Mirzam Pérez Awarded Visiting Scholar Grant for Research on Corporate Imagery

Professor Mirzam Pérez has been awarded a $39,000 grant to serve as a visiting scholar at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies during the spring 2027 semester.

As the center’s Central America Visiting Scholar, Pérez will conduct research using the United Fruit Company Photograph Collection housed at Harvard’s Baker Library. Her project examines the visual legacy of corporate imperialism, focusing on how corporate photography shaped narratives of labor, land, and modernization across Latin America and the Caribbean—often obscuring the realities of exploitation.

Drawing from these archival materials, Pérez will analyze how images were used to construct and reinforce particular economic and cultural narratives. The research will contribute to a forthcoming body of visual art, expanding her work at the intersection of visual culture and creative practice.

Pérez, shared, “These images don’t just show history, they shape how we understand it. I’m interested in digging into what they leave out, especially the stories of labor and power that often get hidden, and finding ways to rethink them through both research and creative work.”

At Grinnell, Pérez plans to bring this work directly into the classroom through a new seminar, Visual Capitalism: Archival Practices and Colonial Legacies. In the course, students will engage in archival analysis while also developing creative responses to the histories of corporate image-making and its lasting impacts.

This project reflects Pérez’s interdisciplinary approach, bridging her academic training in visual culture with her evolving practice as a visual artist, and underscores Grinnell College’s commitment to research that connects scholarship, creativity, and critical inquiry.