| Description | Track 1 [01:01:03] [Session One: 19 July 2017] John Baylis [JB], born in Barry in March 1946. JB mentions his schooling at Gladstone Primary School and Barry Grammar School. JB talks about his parents and their occupations. [00:01:34] JB talks about sitting the Eleven-Plus exam for entrance to grammar school. JB describes the advantages and disadvantages of the grammar school system. [00:02:49] JB talks about his upbringing and other family members who went to university, including a brother and a cousin. [00:04:06] JB talks about his schooling and his interest in sports. JB talks about the influence of his history teachers Teifion Williams and Dr Hitchens and their recommendation for studying at Swansea University [SU]. [00:09:21] JB describes his first impressions of arriving in Swansea. JB talks about his accommodation in Fforestfach and describes his landlady, Mrs Guppy, and fellow occupants. [00:11:56] JB talks about the structure of the History course at SU. JB describes his motivations for switching from History to Politics. JB talks about the Politics Department at SU and describes lecturers, including Jack Spence [JS] and Neil Harding. JB describes the development of International Relations [IR] as a discipline and talks about his interest in Strategic Studies. [00:21:43] JB talks about interactions with other students and the the development of political activity at SU, including student sit-ins. JB describes youth culture and being part of societal change in the 1960s. JB talks about being shaped by the political atmosphere in Barry. [00:28:15] JB describes his involvement in university sports, including football, athletics and cricket. JB talks about managing time between sports, academics and his girlfriend Marion [MB]. JB talks about sports socialising and drinking and his own lack of involvement. [00:42:06] JB talks about exploring the Gower with MB. JB describes working summer jobs with MB to afford buying a car. [00:44:22] JB talks about his decision to do postgraduate study. JB describes JS organising a Master’s degree in Strategic Studies at Aberystwyth University [AU]. JB mentions MB doing teacher training at AU and talks about their marriage in 1968. [00:48:42] JB talks about their living arrangements in Aberystwyth. JB outlines the differences between SU and AU, including a different perception of Welshness. [00:50:08] JB talks about his undergraduate degree results and compares the proportions of students getting a 2:1 or a 1st in the 1960s to today. [00:51:31] JB describes his MSC (Econ) dissertation on the Vietnam War and an analysis of the domino theory as justification for American involvement. JB talks about developing an interest in Nuclear Strategy and mentions John Garnet and Lawrence Martin, Nuclear Strategy specialists at AU. [00:54:19] JB describes his experiences as a lecturer in the extramural department at Liverpool University and a Forces Tutor for junior officers in the UK and abroad. JB talks about his return to AU in 1970 to take up a lectureship in Soviet Foreign Policy, IR and Strategic Studies. JB describes doing a staff PhD on the nuclear relationship between Britain and America from 1939 to 1984. JB outlines his career progression at AU from 1970 to 2000. [01:01:03]
Track 2 [00:28:01] [Session One: 19 July 2017] JB talks about changes in academia from the 1970s to the 2000s and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of increased professionalisation and a focus on publications. [00:04:54] JB describes changes in students and talks about the introduction of tuition fees and its effect on student attitudes. [00:07:05] JB talks about the University of Wales [UoW] system and describes collaborations between students and staff, including crisis games at Gregynog. JB talks about the constituent universities’ attitude towards the UoW. [00:10:52] JB talks about his involvement in sports at Aberystwyth. [00:13:02] JB talks about his motivations for leaving AU and returning to SU in 2000. JB describes the interview process for the job at SU. [00:20:18] JB describes his own research in Strategic Studies in the area of nuclear deterrents and policymaking. JB talks about the development of the discipline after the end of the Cold War and describes the emergence of new schools of thought and their effect on his own research. [00:28:01]
Track 3 [00:42:51] [Session Two: 20 July 2017] JB describes Politics department at SU and talks about the changes he made as Head of Department. JB talks about the effects of the department being downgraded in the RAE [Research Assessment Exercise]. JB describes the research interest of the staff at SU and compares them to AU. [00:07:55] JB talks about the atmosphere at SU in the early 2000s. [00:09:03] JB talks about the James Callaghan building occupied by the Politics department and compares it to previous location in the 1970s. [00:09:55] JB compares the quality of IR students from SU to AU. [00:10:59] JB talks about his extracurricular activities at SU. [00:12:03] JB talks about his motivation for moving to administrative job and becoming Pro-Vice-Chancellor [PVC]. JB describes changes made by VC Robin Williams, including the creation of the Medical School. [00:15:11] JB talks about the connection between the university and the town. JB describes friction between students and community and talks about the effects of university expansion on the wider community. [00:18:57] JB talks about his responsibilities as PVC, including HR and sports. JB describes SU’s transformation towards attracting students interested in sports and talks about links to Swansea City AFC and Swansea RFC. [00:22:49] JB talks about the challenges faced regarding HR. JB describes departmental closures, including Chemistry, Education and Philosophy, and the effect they had on the wider university community. [00:32:40] JB describes the difficulty of continuing research whilst being PVC. [00:33:56] JB talks about his decision to retire and describes the state of the university when he was retiring. JB talks about his activities after retiring, including travelling and continuing academic research. [00:40:17] JB talks about the effect of student debt and discusses the difficulties associated with cutting tuition fees.
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