Fr. Philip A. Smith Fellowships
Fr. Philip A. Smith Fellowships
The Smith Fellowships offer rising PC juniors and seniors fully funded opportunities to serve or study at Catholic and Dominican sites outside the continental United States. The Fellowships encourage motivated students to immerse in global Dominican communities, faith, and vocation.
Why consider a Smith Fellowship?
To seek more.
For the last 15 years, the Smith Fellowships have offered PC students an opportunity to integrate an encounter with a global community and their PC education. Students bring their studies, but also their biggest questions about faith and life, their greatest aspirations. Fellows encounter the global Catholic Church and Dominican mentors, as well as a new culture and way of life. Many come to see the fellowships as a pilgrimage: they bring their faith, wherever it may be, on the journey and grow through encountering God in the process.
Overview
Over the course of 4-6 weeks in the summer, fellows immerse with a Dominican community abroad. The program maintain communications with a handful of global Dominican communities to support fellows as they create an opportunity. But, you are also free to build your own connections for a fellowship with a global Dominican community. From the Solomon Islands to Costa Rica and from Argentina to South Africa, Smith Fellows have traveled to five continents over the last 15 years.
Fellows typically travel in pairs or alone and work with the college and the hosting Dominicans on the shape of the service or study project. We’ve had students study Biblical literature in Jerusalem, advocate for justice at the UN in Geneva, and teach elementary aged children in the Solomon Islands, to offer a few examples.
Application Snapshot
Interested students must set up a pre-application meeting with the Smith Fellowship Director by no later than November 10, 2025 for conversation about program details and expectations, as well as the proposal process.
Applications will be made live at the start of the academic year and will be due in December 2025. After reviewing each application, a selection committee will award fellowships.
Fr. Philip A. Smith, O.P.
Father Philip A. Smith, O.P. was the 11th President of Providence College (1994-2005). A native of Prince Edward Island, Canada, Father Smith graduated from Providence College and entered the Dominican Order in 1961. A philosopher by training and a specialist in bioethics, Father Smith also served as president of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., as a member of the Provincial Council of St. Joseph Province of the Dominican Friars, and as a delegate to the 1995 General Chapter of the Dominican Order in Caleruega, Spain. In gratitude for his many years of service to the Church, Order, and to the students of Providence College, these fellowships are named in his honor.
Past Smith Fellows
A small collection of blogs from program alumni:
Smith Fellowships Director
Robert D. Pfunder
Associate Vice President for Mission & Ministry
Martin Hall 109
401.865.1770
rpfunder@providence.edu
