Claire Cooper

Claire Cooper serves as Assistant Professor of East Asian History in the Department of History, Philosophy and Religious Studies at Eastern Kentucky University.

Her research centers on East Asian History with specialization in the history of medicine and global trade networks in early modern Japan. She investigates Dutch East India Company (VOC) medicinal trade flows involving substances like cinnamon, cloves, and saffron from India, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, analyzing how Japanese physicians and apothecaries adapted "Dutch medicine" (ranpō) within local commercial contexts. Her work challenges Eurocentric historical narratives by emphasizing the hybrid, intra-Asian nature of medical knowledge circulation and the critical role of non-elite actors including merchants and shopkeepers in early modern Japanese marketplaces.