Medieval Expert Available for Interviews on Start of Series’ Final Season
04/12/2019
Contact: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu and Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu
Like countless other fans across the country this week, Lauren Fogle has been re-watching all of the episodes of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” to remember past plot twists in anticipation of Sunday night’s final-season premiere.
Perhaps not quite so much like others, Fogle has a larger stake in the “game:” As a UMass Lowell expert on the Middle Ages, she understands and can talk about how the show borrows from real-life history to create its fictional world. She’s available for interviews on all of it, from the feudal power plays deployed by GOT’s protagonists and villains, to the story’s use of religious symbolism in the struggle between the “old gods” and “The Seven,” and its fantastical creatures, including the “White Walkers.”
“Sure, it’s just a show but it’s a very well-written, well-acted, incredibly filmed and interesting show,” Fogle said.
Fogle can also talk about why the story, set so far in the past, resonates with millennials, many of them “gamers” of a different type.
“A lot of video games feature medieval worlds,” she said, noting her students often come into her classes already fascinated by the era because of their gaming experience.
Fogle is a faculty member in UMass Lowell’s Department of History who also teaches in the university’s Honors College. To arrange interviews with her before Sunday’s premiere or next week as a source who can recap the episode and discuss where the show is headed, please contact Nancy Cicco at Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu, 978-934-4944 or Christine Gillette at Christine_Gillette@uml.edu, 978-934-2209.