2 UIC faculty selected for prestigious national fellowships

Two faculty members from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences have been selected for nationally competitive fellowships that will support major scholarly projects during the 2026-27 academic year.

Claire Decoteau, professor of sociology, has been named a 2026-27 fellow at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. Decoteau was selected as the Mary Beth and Chris Gordon Fellow and will spend the academic year advancing a new book project on access to reproductive healthcare following the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2021 that overturned the constitutional right to an abortion.

Her research will analyze the structural and epistemic barriers to reproductive healthcare and explore the pathways, relationships and knowledge women rely on to navigate reproductive inequities, she said.

"I am excited to join the impressive group of interdisciplinary scholars at Radcliffe next year," Decoteau said, "and to learn from their collective wisdom and praxis."

The Radcliffe fellowship program brings together scholars, scientists, artists and writers from around the world to pursue ambitious research projects in the Harvard University community.

Tomiko Brown-Nagin, dean of the institute, praised the incoming fellows for their scholarly contributions and interdisciplinary work.

"At a time when higher education has been under heightened scrutiny, our new fellowship class offers hope and purpose - a reminder of the vital importance of scholarly exploration and advanced study," Brown-Nagin said in a recent announcement.

Also earning national recognition is Jeffrey Sklansky, professor of history, who was selected for the Mellon Foundation 2026-27 long-term fellowship at the Newberry Library.

The Newberry's long-term fellowships support scholars pursuing significant research projects through sustained engagement with the library's renowned collections and scholarly community. Fellows spend four to nine months conducting research, presenting works in progress and developing major works of scholarship.

Sklansky's work will focus on "The Work of Retirement: A Labor History of the American Pension," which analyzes the historical shift of American retirement from collective, employer-supported systems to individualized, financialized models.

"These fellowships reflect the depth and impact of scholarship across the college," said Lisa A. Freeman, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. "Professors Decoteau and Sklansky are producing deeply meaningful research that advances understanding of critical social, historical and political questions, and we are proud to see their work recognized on a national stage."