Professor Martin Johnes

• From 'Atom Watchers’ to Atom Folk: Assessing the Construction, Maintenance, and Legacies of Nuclearized Communities in Clark County, Nevada, 1951-1992. (current)

  PhD

  Other supervisor: Dr Christoph Laucht

• ‘A future without a past’? Social Mobility in South Wales between 1945 and 1999. (current)

  PhD

  Other supervisor: Dr Sarah Crook

• A Welsh Vision of Empire? Welsh Imperialists and the Indian Empire (awarded 2024)

  PhD

  Other supervisor: Dr Gethin Matthews

• 'Landscapes of the Bristol Channel: Changing Perceptions of Time and Space in a Maritime Region, c.1780-1914' (awarded 2022)

  PhD

  Other supervisor: Prof Louise Miskell

• Gaming Capitalism in the Service of a People: A multidisciplinary Study of the Chickasaw Nation (awarded 2023)

  PhD

  Other supervisor: Prof Louise Miskell

• A study to reconstruct the experiences of a cohort of doctors who migrated from South Asia to Wales between 1948 and 1990. It aims to explore broader questions about the nature of medical migration into Wales and how this affected the provision and use of medical care in Wales. (awarded 2024)

  MPhil

  Other supervisor: Dr Michael Bresalier

• Caught; in the storm: the 1981 rugby test series between New Zealand and South Africa (current)

  MA

  Other supervisor: Prof Louise Miskell

• HI-M22 Dissertation

  Students produce a dissertation of up to 20,000 words on a historical topic, chosen in conjunction with their supervisor. This represents the culmination of the History MAs, and constitutes Part Two of the programme.

• HI-M39 Research Folder

  This module is designed to help students to identify a dissertation topic appropriate to their interests and expertise, and to tackle the problems of methodology, develop the research techniques, and undertake the project planning which are the necessary preliminaries to researching and writing a 20,000 word dissertation.

• HI-M70 Wales since 1945

  TBC

• HIH121 Europe of Extremes, 1789-1989

  The nineteenth century saw the rise of a western European civilization, characterized, as Eric Hobsbawm has noted, by capitalist economics, liberal politics, and the dominance of a middle class that celebrated morality and science. In the twentieth century this civilization faced unprecedented challenges from new political ideologies, and from a working class demanding the right to govern in its own name. The result was an eruption of violence not seen on the continent for centuries; in its wake, the Cold War divided the Europe with an Iron Curtain, and saw the continent become the client of two world superpowers ¿ the USA and the Soviet Union. This team-taught module relies on the specialist knowledge of its tutors to examine economic, political and social themes in the history of nineteenth and twentieth-century Europe.

• HIH122 Making History

  How do historians study the past? Why do their accounts of the past differ, and why do they change over time? This module will help you to understand the various concepts, methods, and approaches that academic historians use when writing history and generating historical explanations. By the end of it, you will understand how and why professional historians disagree on many topics, and you will be equipped to evaluate competing interpretations of the same past events and processes. The module also trains you in the fundamental skills required to study history as an undergraduate, and gives you an opportunity to learn more about the interests and expertise of the history staff you¿ll be working with at Swansea. It will help you make the transition from being taught history at school or college to studying history at university, and it will introduce you to the many different kinds of history you can explore in the course of your degree.

• HIH122W Creu Hanes

  Sut mae haneswyr yn astudio'r gorffennol? Pam bod eu fersiynau o'r gorffennol yn amrywio a pham ydynt yn newid dros amser? Bydd y modiwl hwn yn eich helpu i ddeall y cysyniadau, y dulliau a'r ymagweddau gwahanol y mae haneswyr academaidd yn eu defnyddio wrth ysgrifennu hanes a chreu esboniadau hanesyddol. Erbyn diwedd y modiwl, bydd gennych ddealltwriaeth o sut a pham bod haneswyr proffesiynol yn anghytuno ar lawer o bynciau a bydd modd i chi werthuso dehongliadau cyferbyniol o'r un digwyddiadau a phrosesau o'r gorffennol. Mae'r modiwl hefyd yn eich addysgu am y sgiliau sylfaenol angenrheidiol i astudio hanes fel myfyriwr israddedig ac mae'n rhoi cyfle i chi ddysgu mwy am ddiddordebau ac arbenigedd y staff hanes y byddwch chi'n gweithio gyda nhw yn Abertawe. Bydd yn eich helpu i bontio o bwnc sy'n cael ei addysgu yn yr ysgol neu'r coleg i astudio hanes yn y brifysgol a bydd yn eich cyflwyno i'r mathau gwahanol o hanes y gallwch chi eu harchwilio yn ystod eich cwrs gradd. How do historians study the past? Why do their accounts of the past differ, and why do they change over time? This module will help you to understand the various concepts, methods, and approaches that academic historians use when writing history and generating historical explanations. By the end of it, you will understand how and why professional historians disagree on many topics, and you will be equipped to evaluate competing interpretations of the same past events and processes. The module also trains you in the fundamental skills required to study history as an undergraduate, and gives you an opportunity to learn more about the interests and expertise of the history staff you¿ll be working with at Swansea. It will help you make the transition from being taught history at school or college to studying history at university, and it will introduce you to the many different kinds of history you can explore in the course of your degree.

