Grant Prospects for Faculty from the National Endowment for the Humanities

National Endowment for the Humanities Grants

These proposal deadlines are for 2015-2016. Please click on the web address for the grant you are interested in. Read the application guidelines carefully to determine if the grant is a good fit for your project. For further guidance on considering these opportunities, please contact your chair and the staff of the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects (orsp@neiu.edu).

Grant Name	Deadline	Web Address	Notes
Awards for Faculty at Hispanic-Serving Institutions	4/13/16	http://www.neh.gov/grants/research/awards-faculty-hispanic-serving-institutions	Faculty award. Supports individual faculty or staff members at Hispanic-Serving Institutions pursuing research of value to humanities scholars, students, or general audiences. Awards are designed to be flexible, allowing applicants to define the audience, type of research, award periods, and administrative arrangements that best fit their projects. Awards can be used for a wide range of projects that are based on humanities research. Eligible projects include pursuing research in primary and secondary materials; producing articles, monographs, books, digital materials, archeological site reports, translations, editions, or other scholarly resources; and conducting basic research leading to the improvement of an existing undergraduate course or the achievement of institutional or community research goals. Common to all applications—regardless of their outcome—must be humanities research supporting the goals of the project.
Dialogues on the Experience of War	9/15/2015	http://www.neh.gov/grants/education/dialogues-the-experience-war	The program supports the study and discussion of important humanities sources about war, in the belief that these sources can help U.S. military veterans and others to think more deeply about the issues raised by war and military service. The humanities sources can be drawn from history, philosophy, literature, and film—and they may and should be supplemented by testimonials from those who have served. The discussions are intended to promote serious exploration of important questions about the nature of duty, heroism, suffering, loyalty, and patriotism. The program awards grants of up to $100,000 that will support 1. the recruitment and training of discussion leaders; and 2. following the training program, the convening of at least two discussion programs. The discussion groups can take place on college and university campuses, in veterans’ centers, at public libraries and museums, and at other community venues. Most of the participants in the discussion groups should be military veterans; others, such as men and women in active service, military families, and interested members of the public, may participate as well.
NEH Fellowships	4/28/16	http://www.neh.gov/grants/research/fellowships	Fellowships support individuals pursuing advanced research that is of value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both. Recipients usually produce articles, monographs, books, digital materials, archaeological site reports, translations, editions, or other scholarly resources in the humanities. Projects may be at any stage of development.
Humanities Initiatives at Hispanic-Serving Institutions	6/23/16	http://www.neh.gov/grants/education/humanities-initiatives-hispanic-serving-institutions	NEH Humanities Initiatives at Hispanic-Serving Institutions are intended to strengthen the teaching and study of the humanities in subjects such as history, philosophy, and literature. These grants may be used to enhance existing humanities programs, resources, or courses, or to develop new ones.
Public Scholar Program	2/2/16	http://www.neh.gov/grants/research/public-scholar-program	The Public Scholar program aims to encourage scholarship that will be of broad interest and have lasting impact. Such scholarship might present a narrative history, tell the stories of important individuals, analyze significant texts, provide a synthesis of ideas, revive interest in a neglected subject, or examine the latest thinking on a topic. Books supported by this program must be grounded in humanities research and scholarship. They must address significant humanities themes likely to be of broad interest and must be written in a readily accessible style. Making use of primary and/or secondary sources, they should open up important and appealing subjects for wider audiences. The challenge is to make sense of a significant topic in a way that will appeal to general readers. By establishing the Public Scholar program, NEH enters a long-term commitment to encourage scholarship in the humanities for general audiences. In the early rounds of the competition, NEH especially welcomes applicants who are in the writing stages of their projects or who already have a commitment from a publisher. However, the Public Scholar program also supports projects in the early stages of development. The program is open to both individuals affiliated with scholarly institutions and independent scholars.
Summer Seminars and Institutes	2/25/16	http://www.neh.gov/grants/education/summer-seminars-and-institutes	These grants support faculty development programs in the humanities for school teachers and for college and university teachers. NEH Summer Seminars and Institutes may be as short as two weeks or as long as five weeks. NEH Summer Seminars and Institutes extend and deepen knowledge and understanding of the humanities by focusing on significant topics and texts; contribute to the intellectual vitality and professional development of participants; build communities of inquiry and provide models of civility and excellent scholarship and teaching; and link teaching and research in the humanities. An NEH Summer Seminar or Institute may be hosted by a college, university, learned society, center for advanced study, library or other repository, cultural or professional organization, or school or school system. The host site must be suitable for the project, providing facilities for scholarship and collegial interaction. These programs are designed for a national audience of teachers. Note that NEH Summer Seminars and Institutes may be held only in the United States and its territories. Projects in foreign countries are no longer supported.
