Alex Woolf (born 12 July 1963) is a British medieval historian and academic. He specialises in the history of Britain and Ireland and to a lesser extent

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

in the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

, with a particular emphasis on interaction and comparison across traditional ethnic boundaries. He is a senior lecturer at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

. He is author of volume two in the ''New Edinburgh History of Scotland'', covering the period between 789 and 1070. For this he won the 2008

Saltire Society The Saltire Society is a membership organisation which aims to promote the understanding of the culture and heritage of Scotland, founded in 1936. The society organises lectures and publishes pamphlets, and presents a series of awards in the fiel ...

award for "history book of the year". He is the younger brother of the ancient historian

Greg Woolf Gregory Duncan Woolf, (born 3 December 1961) is a British ancient historian, archaeologist, and academic. He specialises in the late Iron Age and the Roman Empire. Since July 2021, he has been Ronald J. Mellor Chair of Ancient History at Univ ...

Education

Woolf first went to University to study Scandinavian Studies at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, including spending time in Norway, but dropped out before completing the degree and spent four years working in service-sector jobs. He then proceeded to the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

, where he completed a degree in Medieval History and Medieval English.Jack Davey,
InFocus: Dr Alex Woolf
, ''The Saint'' (12 October 2023). In 1992, he completed an M.Phil. in Sheffield's Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, supervised by John Moreland, entitled "The Transition from Late Prehistoric to Early Historic Social and Political Structures amongst the Irish".

Academic career

In 1995, Woolf was appointed a

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

in archaeology at the

University of Wales, Lampeter University of Wales, Lampeter () was a university in Lampeter, Wales. Founded in 1822, and incorporated by royal charter in 1828, it was the oldest Academic degree, degree awarding institution in Wales, with limited degree awarding powers sinc ...

. From 1997 to 2001, he was a lecturer in Celtic and early Scottish history and culture at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. In 2001, he moved to the

as a lecturer in history, where he was promoted to senior lecturer and, in 2010, awarded a Ph.D. by publication portfolio. In 2023 he was characterised by the St Andrews student newspaper as "one of the most beloved members of the Medieval History faculty".

Selected works

* Woolf, Alex (1997). "At Home in the Long Iron Age: A Dialogue between Households and Individuals in Cultural Reproduction", in ''Invisible People and Processes: Writing Gender and Childhood into European Archaeology'', ed. by Jenny Moore and Eleanor Scott (London: Leicester University Press), pp. 68–74 * Woolf, Alex (2003). "The Britons: From Romans to Barbarians", in ''Regna and Gentes: The Relationship between Late Antique and Early Medieval Peoples and Kingdoms in the Transformation of the Roman World'', ed. by Hans-Werner Goetz, Jörg Jarnut and Walter Pohl with Sören Kaschke, The Transformation of the Roman World, 13 (Leiden: Brill), pp. 345–80. * Woolf, Alex (2004). "Caedualla Rex Brettonum and the passing of the Old North", ''Northern History'' 41.1, 1–20 * * * "Dun Nechtain, Fortriu and the Geography of the Picts"; ''Scottish Historical Review'' 2006 ; 85(2): 182-201 * "The expulsion of the Irish from Dyfed"; ''Ireland and Wales in the Middle Ages''; Karen Jankulak, Jonathan Wooding (ed); Four Courts Press 2007; 102-115 * *

References

External links

Staff Profile at UoStA

Saltire Society

Academia.edu profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woolf, Alex Celtic studies scholars Academics of the University of St Andrews British medievalists English historians Living people 21st-century British writers 21st-century British historians Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Academics of the University of Wales, Lampeter Academics of the University of Edinburgh 1963 births