Reprinted from the UGA School of Graduate School website at https://grad.uga.edu/scholarship-and-fellowship-awards/graduate-school-masters-fellow-awards/

The History Department Welcomes Ignatz DeCourcey! Ignatz is a 2026 recipient of the Graduate School Master's Fellow Award, designed to recruit highly competitive students who will advance the research and scholarship mission of the University. Selected recipients come from various disciplines across campus.

Ignatz DeCourcey is a graduate student in the Department of History at the University of Georgia. Their research will focus on United States social justice movements from the 1980s and ‘90s with an emphasis on radical sexual politics and the LGBT community.

DeCourcey received a bachelor of arts, magna cum laude, from Smith College in government and the study of women, gender, and sexuality. As an undergraduate student, they participated in Smith’s Museums Concentration program and focused on political praxis, composing a capstone entitled, “Branching the Gap: Questioning Divides on the American East Coast.” Through this work, DeCourcey highlighted objects of cultural significance from the American South Atlantic. This project drew from personal experiences, as well as work at both the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History and Historic Jerusalem Mill Village.

The decision to study history at UGA came from DeCourcey’s desire to continue engaging with museum work. They would like to research the political history of the late 20th century and identify methods of making their findings presentable to the public. Throughout this work, they hope to gain a better understanding of the significant alternative lifestyles held in social justice frameworks and how these advocacy groups influenced the politics of the United States.

Ultimately, DeCourcey would like to return to the world of curatorial museum work, finding ways for museums to make complex stories of unconventional subjects accessible to the public. After completing their master’s degree, DeCourcey would like to pursue a Ph.D. and continue working in the realm of education.