Fellowships and Scholarships

James Madison Fellowship Program

Internal BU Deadline: February 12, 2010

Overview

The James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation was established by Congress in 1986 for the purpose of improving teaching about the United States Constitution in secondary schools.  The James Madison Fellowships were created to honor Madison’ legacy and Madisonian principles by providing support for graduate study that focuses on the Constitution -- its history and contemporary relevance to the practices and policies of democratic government.

The Fellowships are intended exclusively for graduate study leading to a master’s degree. James Madison Fellows can attend any accredited institution of higher education in the United States. Each individual entering the James Madison Fellowship Program will be expected to pursue and complete a master’s degree in one of the following (Listed in order of preference):

Master of Arts degree (MA) in American history or in political science (also referred to as "government and politics" or as "government");

Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree concentrating on either American Constitutional history (in a history department) or American government, political institutions and political theory (in a political science department);

Master of Education degree (MEd) or the Master of Arts or Master of Science in Education, with a concentration in American history or American government, political institutions, and political theory.

There are two types of fellowships:

Junior Fellowships are awarded to students who are about to complete, or have recently completed, their undergraduate course of study and plan to begin graduate work on a full-time basis. Junior Fellows have two years to complete their degree, and

Senior Fellowships are awarded to experienced teachers who wish to undertake work for a graduate degree on a part-time basis through summer and evening classes. Senior Fellows have up to five years to complete their degree.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for a fellowship, you must be:

A U.S. citizen or U.S. national,

A teacher, or planning to be a teacher, of American history, American government, or social studies at the secondary school level,

If you already have a graduate degree, you must wait at least three years from the time that degree was awarded before applying for a Fellowship, and

You must either currently posses a bachelor's degree, or plan to receive a bachelor's degree no later then August 31st of the year in which you are applying.

It is important to note that the Foundation does not provide support for doctoral-level graduate study, nor may Fellows pursue a law degree or a master's degree in public affairs or public administration under a fellowship.

Criteria

Applicants are evaluated on their demonstrated commitment to a career teaching American history, American government, or social studies at the secondary school level; demonstrated intent to pursue and complete a program of graduate study that emphasizes the Constitution and offers classroom instruction in that subject; demonstrated devotion to civic responsibility; demonstrated capacity for graduate study and performance as classroom teachers, and their proposed courses of graduate study. Applicants compete only against other applicants from the states of their legal residence.

Please contact the BU faculty representative in the Office of the Provost for additional information if you are interested in applying for this fellowship.

Application Process

Persons interested in applying for a James Madison Fellowship must submit an application form, available on the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation web site directly to the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation.  An independent Fellow Selection Committee evaluates all valid applications and recommends to the Foundation the most outstanding applicants from each state for James Madison Fellowships. Each year, the Foundation selects at least one James Madison Fellow, either junior or senior, from each state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and, considered as a single entity, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Funds permitting, more than one fellowship may be awarded in jurisdictions with larger populations. The Fellow Selection Committee meets to recommend the appointment of Fellows to the Foundation in mid-April of each year, and James Madison Fellows are named by the Foundation and notified of their selection in mid-late April of each year.

A well-prepared application is essential to an applicant's chance of success. The following are suggestions for applicants to follow:

• It is essential that applicants restrict their answers to the spaces provided. Selection committee members will read many applications before recommending applicants for appointment. Additional sheets will not be considered.
• The strongest applications will most fully and convincingly reveal the applicants' reasons for wishing to become teachers. Any influences, events, experiences, or circumstances that have contributed to the choice of a teaching career should be noted and briefly discussed where relevant.
• Because teaching is a civic activity, applicants should provide information about involvement in civic endeavors that have been important to them. Applicants who have not engaged in civic activity should provide information about whey they have not. It is the full texture of an application that will leave an impression, therefore applicants should be candid about their limitations, frustrations, and regrets.
• Applicants are asked to provide information about their prospective graduate programs. Therefore, it is essential that they make early efforts to learn about the programs to which they will apply. The Foundation recognizes that, in most cases, notice of graduate school acceptance will not have been received by the closing date for the fellowship application, nor will it be possible to know precisely which courses listed in graduate school catalogs will be offered in any term or year. Fellows will have the opportunity to adjust their proposed graduate programs as conditions warrant.
• All questions are asked to help the Fellow Selection Committee understand the candidates' collegiate courses of study, their career choices, and their lives. No single response to any question can provide that understanding, but the entire application can do so. Applicants need to prepare their applications as a single, revealing text.
• The 600-word essay, like other parts of the application provides essential information about applicants' use of language. It will also reveal their ability to express their visions of education and their future roles as teachers of history, government, and social studies. Applicants need to relate their personal visions to the realities of society, schooling, and civic life as they understand them.
• Applicants should select their evaluators with care and emphasize to the evaluators the importance of assessing the applicants in all areas noted on the evaluation forms. It is critical that the evaluations be specific and relevant to the purposes of the James Madison Fellowship Program. Evaluators must prepare their letters on letterhead of their professional affiliation.
• Applicants are urged to take the Graduate Record Examination and to apply formally for graduate study by the deadlines established by the institutions at which they hope to matriculate.

Award Value and Conditions

The maximum amount of each award is up to $24,000, prorated over the individual period of study, thus making the James Madison Fellowship the leading award for secondary level teachers undertaking the study of the Constitution. Fellowship payments cover the actual costs of tuition, required fees, books, room and board, but cannot exceed $12,000 per academic year. Normally, Fellows receive less than these maximum amounts. Failure to complete the program requirements will necessitate the repayment to the Foundation of all funds paid to the Fellow or on his or her behalf plus interest.

The Fellow’s proposed plan of graduate study should contain substantial constitutional course work. Fellows are encouraged to choose institutions which offer courses that closely examine the origins and development of the U.S. Constitution, the evolution of political theory and constitutional law, the effects of the Constitution on society and culture in the United States, or other such topics directly related to the Constitution.

As part of the James Madison Fellowship program, each Fellow attends the four-week Summer Institute on the Constitution held at Georgetown University. The academic focus of the Institute is a graduate course entitled "The Foundations of American Constitutionalism." Taught by constitutional scholars, this course is a study of the principles, framing, ratification, and implementation of constitutional government in the United States.

Whatever institution and whichever degree a Fellow selects, at least 12 semester credits (or 18 quarter credits) of constitutional study must be part of the Fellow’ program. The institution should accept the six credits earned at Georgetown University by the Fellow at the Foundation’s Summer Institute on the Constitution.

After earning a master’s degree, each James Madison Fellow must teach American history, American government or social studies in grades 7-12 for no less than one year for each full academic year of study under the fellowship.

Additional information about the James Madison Fellowships can be found on the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation web site.