About This Course
This short course explores how landmarks, both historic and contemporary, carry meaning, memory, and power. Through four themed sessions, learners will examine landmarks as places of authority, celebration, infrastructure, and expression, considering how people have shaped, used, commemorated, and contested significant sites over time.
Beginning with the medieval Welsh llys as a centre of princely power and cultural life, the course then moves to personal and collective “coming of age” memorials, exploring how life transitions are marked and remembered. Learners will also investigate how everyday infrastructures can evolve into cultural landmarks, before concluding with an examination of graffiti on landmarks as a form of communication, protest, and identity.
Across the course, participants are encouraged to think critically about whose stories are represented in landmarks, how meanings change over time, and how history, memory, and lived experience intersect in the built environment.
Location
Drama Rehearsal Room Bangor University Main Arts Building
Dates and time
Dates: 24/02/2026 – 17/03/2026
Time: 6.00PM – 8.00PM
Week 1
Landmarks of princely power: the medieval Welsh llys
Lecturer: Shaun Evans
Duration 2 hours
Course Overview
This short course explores the medieval Welsh llys (princely court) as a centre of power, governance, culture, and daily life in medieval Wales. Through historical sources, law texts, poetry, and archaeology, learners will discover how Welsh princes ruled, how their courts functioned, and what life was like for those who lived and worked within the llys. The course also considers how the Welsh court compared with contemporary English and European courts.
Designed for adult community learners, no prior knowledge of medieval history or Welsh is required.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, learners will be able to:
- Explain the role of the llys in medieval Welsh society as a centre of political authority and governance.
- Identify key figures within the princely court (such as the prince, teulu, poets, judges, and officials) and describe their functions.
- Describe everyday life at a medieval Welsh court, including hospitality, feasting, law, and cultural practices.
- Understand the importance of law, poetry, and patronage in sustaining princely power and Welsh identity.
- Compare the Welsh llys with other medieval courts in Britain and Europe.
- Engage critically with historical evidence, including medieval law codes, poetry, and archaeological remains.
Week 2
Memorials to ‘Coming of Age’ celebrations –Shaun Evans
Lecturer: Shaun Evans
Duration: 2 hours
Course Overview
This short course explores how societies mark “coming of age” moments—such as 18th birthdays, graduations, rites of passage, and cultural transitions—and how these moments are remembered, commemorated, or memorialised. Drawing on historical examples, contemporary art, and the work/perspective of Shaun Evans, participants will consider why certain life transitions are celebrated, recorded, or even mourned, and how memory, identity, and place shape these memorials.
The session encourages learners to reflect on personal and collective experiences of coming of age, and how these experiences are expressed through objects, rituals, monuments, and creative practices.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, learners will be able to:
- Identify different cultural and historical examples of “coming of age” celebrations and memorials.
- Explain why societies choose to commemorate life transitions and how these practices reflect values, identity, and belonging.
- Recognise the role of art, memorials, and material culture in preserving memories of personal and communal milestones.
- Reflect critically on their own or others’ experiences of coming of age and how these might be remembered or represented.
- Discuss contemporary approaches to memorialisation, including temporary, informal, and digital forms.
Week 3
When Infrastructures Become Landmarks – Karin Koehler
Lecturer: Dr Karin Koehler
Duration: 2 hours
Course Overview
Infrastructures, such as bridges, roads, power stations, dams, railways, and digital networks—are often designed for utility rather than beauty. Yet over time, some infrastructures take on cultural, social, and symbolic meaning, becoming landmarks that shape identity, memory, and place. This course explores how and why infrastructure can transform into landmarks, and what this tells us about society, values, and everyday life.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this 2-hour course, learners will be able to:
- Explain what is meant by infrastructure and landmark, and how these concepts intersect.
- Identify examples of infrastructures that have become landmarks locally, nationally, or globally.
- Understand the social, cultural, historical, and political processes that contribute to this transformation.
- Reflect critically on how infrastructure shapes personal experience, community identity, and memory.
- Discuss whose values and perspectives are represented—or excluded—when infrastructures become landmarks.
Week 4
The Meaning of Graffiti on Landmarks
Lecturer: Dr Karen Pollock
Duration: 2 hours
Course Overview:
This short course explores graffiti found on landmarks as a form of communication, protest, identity, and historical record. Participants will examine why people mark significant places, how meanings change over time, and how institutions and communities interpret graffiti differently. Through case studies and discussion, learners will consider graffiti not only as vandalism, but also as cultural expression and social commentary.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Identify different types of graffiti found on landmarks and historic sites.
- Explain social, political, and personal motivations behind graffiti.
- Analyse how context (place, time, audience) affects the meaning of graffiti.
- Evaluate differing perspectives on graffiti, including heritage, legal, and community viewpoints.
- Reflect on whether graffiti on landmarks should be preserved, removed, or reinterpreted.
Application
Please register your interest below, and we will be in touch with further information.
Historic Landmarks of North Wales