School of Welsh

Minister for Heritage visits the School of Welsh

Delwedd o Alun Ffred Jones The School of Welsh was visited recently by one of its most prominent former students, Alun Ffred Jones, A.M. for Arfon and Minister for Heritage in the Welsh Assembly Government.

It was a busy day for Mr Jones. During the morning he gave a talk to undergraduate students who are studying Language Planning as part of their BA Welsh degree scheme. Mr Jones has direct ministerial responsibility for the Welsh language in the Assembly Government, and with a new Welsh Language Act on its way, it was an opportune time for him to discuss language planning issues with students at Bangor.

During the course of the day, Mr Jones also met members of staff and was given a clear insight into the nature of the School’s activities at present and its ambitions for the future. To mark the visit – and to celebrate Mr Jones’s sixtieth birthday – Professor Peredur Lynch, Head of School, presented him with two recent Bangor publications, an interlude (metrical drama) in the Bangor Texts Series and a festschrift for Gwyn Thomas – who lectured to Mr Jones when he was a student at Bangor – edited by Dr Jason Walford Davies.

Image of Alun Ffred Jones and Professor Peredur Lynch Mr Jones said that it was “a great delight” to be back in his old Department.

“I am acutely aware of Bangor’s immense contribution both to the academic study of Welsh and to the vibrancy of Welsh literature at present. I am also highly impressed by the manner in which the School of Welsh at Bangor has broadened its BA curriculum to include innovative fields of study, such as language planning, translation skills and script-writing. At PhD level also, the work being carried out with the support of the Welsh Language Board in fields such as language acquisition is highly significant. The creation of a truly bilingual Wales is a declared aim of the Welsh Assembly Government, and my visit to Bangor has reinforced my belief that the schools and departments of Welsh in the higher-education sector are of integral importance to that process.”