Bridging Cultures with Archives

In June 2023, the Richard Burton Archives was contacted by Theresa Ogbekhiulu, Project Lead for Swansea University’s Academy for Inclusivity about supporting  Bridging Cultures  – an exciting new project with the aim to educate, celebrate, and inform students and staff about acceptance and tolerance of people from different cultural backgrounds. The project included a combination of workshops and a physical exhibition at Swansea University.

Participating in the project was a fantastic opportunity to explore ways in which the Archives could celebrate diversity, make our collections more representative, and engage with new audiences.

The workshop took place in October 2023. It focused on the history of international students at Swansea and reflected on the contributions of these students to the shaping of the University’s story. We were delighted to be joined by MA students Amelia and Filippo, and also Michael (Department of Engineering), Theresa, Magda and Farzana (Academy of Inclusivity) who were previously international students at Swansea.

During the workshop we explored the University archives collections, which include photographs, application documentation, correspondence, student newspapers and student record cards.

The archive collections show that students from all over the world have joined the University from as early as 1923. In the 1920s and early 1930s, applications tended to come from students in India, with popular subjects including Science and Engineering. We also explored opportunities such as the World University Service, and the challenges that faced international students (such as work restrictions and visa requirements, language barriers, cultural and religious differences), and having to flee home countries because of political tensions, war and conflict.

The University collections also provide evidence of aspects of student life, such as where students lived, what they studied and what they did for fun. The student newspaper collection, for example, provides us with an insight into student attitudes to gender, fashion, comedy, relationships, race and religion. However, the personal experiences of international students are somewhat absent from the written record.

In an attempt to rectify this, we conducted oral history interviews with the participants in the workshop. Oral history is the recording of people’s memories, experiences and opinions, it can provide us with new information and insights that may challenge our views of the past, and is a fantastic way to complement the written record and fill in the gaps. Everyone has a story to tell about their life, and what is particularly wonderful is that oral history can convey feelings and emotions – not often found in the written record.

We provided oral history training to Magda, Michael, Farzana and Theresa, who all did a wonderful job interviewing each other and interviewing their fellow workshop participants, Amelia and Filippo. In the interviews, we explored themes such as food, early life and childhood, friendship, language and home. These recordings have now been added to the collections at the Richard Burton Archives for long term preservation. We wanted to showcase these recordings in the Bridging Cultures exhibition, and therefore with the help of funding from the University Library and a grant from Archives and Records Council Wales Audience Development Campaign, we were able to purchase an audio kiosk to present the stories from the oral history interviews, as well as a selection of interviews from the University’s centenary oral history project, Voices of Swansea University, 1920-2020.

The Bridging Cultures exhibition launched at the Taliesin and Singleton Park Library on International Students’ Day on Friday 17^th November. It was a wonderful launch event with delicious food, music and dancing, poetry, and the unveiling of the exhibition.

One of the primary benefits of this project is the empowerment and representation of individuals whose voices and communities often get overlooked. It is great to see students have a great sense of pride, and identity, hearing and seeing people who look like them represented in the Archives. The representation of different cultures is a reminder of our diversity, and the ‘Bridging Cultures’ exhibition seeks to build bridges, and connect us to our shared humanity. 

This project underscores the Richard Burton Archive’s commitment to diversifying their collection, one story at a time. 

Theresa Ogbekhiulu, Senior Project Advisor (EDI/Race Equality), Swansea Academy of Inclusivity

It was an incredibly rewarding experience working with Theresa and her team on the Bridging Cultures project. It has enabled us to reflect on our collections and explore ways in which we can make them more representative and diverse, while also developing great working relationships with colleagues across the University. We hope that this project will act as a springboard for new opportunities and partnerships in the future.