We are pleased to welcome Lois Kalb as our last Research Fellow for the 2025-2026 academic year at YCIE! ⭐️

Lois Kalb is a PhD candidate at the European University Institute in Florence and a research affiliate of the partnership project “Deindustrialization and the Politics of our Time” at Concordia University in Montréal. Her work sits at the intersection of urban history and social anthropology and focuses on urban transformations, lived experiences, and urban commons in Soviet-era neighborhoods.

Her dissertation examines how residents of Riga’s Soviet-era housing came to inhabit and make sense of their neighborhoods during the Soviet period and the decades that followed.

As a fellow at YCIE, Lois’ central focus will be on the city Gyumri, where she will conduct archival and field research into Soviet housing provision and reconstruction following the earthquake of 1988.