José Perillán’s teaching and research interests include the history of science, physics – especially quantum theory -- innovation and sustainability, marginalization in the sciences and science fiction. His interdisciplinary interests were cultivated early on as an undergraduate studying physics and comparative religion and continued throughout graduate school as he combined research in experimental quantum optics with historical studies of 20th-century physics. His dissertation focuses on the history of hidden variables theory as a marginalized alternate formulation of quantum theory. Since 2002, Perillán has co-directed a month-long summer immersion seminar in Malawi, Africa, giving students a taste of anthropological fieldwork methodologies. While in Malawi he has conducted extensive field work and explored his research interests in technological innovation and sustainability.
