![Stephanie Ward](https://profiles-cardiff.imgix.net/attachments/2119?w=200&h=200&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=90")
Dr Stephanie Ward
(she/her)
Reader in Modern Welsh History
School of History, Archaeology and Religion
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
I am an historian of modern Britain with a particular interest in Welsh history. My research primarily focuses upon histories of working-class life in interwar Britain including gender identities, political culture, social movements, social policy and family life. I am interested in the relationship between citizens and the state a theme which was explored in my monograph Unemployment and the State: The Means Test and Protest in 1930s South Wales and the North-East of England (Manchester University Press, 2013). I have published on working-class women’s politics, men’s embodied gendered identities and patterns of courtships amongst working-class youths. I am the History Editor for the University of Wales Press ‘Gender Studies in Wales’ series.
Research interests
- Economic and social history of modern Wales
- Comparative and regional histories of Britain
- Unemployment, social policy, social and political movements with particular reference to the economic depression of the 1930s in Britain
- Gender history including studies of masculinity, marriage, family and identity in twentieth century Britain
Publication
2024
- Ward, S. 2024. Welsh and British histories in higher education. Modern British History 35(1), pp. 59-62. (10.1093/tcbh/hwae024)
2023
- Ward, S. 2023. Heroic housewives: Political worlds, domesticity and the Welsh mam in interwar Wales. In: Beth, J., O'Leary, P. and Ward, S. eds. Gender in Modern Welsh History: Perspectives on Masculinity and Femininity in Wales from 1750 to 2000. Gender studies in Wales Cardiff: University of Wales Press, pp. 93-103.
- Ward, S., Jenkins, B. and O'Leary, P. 2023. Introduction. In: Jenkins, B., O'Leary, P. and Ward, S. eds. Gender in Modern Welsh History: Perspectives on Masculinity and Femininity in Wales from 1750 to 2000. Gender Studies in Wales Cardiff: University of Wales Press, pp. 12-17.
- Ward, S., Jenkins, B. and O'Leary, P. eds. 2023. Gender in modern Welsh history: Perspectives on masculinity and femininity in Wales from 1750 to 2000. Gender Studies in Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
- Jenkins, L. and Ward, S. 2023. ‘Women and the Labour Party: gender and the writing of British political history’. The Political Quarterly 94(2), pp. 251-257. (10.1111/1467-923X.13266)
- Ward, S. 2023. The impact of the interwar depression on the working class. In: Robertson, N., Singleton, J. and Taylor, A. eds. 20th Century Britain: Economic, Cultural and Social Change. London: Routledge, pp. 274-287., (10.4324/9781003037118-21)
2021
- Ward, S. 2021. Miners' bodies and masculine identity in Britain, c.1900-1950. Cultural and Social History 18(3), pp. 443-462. (10.1080/14780038.2020.1824599)
2020
- Ward, S. 2020. Towards a Welsh people's history: a reflection on Welsh women's history and women in Llafur. Llafur: Journal of the Welsh People's History Society 12(4), pp. 56-67.
2019
- Ward, S. 2019. Labour activism and the political self in inter-war working-class women’s politics. Twentieth Century British History 30(1), pp. 29-52. (10.1093/tcbh/hwy047)
2017
- Ward, S. 2017. History and heritage. In: Loughran, T. ed. A Practical Guide to Studying History: Skills and Approaches. Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 282-301.
2015
- Reid, F. and Ward, S. 2015. Women, state and nation: creating gendered identities. Women's History Review 24(1), pp. 1-6. (10.1080/09612025.2014.920675)
2013
- Ward, S. 2013. Unemployment and the state in Britain: The means test and protest in 1930s South Wales and North-East England. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
- Ward, S. 2013. Drifting in manhood and womanhood: courtship, marriage and gender amongst young adults in South Wales and the North-East of England in the 1930s. Welsh History Review 26(4), pp. 623-648.
2012
- Ward, S. 2012. How closely knit were our families and communities?. In: Bowen, H. V. ed. A New History of Wales: Myths and Realities in Welsh History. Gomer
2011
- Ward, S. 2011. 'The Workers are in the Mood to Fight the Act': Protest against the Means Test, 1931-5. In: Reiss, M. and Perry, M. eds. Unemployment and Protest: New Perspectives on Two Centuries of Contention. Studies of the German Historical Institute London Oxford University Press / German Historical Institute, pp. 245-264.
