A UNIVERSITY is set to stage a four-day conference exploring the history and culture featured on the television programme Outlander.
The show is based on the series of books by Diana Gabaldon and the conference at the University of Glasgow will look at the history, politics, culture, languages, clothes, and music in the series.
Gabaldon will give a keynote speech during the event.
The nine Outlander novels and subsequent six television seasons have put Scotland on the map for a world readership and audience.
Outlander season seven will begin this summer and the conference will take place from July 18 to 22.
“I’m honoured (and very excited) that this conference is taking place under the sponsorship of the University of Glasgow," Gabaldon said.
“A tremendous amount of work and organisation has gone into it, and I’m so looking forward to being a part of it.”
Willy Maley, professor of renaissance studies (English literature), at the university’s School of Critical Studies, said: “Scotland not only has a great tradition of historical writing from Walter Scott to Dorothy Dunnett, but offers the ideal setting for fiction that combines adventure, fantasy and romance.
“Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series was inspired by Scotland and in turn has helped put Scotland on the map, boosting tourism and engagement with the languages of Scotland as well as interest in the country’s complicated past, from Jacobite resistance to diasporic identities and colonial complicity.”
The University of Glasgow has strong links to Outlander, with its classical architecture allowing it to double for Harvard in the show.
Academics from the university also assist the production of the series with their historical knowledge, bringing the 18th century setting to life on screen. Some have also been cast in the series in a range of roles.
Gillebrìde MacMillan, a senior lecturer in Gaelic/ Àrd-òraidiche ann an Gàidhlig at the University of Glasgow’s School of Humanities/ Sgoil nan Daonnachdan, said: “Huge opportunities have opened up for me since I was first cast as Gwyllyn the bard in Outlander.
“I just love that Gaelic language, songs and culture have been given a worldwide audience through Outlander.
“I am looking forward to the conference which will bring all the many disciplines at the University of Glasgow together to look at Outlander from an educational and academic perspective.”
The story follows Claire Randall – played by Caitriona Balfe – a woman from 1940s England who travels back in time to 18th-century Scotland and falls for outlaw Jamie Fraser – played by the university’s honorary graduate Sam Heughan.