Summer Stipends	10/1/15	http://www.neh.gov/grants/research/summer-stipends	Summer Stipends support individuals pursuing advanced research that is of value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both. Recipients usually produce articles, monographs, books, digital materials, archaeological site reports, translations, editions, or other scholarly resources. Summer Stipends support continuous full-time work on a humanities project for a period of two consecutive months. Summer Stipends support projects at any stage of development. Summer Stipends are awarded to individual scholars. Organizations are not eligible to apply.
Collaborative Research Grants	12/9/15	http://www.neh.gov/grants/research/collaborative-research-grants	Collaborative Research Grants support interpretive humanities research undertaken by a team of two or more scholars, for full-time or part-time activities for periods of one to three years. Support is available for various combinations of scholars, consultants, and research assistants; project-related travel; field work; applications of information technology; and technical support and services. All grantees are expected to communicate the results of their work to the appropriate scholarly and public audiences. Eligible projects include research that significantly adds to knowledge and understanding of the humanities; conferences on topics of major importance in the humanities that will benefit scholarly research; archaeological projects that include the interpretation and communication of results (projects may encompass excavation, materials analysis, laboratory work, field reports, and preparation of interpretive monographs); and research that uses the knowledge and perspectives of the humanities and historical or philosophical methods to enhance understanding of science, technology, medicine, and the social sciences.
Common Heritage	6/21/16	http://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/common-heritage	America’s cultural heritage is preserved not only in libraries, museums, archives, and other community organizations, but also in all of our homes, family histories, and life stories. The Common Heritage program aims to capture this vitally important part of our country’s heritage and preserve it for future generations. Common Heritage will support both the digitization of cultural heritage materials and the organization of public programming at community events that explore these materials as a window on a community’s history and culture. The Common Heritage program recognizes that members of the public—in partnership with libraries, museums, archives, and historical organizations—have much to contribute to the understanding of our cultural mosaic. Together, such institutions and the public can be effective partners in the appreciation and stewardship of our common heritage. The program supports day-long events organized by community cultural institutions, which members of the public will be invited to attend. At these events experienced staff will digitize the community historical materials brought in by the public. Project staff will also record descriptive information—provided by community attendees—about the historical materials. Contributors will be given a free digital copy of their items to take home, along with the original materials. With the owner’s permission, digital copies of these materials would be included in the institutions’ collections. Historical photographs, artifacts, documents, family letters, art works, and audiovisual recordings are among the many items eligible for digitization and public commemoration. Projects must also present public programming that would expand knowledge of the community’s history. Public programs could include lectures, panels, reading and discussion, special gallery tours, screening and discussion of relevant films, presentations by a historian, special initiatives for families and children, or comments by curators about items brought in by the public. These public programs should provide a framework for a deeper understanding of the community members’ shared or divergent histories. The programs may take place before, during, and/or after the day of the digitization event. Applicants may but need not include in their proposals a topic around which the event and the public programming would be organized. Topics proposed for the public programming may also be proposed for the digitization event. The applicant institution must plan, promote, and organize the event and ensure that a wide range of historical materials can be digitized and also contextualized through public programming. Since the help of additional institutions and organizations in the community may be needed to accomplish this work, the applicant must take responsibility for enlisting appropriate organizations or institutions, such as local libraries and museums, to contribute to the project, as needed. NEH especially welcomes applications from small and medium-sized institutions that have not previously received NEH support.
Digital Humanities Implementation Grants	2/17/15	http://www.neh.gov/grants/odh/digital-humanities-implementation-grants	This program is designed to fund the implementation of innovative digital-humanities projects that have successfully completed a start-up phase and demonstrated their value to the field. Such projects might enhance our understanding of central problems in the humanities, raise new questions in the humanities, or develop new digital applications and approaches for use in the humanities. The program can support innovative digital-humanities projects that address multiple audiences, including scholars, teachers, librarians, and the public. Applications from recipients of NEH’s Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants are welcome. Unlike NEH’s start-up grant program, which emphasizes basic research, prototyping, experimentation, and potential impact, the Digital Humanities Implementation Grants program seeks to identify projects that have successfully completed their start-up phase and are well positioned to have a major impact. Proposals are welcome for digital initiatives in any area of the humanities. Digital Humanities Implementation Grants may involve research that brings new approaches or documents best practices in the study of the digital humanities; implementation of computationally-based methods or techniques for humanities research; implementation of new digital tools for use in humanities research, public programming, or educational settings; efforts to ensure the completion and long-term sustainability of existing digital resources (typically in conjunction with a library or archive); scholarship that examines the history, criticism, and philosophy of digital culture and its impact on society; scholarship or studies that examine the philosophical or practical implications of the use of emerging technologies in specific fields or disciplines of the humanities, or in interdisciplinary collaborations involving several fields or disciplines; or implementation of new digital modes of scholarly communication that facilitate peer review, collaboration, or the dissemination of humanities scholarship for various audiences.