2008
- Ward, S. 2008. The Means Test and the unemployed in south Wales and the north-east of England, 1931–1939. Labour History Review 73(1), pp. 113-132. (10.1179/174581808X279136)
Articles
- Ward, S. 2024. Welsh and British histories in higher education. Modern British History 35(1), pp. 59-62. (10.1093/tcbh/hwae024)
- Jenkins, L. and Ward, S. 2023. ‘Women and the Labour Party: gender and the writing of British political history’. The Political Quarterly 94(2), pp. 251-257. (10.1111/1467-923X.13266)
- Ward, S. 2021. Miners' bodies and masculine identity in Britain, c.1900-1950. Cultural and Social History 18(3), pp. 443-462. (10.1080/14780038.2020.1824599)
- Ward, S. 2020. Towards a Welsh people's history: a reflection on Welsh women's history and women in Llafur. Llafur: Journal of the Welsh People's History Society 12(4), pp. 56-67.
- Ward, S. 2019. Labour activism and the political self in inter-war working-class women’s politics. Twentieth Century British History 30(1), pp. 29-52. (10.1093/tcbh/hwy047)
- Reid, F. and Ward, S. 2015. Women, state and nation: creating gendered identities. Women's History Review 24(1), pp. 1-6. (10.1080/09612025.2014.920675)
- Ward, S. 2013. Drifting in manhood and womanhood: courtship, marriage and gender amongst young adults in South Wales and the North-East of England in the 1930s. Welsh History Review 26(4), pp. 623-648.
- Ward, S. 2008. The Means Test and the unemployed in south Wales and the north-east of England, 1931–1939. Labour History Review 73(1), pp. 113-132. (10.1179/174581808X279136)
Book sections
- Ward, S. 2023. Heroic housewives: Political worlds, domesticity and the Welsh mam in interwar Wales. In: Beth, J., O'Leary, P. and Ward, S. eds. Gender in Modern Welsh History: Perspectives on Masculinity and Femininity in Wales from 1750 to 2000. Gender studies in Wales Cardiff: University of Wales Press, pp. 93-103.
- Ward, S., Jenkins, B. and O'Leary, P. 2023. Introduction. In: Jenkins, B., O'Leary, P. and Ward, S. eds. Gender in Modern Welsh History: Perspectives on Masculinity and Femininity in Wales from 1750 to 2000. Gender Studies in Wales Cardiff: University of Wales Press, pp. 12-17.
- Ward, S. 2023. The impact of the interwar depression on the working class. In: Robertson, N., Singleton, J. and Taylor, A. eds. 20th Century Britain: Economic, Cultural and Social Change. London: Routledge, pp. 274-287., (10.4324/9781003037118-21)
- Ward, S. 2017. History and heritage. In: Loughran, T. ed. A Practical Guide to Studying History: Skills and Approaches. Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 282-301.
- Ward, S. 2012. How closely knit were our families and communities?. In: Bowen, H. V. ed. A New History of Wales: Myths and Realities in Welsh History. Gomer
- Ward, S. 2011. 'The Workers are in the Mood to Fight the Act': Protest against the Means Test, 1931-5. In: Reiss, M. and Perry, M. eds. Unemployment and Protest: New Perspectives on Two Centuries of Contention. Studies of the German Historical Institute London Oxford University Press / German Historical Institute, pp. 245-264.
Books
- Ward, S., Jenkins, B. and O'Leary, P. eds. 2023. Gender in modern Welsh history: Perspectives on masculinity and femininity in Wales from 1750 to 2000. Gender Studies in Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
- Ward, S. 2013. Unemployment and the state in Britain: The means test and protest in 1930s South Wales and North-East England. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
- Ward, S. 2013. Unemployment and the state in Britain: The means test and protest in 1930s South Wales and North-East England. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
- Ward, S. 2013. Drifting in manhood and womanhood: courtship, marriage and gender amongst young adults in South Wales and the North-East of England in the 1930s. Welsh History Review 26(4), pp. 623-648.
