Bridget Lowrie, a professor and program coordinator for criminal justice at Montgomery College, has been chosen for the prestigious 2026 MC-Smithsonian Faculty Fellowship. This yearlong academic partnership connects college classrooms with the extensive resources of the Smithsonian Institution, including its collections, scholars, and digital tools. The fellowship aims to foster critical and ethical learning, focusing on leadership and ethics in a rapidly evolving global landscape.
The MC-Smithsonian Faculty Fellowship is housed within the college’s Paul Peck Humanities Institute and represents a pioneering collaboration with the Smithsonian Office of Educational Technology and the Smithsonian Learning Lab. Since its inception in 1998, the initiative has engaged 256 faculty members and reached over 26,000 students and their families, making it the first of its kind between the Smithsonian and a community college.
Exploring Leadership and Ethics through Smithsonian Collections
Lowrie plans to utilize this fellowship to develop a project centered on civil disobedience, leadership, and ethics. Her work will draw connections between museum artifacts and contemporary issues in criminology. She has proposed potential collaborations with the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the National Museum of the American Indian. Additionally, she intends to incorporate virtual collections that will enable students to investigate 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 stated. “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 interdisciplinary fellowship is accessible to faculty across all three campuses of Montgomery College. Selected fellows will engage in seminars with Smithsonian curators and educators, explore both on-site and virtual exhibitions, and design projects integrating museum resources into their coursework. Lowrie’s students will begin to interact with her fellowship project in fall 2026 through class visits, virtual collections, and research assignments focused on themes of leadership, ethics, and civic engagement.
About Bridget Lowrie
Lowrie is a dedicated educator in the Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice Department at Montgomery College. She began her teaching career in 2013 after nearly a decade of legal practice, including experience as a Maryland attorney, prosecutor, and judicial law clerk. Lowrie holds a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law, where she served as an associate editor of the Maryland Law Review and was honored as a Rosa Zetzer Fellow. She also earned a B.A. in political science from American University and an A.A. from Prince George’s Community College.
Recognized by the American Association for Women in Community Colleges with its Top 40 Under 40 award, Lowrie remains actively involved in civic and legal organizations. Her service on various nonprofit boards and advisory groups enriches her teaching and supports her mission to connect students with career pathways in criminal justice.
For more information about the MC-Smithsonian Faculty Fellowship, visit the Paul Peck Humanities Institute’s fellowship page on the Montgomery College website.
