Rachel Mairs

Rachel Mairs is Professor of Classics and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Reading, where she serves as Research Division Leader in the Department of Classics. She previously held positions at Brown University, the University of Oxford, and New York University. Her academic work bridges classical studies with Middle Eastern history, examining cultural interactions across historical periods.

Mairs completed her PhD at the University of Cambridge in 2006 with research on ethnic identity in the 'Hellenistic Far East' (Bactria-Sogdiana, Arachosia and India). Her scholarly trajectory demonstrates a consistent focus on cross-cultural encounters, evolving from ancient Greek interactions with Central Asian populations to modern colonial encounters in the Middle East.

Her research interests span multilingualism, ethnicity, cultural interaction, papyrology, and epigraphy, with particular emphasis on Hellenistic Egypt, Central Asia (Bactria and India), and 19th-century Middle East. Mairs examines how Greeks interacted with 'non-Greeks' in the Hellenistic world while also exploring modern legacies of colonialism in archaeological and linguistic practices. She has made significant contributions to understanding ancient multilingualism, especially Greek-Egyptian interactions, and has extended this interest to historical language learning in the colonial Middle East.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a sophisticated interdisciplinary approach that bridges classical studies, archaeology, linguistics, and postcolonial theory. Her work demonstrates consistent thematic threads including cultural mediation, language contact, and the politics of historical representation. From her early archaeological surveys of the Hellenistic Far East to her recent studies of Arabic language pedagogy in the 19th century, Mairs maintains a critical perspective on power dynamics in cross-cultural encounters.

Mairs actively contributes to academic discourse through her organization of the Hellenistic Central Asia Research Network (HCARN) and co-founding of the 'Everyday Orientalism' blog, which critically examines colonial legacies in papyrology and classics. She has served as co-editor for significant publications including the 'Corpus of Ptolemaic Inscriptions' (2021) and a special issue on 'Bi-/Multi-lingualism and the History of Language Learning and Teaching' (2019).

Her collaborative research extends across international boundaries, working with colleagues in Egypt, Canada, and the United States on projects examining interpreters, dragomans, and language teachers in historical contexts. Mairs maintains an active research agenda with recent publications addressing contemporary issues in postcolonial theory while maintaining her foundational expertise in Hellenistic archaeology and epigraphy.