Glasgow University to host conference on TV show Outlander

Academics at Glasgow University are to host a four-day conference focusing on the TV series Outlander.

The event in June next year will look at the the history, politics, culture and music featured in the series.

American author Diana Gabaldon, whose books inspired the award-winning TV show, will give a keynote speech.

Outlander follows the adventures of time-travelling surgeon Claire, played by Caitriona Balfe, and her Jacobite Highlander husband Jamie (Sam Heughan).

It has millions of fans around the world and has boosted tourism in parts of Scotland where some of the scenes were filmed.

Doune, Blackness and Craigmillar castles and Glasgow University are among the many Scottish locations used in the first four series.

Organisers of the Glasgow conference said it would provide the opportunity to "debate, discuss and dissect the elements that make up this remarkable phenomenon".

The university's Prof Willy Maley said: "The globally successful Outlander series has triggered more interest in Scotland and its history than any other cultural artefact in recent years.

"While hundreds of fan-based gatherings and interest groups around the world promote and encourage Outlander fandom, there has not yet been an event which takes an academic approach to the series and brings together the multiple areas of expertise involved in its creation."