A.J. Perez is a first year graduate student pursuing a Dual-title PhD in History and African-American Studies. He currently holds a BA in Painting and a BA in History from the University of Houston. Currently under the guidance of Dr. Amy Greenberg, his broad research interests include American Slavery, the U.S. Civil War, and memory of the war. His secondary areas of interest are Gender and Transnational/Global history. He’s interested in examining how the past continues to helplessly and subtly affect the present day and recent examinations of the past.