• HIH124 Britain and the World 1800 to 2000

  This module will provide an overview of the history of British politics, society, culture, and the economy from c. 1800 to the present, from a national and international perspective. The lectures and seminars for this module will give students the opportunity to engage closely with events, processes, and people - both male and female, from diverse ethnic backgrounds - who contributed to the making of the modern British state and society, and who defined Britain¿s relationship with the wider world. We will discuss the transformative impact of warfare, Empire and colonialism, industrial and technological change. We will also consider the significance of race, class, and gender, and how they relate to national sentiment and social and political emancipation movements in Britain and beyond.

• HIH237 The Practice of History

  The purpose of the module is to encourage you to think more deeply about how historians work and, in particular, about how we as historians can locate and use primary historical sources effectively as a means of interpreting and understanding the past. During the module we will learn about the survival of historical evidence, how it is organised and made accessible to historians to undertake their research, and how to effectively locate and interpret it in your studies. We will consider how the process of doing historical research changes over time, in particular with the impact of recent developments like digitization. At the core of the module will be the work you undertake with others in your seminar group using a range of primary sources which your seminar tutor will introduce to you. As part of the module assessment you will also undertake your own primary source based research project using items from these collections. The module is designed strengthen your analytical skills and to help prepare you for the more extensive uses of primary evidence which you will encounter in final year special subjects and dissertation.

• HIH284 Disunited Kingdom? Class, Race, Gender and Social Division in Twentieth-Century Britain

  This module examines the dynamics and structure of British society over the course of the 20th century. Despite radical social, political and economic changes, the idea of a British nation, a British people and a British way of life remained powerful and persistent. Yet beneath a veneer of social and and national unity were profound divisions and inequalities. This module explores how categories such as gender, class, race, region, nation and religion evolved and persisted. In doing so, the module considers what causes social change and the extent to which there was anything resembling British society at all. The module will relate these historical contexts to the present day. It asks how history can be used to understand contemporary social divisions and seeks to empower and enable students to think critically about how Britain and `Britishness¿ are constituted in contemporary society.

• HIH3300 History Dissertation

  The History dissertation is a free-standing, 40-credit module that runs across both semesters of Level Three. Candidates conduct research upon a subject of their choice, devised in consultation with a member of staff teaching for the degrees in History, and concerning a topic that falls within staff research and teaching interests.

• HIH3379 History on Screen: Television, Cinema & Gaming

  This module explores how the past has been presented on screen. It looks at television documentaries, movies, small-screen dramas, video games and tv `reality¿ shows. Students will learn about both the practical and philosophical challenges of presenting history on screen. They will explore how questions around interpretation, authenticity and evidence are dealt with by programme, film and game makers and how audiences react to and think about what they watch and consume. The module will thus help students develop an understanding of film, television and games as mediums and the very nature and role of history in society.

• HIH3383 The Rise and Fall of Wales? Politics, Culture and Society, 1847-1939

  This module explores the history of Wales from the notorious 1847 Blue Books to the outbreak of the Second World War. It analyses the emergence of Welsh identities in politics, religion and popular culture and considers how Welshness intersected with other loyalties such as class, race, and Empire. Students will learn about the role of the Welsh language, women, trade unions and political parties in society and explore key events such as the Great War, strikes and riots and the first modern Welsh legislation

• HIHM01 Debates and Approaches in Heritage and Public History

  This module offers an introduction to current debates in heritage and public history and a chance to develop practical skills in the communication of history to broad audiences. It will provide an opportunity to reflect on the relationship between academic study and the past as portrayed by, with and for the public (or publics). We¿ll explore case-studies in heritage from around the world. Why have museum presentations of history proved so controversial? What is the role of heritage in nation- and community-building? There will be opportunities to try out a variety of practical techniques in historical communication, and to reflect on their strengths and weaknesses. Students will familiarise themselves with current policy contexts for heritage and public history, and will acquire valuable skills for careers in the heritage sector and beyond.

I regularly contribute to the print and broadcast media. In 2019 I wrote and presented a BBC television series entitled Wales: England’s Colony? Links to my journalism and online essays can be found here.

A podcast series on Welsh history I made for the BBC can be found here.

A programme I made for Radio 3 on writing history can be listened to here.

A Radio 4 documentary on Welsh nationalism and the investiture that I wrote and presented can be listened to here.

A Radio Cymru programme discussing my life can be listened to here.

Some of my other appearances on the BBC can be found here.