2018 Providence Summer Fellow

The Initiative on Cities is delighted to welcome Johnathan Williams as its Graduate Student Fellow for the City of Providence’s Department of Innovation this summer.

Johnathan Williams is a Ph.D. candidate in History in the College of Arts and Sciences. He received in BA and MA from the University of Northern Iowa, where he focused on the social and cultural movements of the Reagan era.

How did you first get interested in urban planning and issues?

My interest in urban planning and issues comes from my research interest in urban and suburban environments in late twentieth century US history. Since the mid-twentieth century, the United States has been an urban society, which I believe makes urban planning and environments a central modern issue. In particular, I find cities a fascinating focus of study since they are a diverse site of people, interests, and institutions. Because cities are diverse locations, urban planning and issues are difficult to fully understand and require constant reevaluation. Yet at the same time, urban areas—whether a major US city like Boston, or a small city like Cedar Rapids, IA, my hometown—share shocking similarities, which helps us to better understand how they function and how to evaluate urban planning methods.

What are you most looking forward to? What made you interested in applying for the fellowship?

My answer to these two questions are somewhat related. A few months ago my spouse was offered a new job in Providence, and we have since relocated from Boston. Providence almost immediately felt like home, which made me want to get involved in the community. The fellowship offered that opportunity, and also the chance to apply my skills as a historian to current issues. Another thing that made me interested in applying for the fellowship was the opportunity to work with local government. Growing up in Iowa, with presidential hopefuls flooding the state every four years, made me interested in politics at an early age. While federal politics are important, local politics play a significant role, and I look forward to learning that role from firsthand experience during the fellowship.