This fall, we are excited to welcome several new full-time faculty members to The Cooper Union’s academic programs. As the final installment of our series introducing this new faculty cohort to our wider community, we spoke to Eilin Rafael Pérez who joins the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences as a visiting assistant professor of history. Pérez, whose research focuses on modern Korea, completed his Ph.D. in history at the University of Chicago in 2022 after receiving a B.A. in Asian studies and history with honors from Williams College.

Tell us about your research interests.

I specialize in the modern history of Korean politics and culture. My current work considers the cultural production that emerged out of diplomatic engagement between Korea and the global South. In my research, writing, and teaching, I bridge understandings of decolonization and the Cold War by examining textual and visual materials from archives spanning Asia and the Americas.

What brought you to The Cooper Union?

I am drawn to the prospect of building community at The Cooper Union. This includes exploring what it means to make enlightened contributions to society with students, faculty, and staff. What brought me to Cooper was the belief that blending the tools of critical historical inquiry with civic engagement could contribute to Cooper’s institutional vision. I am also a native New Yorker!

What aspects of teaching are you most excited about in the academic year at Cooper?

Understanding what training in historical studies has brought me, I am compelled to make the study of history relevant to students regardless of their career path. The Cooper Union is the perfect place for students with interests across the arts, engineering, and architecture fields to develop understandings of what interpreting history can do for them. I am excited to draw upon the breadth of archives, museums, and libraries documenting the human experience in New York to enrich student learning at Cooper.