- Ward, S. 2011. 'The Workers are in the Mood to Fight the Act': Protest against the Means Test, 1931-5. In: Reiss, M. and Perry, M. eds. Unemployment and Protest: New Perspectives on Two Centuries of Contention. Studies of the German Historical Institute London Oxford University Press / German Historical Institute, pp. 245-264.
- Ward, S. 2008. The Means Test and the unemployed in south Wales and the north-east of England, 1931–1939. Labour History Review 73(1), pp. 113-132. (10.1179/174581808X279136)
Research
Projects
Gender in Modern Wales
Beth Jenkins, Paul O'Leary, Stephanie Ward (eds), Gender in Modern Welsh History: Perspectives on Masculinity and Femininity in Wales from 1750 to 2000 (UWP, 2023).
This innovative collection of essays presents a reappraisal of gender as a category of analysis in modern Welsh history.
Project Activities:
Symposium: 'New Perspectives on Femininity and Masculinity in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Wales', Cardiff University, September 2019.
Families and the State in Modern Britain, c.1919 - 1969
This project seeks to explore the relationship between families and state in the first half of the twentieth century. It examines how the state intervened in family life and how popular representations of families shaped such interactions. Crucial to understanding the relationship between families and the state is how individuals and families responded to social policy and everyday encounters with state representatives. The project draws upon a number of regional case studies to offer a comparative perspective.
Project Activities
'Black Political Culture in Interwar Seaport Towns' - BA/Leverhulme Small Grant Project
This research project aims to uncover experiences of political activism amongst Black British citizens in
interwar Britain. It will explore how to reconstruct this history given the fragmentary nature of the primary
source material and the marginalisation of Black British experiences in the historiography. The research will
principally focus upon the experiences of men and women of African and West Indian descent who lived in
well-established ethnically diverse communities in the port cities of East London, Liverpool and Cardiff. The
primary ambition of the project is to uncover political experiences in the context of the everyday and family life
in the period before the Windrush generation.
Teaching
Undergraduate
- Inventing a Nation: Politics, Culture and Heritage - 20 credits (HS1109)
- History in Practice - 20 credits (HS1119)
- Politics and the People in Modern Britain (HS6221)
- Debating History - 20 credits (HS6201)
- Making History - 20 credits (HS6202)
- Dissertation - 30 credits (HS1801)
Postgraduate
- Wales, 1880s-1980s - 20 credits (HST084)
- Dissertation
Biography
Education and qualifications
- 2004-2008 PhD in History: 'The Means Test and the Unemployed in South Wales and the North-East of England, 1931-39', Aberystwyth University
- 2003-2004 MA Economic and Social History of Wales, Aberystwyth University
- 2000-2003 BA (hons) History, Aberystwyth University
Career overview
- 2024 - present Reader in Modern Welsh History
- 2016 - 2024 Senior Lecturer in Modern Welsh History, Cardiff University
- 2009 – Lecturer in Modern Welsh History, Cardiff University
- 2008 – 2009 Lecturer in Economic and Social History, Aberystwyth University
Honours and awards
- ESRC 1 + 3 Studentship
Professional memberships
- History Editor for Gender Studies in Wales Series, University of Wales Press
- Executive Committee, Llafur: the Welsh People's History Society (2005 - present)
- Editor, Llafur: The Welsh People's History Journal (2011 – 2016)
- Trustee, The Glamorgan County History Trust Limited (2011 – 2016)
- Executive committee member, The West of England and South Wales Women's History Network (2009 – 2015)
- (Until 2018) Co-founder and co-Convenor, Families, Identities and Gender Research Network (FIG). FIG is an interdisciplinary research network based within Cardiff University.
- CYMAL advisory panel, People's Collection Wales (2007-9)
Supervisions
- Twentieth cenutry Welsh history.
- Gender in twentieth century Britain.
- Social movements and political cultures.
- Social policy and local government.
Current supervision
Myya Helm
Research student
Martyn Thomas
Research student
Contact Details
+44 29208 75277
John Percival Building, Room 4.28, Colum Drive, Cardiff, CF10 3EU
Research themes
Specialisms
- 20th Century
