Mairin Odle

Mairin Odle is an Associate Professor in the Department of American Studies at the University of Alabama. Her research focuses on Native American history, the history of the body, cross-cultural encounters in early America, and Native representation in popular culture.

• B.A., Swarthmore College
• Ph.D., New York University

Her work examines the intersection of corporeal practices and colonial power dynamics, particularly through the lens of tattoos, scalps, and material artifacts. She situates her scholarship in the 17th- and 18th-century Atlantic world, emphasizing contested cultural narratives and Indigenous agency.

Recent publications and presentations highlight her contributions to understanding Indigenous literacy, colonial museum practices, and contemporary representations of Native peoples in film. Her upcoming book, The Lives of Others, expands this work into 19th-century Anglo-American biographical practices.

• 2022 Society of Colonial Wars LaVoy Fellowship

Odle directs the graduate program in American Studies and teaches courses on Native history, cultural encounters, death in America, and epidemic narratives. She co-organizes public humanities projects like Tanglewood Histories and Learning from the Ancestors, and leads the collaborative Mapping Native Alabama initiative.