. A Chair will be available for the appropriate candidate including the Chair in Welsh which will be advertised at the same time.
The new director will accelerate the development amd provision of Welsh-medium scholarship, learning and teaching within a research led and comprehensive University with a strong tradition of outreach and international scholarship.
Throughout the week the University will be inviting visitors to the Swansea stand to contribute to a ‘mural of memories’ celebrating the life and work of Hywel Teifi. They will share their memories, recollections and tributes, and these will take up a permanent home at Academi Hywel Teifi.
The University is establishing the Hywel Teifi Edwards Memorial Lecture (Darlith Goffa Hywel Teifi Edwards) in the Literary Pavilion (Babell Lên), and will sponsor the event annually.
The inaugural lecture will be delivered this year by Professor Geraint H Jenkins, an alumnus and Honorary Fellow of Swansea University, on the subject of the history of the Gorsedd of the Bards (entitled ‘Teyrnfradwriaeth, Gorsedd y Beirdd, a thipyn o fisdimanars’) at 11am, in the Literary Pavilion on Thursday, August 5. The lecture is chaired by Professor Ceri Davies of Swansea University.
