Alex Dold
Intertextuality, Historical Fiction, and Public History in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander Novel Series
Supervised by:
- Dr Jim MacPherson (UHI Centre for History)
- Dr Mairi MacPherson
- Dr Lesley Mickel (UHI Inverness)
She can be found on Facebook, @AlexDoldHistorian, and on X, @AlexDold,where she regularly posts information about her research.
Alex studied English Studies (major) and German studies (minor) at University of Bonn, Germany for her undergraduate degree. Her master's degree from the same university is in 'English Literatures and Cultures'. She fell in love with the Highlands and the literature about them during an Erasmus-funded semester abroad at Inverness College UHI. Having always been interested in how literature influences the reader, Alex decided to research this in more depth. Her PhD research focussed on the question of how the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon influenced the perception of history and works as public history, being entertaining and educating at the same time through the medium of intertextuality. Alex combined history studies with literary studies in this interdisciplinary approach.
In her spare time, she guides walking tours of Glasgow.
Alex worked as an assistant tutor with the Centre for History. In the academic year 2022-23, she taught classes in the undergraduate modules 'What is History?', 'People, Protest, Power' and 'Empire, Environment and Identity'.