The selection of Montgomery College criminal justice professor Bridget Lowrie for the 2026 MC-Smithsonian Faculty Fellowship represents a significant advancement in how community college education can leverage national cultural resources to address complex societal issues. This yearlong academic partnership connects college classrooms directly with Smithsonian collections, scholars, and digital resources, with the 2026 fellowship theme focusing on "Fostering a Culture of Critical and Ethical Learning to Shape Future Leaders."
The importance of this fellowship lies in its direct application to contemporary challenges in criminal justice education. Lowrie will use the fellowship to develop a project on civil disobedience, leadership, and ethics that connects museum artifacts to pressing questions in criminology. Her proposal includes potential partnerships with the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the National Museum of the American Indian, as well as virtual artifact collections that help students examine the intersections of disability, protest and justice.
"As an attorney and criminal justice professor, I see students wrestling every day with questions about power, fairness, and accountability," Lowrie said. "Working with Smithsonian collections on civil disobedience and social movements will give them concrete objects, stories, and images to ground those conversations, not just abstract theories." This approach matters because it moves criminal justice education beyond theoretical frameworks to engage with tangible historical evidence and diverse perspectives.
The MC-Smithsonian Faculty Fellowship, housed in the College's Paul Peck Humanities Institute, grew out of a collaboration with the Smithsonian Office of Educational Technology and the Smithsonian Learning Lab. The initiative represents the first partnership of its kind between the Smithsonian and a community college and has involved 256 Montgomery College faculty and more than 26,000 students and their families since 1998. This sustained impact demonstrates how such partnerships can transform educational access and quality at the community college level.
For students and the broader community, the implications are substantial. Lowrie's students will begin engaging with the fellowship project in fall 2026 through class visits, virtual collections, and research assignments focused on leadership, ethics, and civic engagement. This direct exposure to primary sources and museum expertise provides students with analytical tools to examine how historical movements inform current debates about justice, authority, and social change.
The interdisciplinary fellowship is open to faculty from all three Montgomery College campuses. Fellows participate in seminars with Smithsonian curators and educators, explore on-site and virtual exhibitions, and design projects that embed museum resources into their courses. This model has implications for educational innovation nationwide, showing how community colleges can partner with major cultural institutions to enhance curriculum relevance and rigor.
For more information about the fellowship program, visit the Paul Peck Humanities Institute's fellowship page at https://www.montgomerycollege.edu/special-programs/paul-peck-humanities-institute/smithsonian-faculty-fellowships.html. The selection of Professor Lowrie continues a tradition of bringing Smithsonian resources directly to community college students, ensuring that discussions about leadership and ethics in a rapidly changing world are grounded in both historical context and contemporary relevance.
