An aerial view of Singleton Campus and the bay opposite

Dr Gethin Matthews

Senior Lecturer, History

Telephone number

+44 (0) 1792 606536

Welsh language proficiency

Fluent Welsh Speaker
Available For Postgraduate Supervision

About

Dr Gethin Matthews is a senior lecturer in the History Department at Swansea University, where he has been since 2011. His PhD explored the history of the Welsh in the Gold Rushes, but for the past decade he has been researching the impact of the First World War upon Welsh society and culture. His edited volume Creithiau (2016) provided an important assessment in Welsh of the effects of the war upon Wales. His latest book, Having a Go at the Kaiser: A Welsh Family at War, published in 2018, explored the impact of the war upon three brothers and their loved ones, based upon over a hundred of their letters. He wrote a series of contributions for both academic and popular history publications during the Centenary of the First World War, and while that research interest is still current, he is also returning his attention to the question of Welsh involvement in the Gold Rushes and in imperial ventures.

Areas Of Expertise

  • Welsh Society and Culture - First World War
  • Memorials to the First World War
  • Wales and the British Empire
  • Welsh migration and Welsh communities overseas
  • Gold Rushes
  • Oral History of Welsh involvement in the two World Wars
  • Wales and the American Civil War

Career Highlights

Teaching Interests

Dr Matthews is involved in teaching a wide range of modules, in both English and Welsh, dealing with aspects of Welsh History, Oral History, Empire History etc.

Research Award Highlights