| Description | Track 1 [01:39:22] [Session One: 6 August 2018] Steve Dixon [SD], born in Solihull in 1972. SD talks about his childhood. SD describes his father’s work in a car factory. SD talks about family move to Cwmbran in 1982 and describes the differences between Birmingham and Wales. [00:06:55] SD describes the community in Cwmbran and talks about his schooling at Llantarnam Comprehensive School. [00:13:40] SD describes his experiences of the miners’ strikes in 1974 and 1984-1985 as well as the outbreak of the Falklands War in 1982. SD talks about his interest in his father’s experiences during World War Two. [00:19:56] SD describes his experience of being the first in the family to do A-Levels. SD talks about receiving his GCSE [General Certificate of Secondary Education] results. [00:27:38] SD talks about doing his A-Levels in History, Economics and Physics. SD describes the teaching of history teachers Mrs James and Mr Edwards. [00:35:38] SD talks about his decision to study at university and his motivation to study history. SD talks about visiting Exeter University, Royal Holloway and Swansea University and describes the different culture of both universities. SD talks about his decision to apply to Swansea. [00:43:39] SD talks about financing university through grants. SD describes his experience living in the Lewis Jones [now Preseli] Halls of Residence at Swansea University. SD talks about his roommate Andy Jones [AJ] and AJ’s reason for coming to Swansea for windsurfing. [00:54:12] SD describes the similarities between Singleton Campus in 1990 and 2018. SD talks about differences, including new Halls of Residence and the removal of a bookshop in the Taliesin. [01:00:14] SD talks about the structure of the history course. SD talks having to choose three subjects in Year 1 and describes his experiences doing History, Politics, and Economics. SD talks about his lecturers, including the good teaching of medieval historian Ralph Griffiths [RG]. [01:14:19] SD talks about shared student houses and his decision to move to Hendrefoilan Student Village [HSV] in Year 2. SD describes his living situation at HSV and difficulties in living together with his girlfriend. SD talks about moving back to Lewis Jones Hall in Year 3 and describes the advantages of living on campus. [01:27:26] SD talks about his experience playing football for the university and being captain of the fourth team. SD describes Halls of Residence teams playing against each other on Sunday afternoon. SD describes the drinking culture in university sports. [01:39:22]
Track 2 [01:15:32] [Session One: 6 August 2018] SD describes the opportunity to specialise based on time periods in Year 2 and 3. SD talks about modules he took, including on the Enlightenment taught by Hugh Dunthorne, and on the Western World since 1945 taught by Peter Stead. SD describes the exam structure in Year 2 and 3. SD describes his experiences doing a dissertation under the supervision of RG and doing archival research for the first time. [00:19:53] SD describes the differences in student life and learning styles in the 1990s and today. SD talks about the advantages of having to write essays by hand. SD talks about the lack of historical knowledge of students starting in the 2000s. [00:30:23] SD describes student reactions to the outbreak of the Gulf War and the introduction of poll tax. SD describes his own expectations regarding the politicisation of a university and talks about the lack of protests at Swansea. [00:41:39] SD talks about Student Union politics and a vote rigging accusation by a candidate. SD describes the political culture in Swansea and South Wales. [00:47:46] SD talks about the student occupation of Singleton Abbey. [00:50:11] SD describes exploring Swansea and the surrounding area, including Tenby and a trip on the ferry to Cork. [00:55:18] SD talks about his decision to do a PGCE [Postgraduate Certificate of Higher Education] in History at Swansea. [01:03:47] SD describes his experiences on the PGCE course. SD talks about his career as a teacher, including supply work at Newport and a permanent position at Solihull from 1994 onwards. [01:10:45] SD describes how university itself and people at university have changed him. SD talks about the impact of RG and Julian Jackson. SD describes the role and importance of education. [01:15:32]
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