Dr. Bill Jones of Cardiff University will be a distinguished visiting scholar in the West Virginia University Department of History until Oct. 31.

Jones is a reader in Welsh history at the School of History and Archaeology, Cardiff University, where he teaches modern Welsh and British history. He is co-director of the Cardiff Centre for Welsh American Studies.

He will give a research presentation to the WVU History Graduate Colloquium on Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 3:30 p.m. On Sept. 24, he also presented the inaugural WVU Institute of Technology lecture of the Otis K. Rice Memorial Lecture Series: Exploring the Challenges in Making History.

Jones has published extensively on nineteenth and early-twentieth century Welsh emigration and Welsh communities overseas and also on the industrial, social and cultural history of modern Wales, including the history of coal mining and coal communities in South Wales. He is the author of “Wales in America: Scranton and the Welsh 1860-1920,” “Welsh Reflections: Y Drych and America 1851-2000” and “Teyrnas Y Glo / Coal’s Domain: Historical Glimpses of the South Wales Coalfield,” as well as three studies of the ‘miner-writer’ B. L. Coombes (1893-1974). He has also published in collaboration with WVU Professor Emeritus Ron Lewis.

No stranger to WVU, Jones has previously presented research in 1999, 2003 and 2007. The department has enjoyed a successful student exchange with the School of History and Archaeology at Cardiff University for the past eight years.

Jones is currently researching resources relevant to his work on the Welsh migration overseas, particularly to the United States, and writing a monograph on transnational Welsh migrant experiences from the late 17th century onwards. He would be pleased to hear from anyone interested in his work on modern Welsh History and especially Welsh immigration. He can be contacted through the WVU Department of History at (304) 293-2421 ext. 5233.

-WVU-

09/30/09

CONTACT: Rebecca Herod, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
304-293-7405×5251, Rebecca.Herod@mail.wvu.edu

MEDIA: Photo available at http://wvutoday.wvu.edu