The Jozef and Huguette Cohen Innovation Awards support visionary research in the arts, humanities, and humanistic social sciences. The awards provide seed funding for innovative projects that advance new directions in scholarship, creative activity, and public engagement while enhancing the visibility and impact of Illinois research.
Established through a generous philanthropic gift from Jozef and Huguette Cohen and funded in partnership with the colleges, the Office of the Provost, and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, the program is intended to help faculty pursue ambitious ideas that may be difficult to support through traditional funding mechanisms. The awards support activities such as building new research collaborations, developing emerging areas of inquiry, acquiring specialized skills, engaging with archives and field sites, and creating new pathways for recognition and influence in their fields.
Two of the eleven Cohen Innovation Award recipients are faculty in Gender and Women's Studies:
Maryam Kashani, Associate Professor
Kashani's three-film experimental documentary series will explore Palestine as a global question through interconnected histories of anti-imperialism spanning Japan, Palestine, and the United States. Combining ethnographic research, filmmaking, and transnational political history, the project examines solidarity, citizenship, empire, and liberation while advancing an ambitious interdisciplinary artistic practice.
Damian Vergara Bracamontes, Assistant Professor
Vergara Barcamontes' book project traces how undocumented legal status became a defining social and political condition in post-1960s San Diego, introducing the concept of 'administrative checkpoints' to explain how immigration enforcement permeates everyday life. Drawing on archival research, policy analysis, and oral histories, it foregrounds the experiences of migrant women and transwomen while offering a new framework for understanding administrative violence.
Recipients were selected through a competitive review process that evaluated proposals for their innovation, potential to elevate the profile of Illinois research, demonstrated qualifications, and clarity of implementation. The awards reflect the university's commitment to fostering creative and transformative scholarship that enhances lives in Illinois, across the nation, and around the world.
Editor's note: This story was originally published by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation