New faces

Sara Penrhyn

The appointment of six new Welsh medium lecturers has been announced by Aberystwyth University.

The appointments have been made under the sponsorship of the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol.

They are:
Sara Penrhyn Jones (Theatre, Film and Television Studies);
Huw Williams (International Politics);
Rhun Emlyn (History and Welsh History);
Huw Morgan (Institute of Mathematics and Physics);
Rhys Dafydd Jones (Institute of Geography and Earth Science);
Hefin Williams (Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, IBERS).

Over the next five years the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol will fund over 100 new lecturing posts, providing more opportunities for students to study through the medium of Welsh at University.

Professor April McMahon, Aberystwyth University’s Vice-Chancellor said “Aberystwyth University is pleased to be able to take this opportunity to play a major part in the development of the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol and to be able to appoint new lecturers to enhance the Welsh-medium provision we offer.“

“The Coleg’s Staffing Scheme will assist us in increasing the number of modules offered though the medium of Welsh, and represents an exciting opportunity for us to develop brand-new Welsh-medium provision in some subject areas. We look forward to welcoming these new members of the academic staff, and to see Welsh-medium teaching and research at the University going from strength to strength.”

Sara Penrhyn Jones
With over ten years’ experience in the television and new media industries, Sara is particularly interested in contributing to a more direct broadcasting culture. Her background includes working as a camera person and co-director on observational documentaries (S4C and BBC2) winning BAFTA Wales and The Royal Television Society awards. Sara is about to attend her third round of the annual UN Climate Change Conference, which is being held this year in Durban, South Africa, where she will be creating online and live-stream content. She is currently directing an ambitious international project which seeks to join artists and scientists in a collaborative effort to imaginatively engage the public on the issue of climate change.

Dr Huw Williams
Originally from Dole, near Bow Street, Huw was educated at Aberystwyth before attending the London School of Economics as an undergraduate and then returned as a student to study political philosophy as a Morrell scholar at York. Soon afterwards he began to study for his PhD in the International Politics Department at Aberystwyth. After graduating in 2009, he contributed to the department’s teaching and in March of this year, his first book was published by Palgrave MacMillan: On Rawls, Development and Global Justice: The Freedom of Peoples. This volume combines his research interests in political philosophy, international political theory, and development in the third world.
 
Rhun Emlyn
Rhun’s ties with the Department of History and Welsh History go back eight years to when he came to Aberystwyth University as an undergraduate. He won a Welsh Medium Postgraduate Scholarship and was appointed as a Teaching Fellow last year through the Centre for Welsh Medium Higher Education scheme. He contributes to Welsh Medium provision in the History of the Middle Ages and is about to complete his PhD.

Dr Huw Morgan
Huw hails from Llanbrynmair, and he returns to work in Wales following a period out in Honolulu. He began his career as a Physicist after studying for a degree in Physics with the Open University and then proceeded to receive a PhD from IMAPS at Aberystwyth University. Over the last few years he has been working as a scientific researcher at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy, specialising in the sun, and in particular the sun’s corona.

Dr Rhys Dafydd Jones
Rhys grew up in Ystalyfera. He attended Aberystwyth University, where he gained a first class degree in Geography and International Politics. He received a Welsh Medium Post-graduate Scholarship from the Centre for Welsh Medium Higher Education, studying for a Masters in Political Geography in 2007 and completing his PhD in 2011, again from Aberystwyth University. Rhys’ research interests involve rights of minorities, multiculturalism, and minority races, especially in non-urban areas.

Hefin Williams
Hefin was a Teaching Fellow at the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), having been an undergraduate and postgraduate student in the department. His research involves looking into the environmental effects of important agricultural diseases such as tuberculosis, and he is particularly interested in the interface between agriculture and the environmental.

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