October 17, 2024
Graduate history students awarded prestigious James Madison Fellowships
Jacqueline Michels ’19, ’21G and Robert Smith-MacDonald ’12, ’18G, students in the graduate history program at Providence College, have been awarded the James Madison Graduate Fellowship, the most prestigious award in constitutional history and government for high school teachers.
The award funds up to $24,000 of a fellow’s study toward a master’s degree in American history, political science, or government. In addition, fellows will spend four weeks in Washington, D.C., during the summer of 2025, learning more about the U.S. constitution from some of the country’s top constitutional scholars. The summer institute also provides opportunities to visit sites associated with the constitution around Washington.
Five graduate history students from PC have been awarded Madison fellowships since 2018 and the college is listed among the James Madison Fellows’ most-attended master’s degree programs alongside Villanova, Rutgers, and Harvard. The organization selects one teacher from each state. Michels, a teacher at Lincoln High School, represents Rhode Island, while Smith-McDonald, a teacher at Mansfield High School, represents Massachusetts.
Previous fellows are Michael McNamara ’24G, selected in 2023; Christopher Stanley ’95, ’25G, in 2022; and Maeve Kennedy ’19G in 2018.
Jeff Johnson, Ph.D., professor of history and program director, said he is elated to see two more graduate students join the elite network of top civics and American history teachers.
“Their dedication to educating students about our nation’s constitutional heritage has never been more important,” Johnson said. “It’s a win-win for education. As recognized constitutional scholars, they become invaluable resources for both their students and their faculty colleagues.”
Johnson added, “Jacqueline and Robert represent the high quality of students in Providence College’s graduate history program, and I am proud of the faculty who have and will continue to train them as Madison Fellows.”
Michels, from North Providence, Rhode Island, was a member of PC’s Honors Program and graduated summa cum laude with dual bachelor’s degrees in history and secondary education and a minor in art history. She went on to complete a master’s degree in secondary education through the Providence Alliance for Catholic Teaching (PACT) program, teaching at All Saints Catholic School in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and St. Mary’s School in Worcester, Massachusetts. She is excited to now be pursuing a second master’s degree in American history.
“Once I started teaching, I thought about history from a new angle,” she said of her current academic pursuits. “It’s one thing to learn the subject matter as a student, but it’s another thing to engage students while teaching history.”
Having learned about the fellowship from McNamara, Michels turned to Darra Mulderry, Ph.D., associate director of PC’s Center for Engaged Learning and director of national and international fellowships, for help in completing the application process, and also is grateful for the support and encouragement of history faculty.
Smith-MacDonald, from Mansfield, Massachusetts, began studies toward a graduate degree in American history during the summer. He studied history as an undergraduate at PC, then began his education career as a teacher’s aide and a middle school teacher in Mansfield. He returned to PC to become a certified teacher and obtain a master’s degree in urban education.
Smith-MacDonald has taught history at Mansfield High School for the past decade.
“What a time to be teaching history in the United States,” he said. “Part of my drive for the fellowship is that I know there are people who question the quality of education in America. From a professional perspective, the fellowship is an opportunity for me to demonstrate the value of public education. The fellowship is definitely going to change some of the way I teach.”
Named in honor of the fourth president of the United States who is often called “the Father of the Constitution and Bill of Rights,” the James Madison Graduate Fellowship is intended to recognize promising and distinguished teachers and to strengthen their knowledge of the origins and development of American constitutional government – consequently exposing the nation’s secondary school students to accurate knowledge of the nation’s constitutional heritage.
The fellowship awards are made possible through the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation, an independent agency established in 1986 as part of the executive branch of the federal government.
