Rachel Scott is a specialist in medieval and early modern literatures of the Hispanic world. Following the award of her PhD, and prior to joining Royal Holloway, she was a postdoctoral researcher on Language Acts and Worldmaking (2017-2020), a project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s flagship Open World Research Initiative, and Lecturer in Medieval Spanish Literature at Queen Mary University of London (2014-2015).

Rachel's research is rooted in comparative and transnational approaches and situates literary and cultural production in their global contexts. She is interested in questions of cultural translation, reception, and cross-cultural exchange; earlier literatures as world literature; questions of gender, alterity, and the human condition; and the uses and representations of the past in contemporary culture.

Rachel is author of Celestina and the Human Condition in Early Modern Spain and Italy (Tamesis, 2017), which examines the reception of the late medieval Spanish masterpiece Celestina in the context of philosophical debates about the human condition in Spain and Italy, and co-editor of Al-Andalus in Motion: Travelling Concepts and Cross-Cultural Contexts (Boydell & Brewer, 2021), a collection of essays which explore how al-Andalus has been transformed into a ‘travelling concept’, transcending its original geographic and historical location to become a figure of thought with global impact across the centuries. She has also published book chapters and articles on medieval and early modern literature, inclusive curricula in Modern Languages, and the relationship between Modern Languages and World Literature.

Rachel is currently working on a book about the medieval and early modern European reception of Kalila wa Dimna, a medieval collection of Arabic fables that originated in India and underwent a complex path of global transmission.

Public Engagement

As part of her research on Kalila wa Dimna, Rachel has worked with artists, curators, arts organisations, and school children on an Arts Council England-funded project, Ancient Tales for Troubled Times, which resulted in an exhibition at the P21 Gallery in London and accompanying programme of public events during May-June 2022.

Rachel is passionate about public engagement and advocating for the importance of global literatures, cultures, and languages in contemporary society. In addition, she has led workshops for primary and secondary schools and the public as part of large-scale events such as the Being Human Festival of the Humanities. This experience builds on non-academic roles as Innovation Coordinator for Culture@King's, supporting collaborations between researchers and the cultural sector.

Rachel teaches modules on the Hispanic Studies, Comparative Literature and Culture, Liberal Arts, and Translation Studies programmes in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, as well as the School of Humanities Foundation Year, and has contributed to the MA Medieval Studies in the Department of History. She has also been leading LLC's development of World Literature as part of the CLC programme.

• LA/ML1998, LA/ML1999 Foundation Year Department Specific Skills and Department Based Project
• LA1000 Liberal Arts 1: Cultural Encounters
• ML2206 Histories of Representation
• ML2207 Critical Worlds: Theory for Comparative Literature and Culture 
• SN2400 Advanced Spanish Translation
• ML2408 World Literatures: Texts and Identities in Motion
• ML3124 30-credit Comparative Literature and Culture Dissertation
• ML3208 Optional Comparative Literature and Culture Dissertation
• ML3214 Early Global Iberias
• ML3400 (Spanish) Advanced Translation: Professional Practice
• HS5217 Research Development Course, MA Medieval Studies, Department of History