Professor Bowen will be speaking on the theme: ‘Of Divergence and Drains: Asia and the Making of Britain’, starting at 7pm, in the University’s Faraday Lecture Theatre.

Swansea University’s Schools of Arts and Humanities have organised a unique programme of inaugural lectures which will be held on campus throughout this academic year.

The introductory lecture series entitled: ‘New Directions in the Arts and Humanities’ will feature a wide range of subjects and promise to be exciting academic occasions when new research findings are explained and illustrated in an accessible and entertaining manner. 

In recent years Swansea University has invested heavily in the development of the research and teaching activity of its Schools of Arts and Humanities.  As part of this process, it has appointed a number of new professors who are at the cutting-edge of their subject areas, and many of these professors are now giving their first public lectures. 

Professor Bowen, Lecturer in Modern History, will present ‘Of Divergence and Drains: Asia and the Making of Britain’.  The lecture considers the effects that British imperial and commercial expansion in Asia had upon development of Britain’s economy during a key period of growth during the late eighteenth century.  In order to do this, the lecture re-visits the once highly contentious issue of the ‘drain’ of resources from India, and it will explore the various ways in which this ‘East Indian’ wealth made itself felt in Britain. 

Moving from the global to the local, the key themes of the lecture will be illustrated with examples of the different economic influences arising from British expansion in India that were at work in the economy and society of South Wales between 1750 and 1850.

Professor Bowen said: “This unique series of lectures showcases some of the important new research being undertaken in the Schools of Arts and Humanities at Swansea University. 

“From my perspective, as an economic historian, it is of fundamental importance that we understand why some countries have become rich while others remain poor.  It is with this big issue in mind that my research endeavours to throw new light on the crucial yet often misunderstood relationship that existed between British imperialism and domestic economic development.’

The arts and humanities at Swansea have long been held in very high regard, and these lectures will demonstrate that the university continues to provide an academic home for scholars with distinguished international reputations.

Admission to the lectures is free and all are welcome to attend.  A full list of events is available to download here:
Programme of Inaugural Lectures

For further information relating to the New Directions in the Arts and Humanities programme of Inaugural Lectures, please contact Bev Evans, School of Humanities
Telephone: +44 (0)1792 602361, Email: b.evans@swansea.ac.uk.

For further information on The School of Arts visit http://www.swansea.ac.uk/arts/ and for further information on The School of Humanities visit http://www.swansea.ac.uk/humanities/.