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Cymraeg

New publications from the Centre for Lifelong Learning

09 December 2008

Two new books have recently been launched at the Centre for Lifelong Learning, one celebrating 125 years of lifelong learning at Cardiff, the other exploring J.R.R. Tolkien's passion for the Welsh language.

The History of Lifelong Learning at Cardiff University (1883-2008) is based on research undertaken by Marian Williams. After many years away from education, Marian began attending lectures at the Centre for Lifelong Learning. These inspired her to undertake a history degree at Cardiff – at the age of 60 – and she recently obtained her MPhil from the School of History and Archaeology.

Marian said: "At an age when most people are thinking about settling down to retirement, I was offered a place on a history degree and so began ten years, first as an undergraduate then as a postgraduate student that were among the happiest and most fulfilling of my life; but it really all started with the courses I attended at the Cardiff Centre for Lifelong Learning".

Marian is just one in a long line of adult learners to have benefited from the lifelong learning provisions which have been a feature at Cardiff University since it first opened its doors to students on 24 October 1883. Her book recounts the fascinating history of these provisions and is available at a RRP of £8.99. Details of how to order copies can be obtained from learn@cardiff.ac.uk.

Dr Dimitra Fimi, a tutor at the Centre, has just published a new work exploring how the Welsh language inspired the author of the Lord of the Rings. Tolkien’s passion for Welsh began as a child when he saw Welsh words on the sides of coal trucks arriving from Wales.

Dr Fimi’s book, Tolkien, Race and Cultural History: From Fairies to Hobbits, is a new analysis of Tolkien’s mythology, looking at his creative vision from the perspective of cultural history. The book also incorporates a discussion of Tolkien’s linguistic creation, including his love for the Welsh language and his use of Welsh for the creation of one of the Elvish tongues.

Dr Fimi teaches lecture-based and online courses on Tolkien at the Centre for Lifelong Learning. For more information on available courses please visit the Centre’s website or call 029 2087 0000 for a copy of the new Choices prospectus.

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