In my undergraduate studies, I trained as a philologist and developed interests in Comparative and Historical Linguistics, Cultural Anthropology, and Folklore. During the course of graduate studies in Classics (Stanford University, completed 2001), my interests turned to History and material culture of Ancient Greece. Initially, a graduate seminar on Pindar's victory odes drew my attention to Aigina, then a fellowship at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens brought me to Greece for the first time in 1998-99. Thus began my love affair with Greece, its past and present, and I have been coming to Greece for research, travel, and teaching almost annually since. In my first job at Bowdoin College (USA), 2000-2007, I taught Greek and Roman history, as well as Ancient Greek and Latin. Since 2007, I teach ancient Greek history at King's College London. My research interests continue to include social and cultural history of ancient Greece, especially ancient Greek religion, where I have written on a variety of topics, including religion and war, local cultic practices and divine personalities, curses, and religious vocabulary.

Another focal area for me over the years has been Greek epigraphy, especially the study of inscriptions from the Northern Black Sea coast, including the sites of Borysthenes (Berezan) and Olbia Pontica. This work has led to collaborations with colleagues in Digital Humanities and creation of a digital database Inscriptions of the Northern Black Sea.

More recently, I have launched a new interdisciplinary and collaborative project on freshwater supply and management in premodern Greece, which creates a synergy between History, Archaeology, Heritage Management, and Environmental Humanities, Geography, Climate Sciences, Hydrogeology, and Hydraulic Engineering. The project Thirsty Islands of the Aegean Sea currently focuses on the island of Aigina and works with local community partners on piloting innovative methodologies and their application in the areas of cultural heritage and water security.

Research interests and PhD supervision

• Social and cultural history of ancient Greece
• Environmental history of Greece from antiquity to the present
• Ancient Greek religion (local approach; religious language; materiality; environment)
• Greek epigraphy and Digital epigraphy
• Regions: Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea (Aigina, Attica), Peloponnese; and Northern Black Sea (Olbia, Borysthenes, Tyras)

Teaching

Modules on ancient Greek history at all levels, from undergraduate to postgraduate.

Selected publications

Religion and War from Antiquity to Early Modernity. Edited by Irene Polinskaya, A. James and I. Papadogiannakis. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2024

Curses in context III: Greek curse tablets of the classical and Hellenistic periods. Edited by Polinskaya, I. & Faraone, C. A. Athens: Norwegian Institute at Athens, 2021 (Papers and monographs from the Norwegian Institute at Athens, vol. 12)

'Personal or Communal? Social Horizons of Local Greek Religion.' In The Local Horizon of Ancient Greek Religion. Beck, H. & Kindt, J. (eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023, pp. 312-341

A Local History of Greek Polytheism: Gods, People and the Land of Aigina, 800-400 BCE. Leiden: Brill, 2013

'Sparta and Persia: Rituals for Invading the Land of the Gods of Others.' Religious Convergence in the Ancient Mediterranean. Proceedings of the Conference “Religious Convergence in the Ancient Mediterranean,” 23–26 June 2016, Palermo, Italy. Collins, B. J. & Blakely, S. (eds.). Atlanta: Lockwood Press, pp. 447-491. (Studies in Ancient Mediterranean Religions, vol. 2).