Digital Humanities Start-up Grants	9/16/15	http://www.neh.gov/grants/odh/digital-humanities-start-grants	The Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants program awards relatively small grants to support the planning stages of digital projects that promise to benefit the humanities. The program supports both new projects in early stages of development and efforts to reinvigorate existing or dormant projects in innovative ways. Proposals should be for the planning or initial stages of digital initiatives in any area of the humanities. Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants may involve creating or enhancing experimental, computationally-based methods or techniques for humanities research, teaching, preservation, or public programming; pursuing scholarship that examines the history, criticism, and philosophy of digital culture and its impact on society, or explores the philosophical or practical implications and impact of digital humanities in specific fields or disciplines; or revitalizing and/or recovering existing digital projects that promise to contribute substantively to scholarship, teaching, or public knowledge of the humanities. Experimentation, reuse, and extensibility are hallmarks of this grant category, which incorporates the “high risk/high reward” paradigm often used by funding agencies in the sciences. NEH is requesting proposals for projects that take some risks in the pursuit of innovation and excellence. Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants should result in plans, prototypes, or proofs of concept for long-term digital humanities projects prior to implementation. They can also be used to revitalize or recover projects in innovative ways that will allow greater access, reuse, and extensibility.
Digital Projects for the Public	6/8/16	http://www.neh.gov/grants/public/digital-projects-the-public	Digital Projects for the Public grants support projects that significantly contribute to the public’s engagement with the humanities. Digital platforms—such as websites, mobile applications and tours, interactive touch screens and kiosks, games, and virtual environments—can reach diverse audiences and bring the humanities to life for the American people. The program offers three levels of support for digital projects: grants for Discovery projects (early-stage planning work), Prototyping projects (proof-of-concept development work), and Production projects (end-stage production and distribution work). While projects can take many forms, shapes, and sizes, your request should be for an exclusively digital project or for a digital component of a larger project. All Digital Projects for the Public projects should deepen public understanding of significant humanities stories and ideas; incorporate sound humanities scholarship; involve humanities scholars in all phases of development and production; include appropriate digital media professionals; reach a broad public through a realistic plan for development, marketing, and distribution; create appealing digital formats for the general public; and demonstrate the capacity to sustain themselves. All projects should also demonstrate the potential to attract a broad, general, nonspecialist audience, either online or in person at venues such as museums, libraries or other cultural institutions. Applicants may choose to identify particular communities and groups, including students, to whom a project may have particular appeal.
Documenting Endangered Languages	9/15/15	http://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/documenting-endangered-languages	The Documenting Endangered Languages (DEL) program is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop and advance knowledge concerning endangered human languages. Made urgent by the imminent death of an estimated half of the 6000-7000 currently used languages, this effort aims also to exploit advances in information technology. Awards support fieldwork and other activities relevant to recording, documenting, and archiving endangered languages, including the preparation of lexicons, grammars, text samples, and databases. DEL funding is available in the form of one- to three-year project grants as well as fellowships for six to twelve months. At least half the available funding will be awarded to projects involving fieldwork. All DEL applications are submitted to NSF for review. Upon completion of the review process, the administration of awards is conducted separately by NEH or NSF. Application materials are available on the National Science Foundation's website.
Enduring Questions	9/10/15	http://www.neh.gov/grants/education/enduring-questions	The NEH Enduring Questions grant program supports faculty members in the preparation of a new course on a fundamental concern of human life as addressed by the humanities. This question-driven course would encourage undergraduates and teachers to join together in a deep and sustained program of reading in order to encounter influential ideas, works, and thinkers over the centuries. What is an enduring question? The following list is neither prescriptive nor exhaustive but serves to illustrate. Are there universals in human nature? What is the source of moral authority? What is evil? Can war be just? Is peace possible? What is worth dying for? What is the value of education? Can greed be good? What is good government? What is progress? Am I my brother’s keeper? Enduring questions persist across historical eras, regions, and world cultures. They inform intellectual, ethical, artistic, and religious traditions and engage thoughtful people from all walks of life. They transcend time and place but are also relevant to our lives today. Enduring questions have more than one plausible or compelling answer, allow for dialogue across generations, and inspire genuine intellectual pluralism. The course is to be developed by one or more (up to four) faculty members at a single institution, but not team taught. Enduring Questions courses must be taught from a common syllabus and must be offered during the grant period at least twice by each faculty member involved in developing the course. The grant supports the work of faculty members in designing, preparing, and assessing the new course. It may also be used for ancillary activities that enhance faculty-student intellectual community, such as visits to museums and artistic or cultural events. An Enduring Questions course may be taught by faculty from any department or discipline in the humanities or by faculty outside the humanities (for example, astronomy, biology, economics, law, mathematics, medicine, or psychology), so long as humanities sources are central to the course.
Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan	4/28/16	http://www.neh.gov/grants/research/fellowships-advanced-social-science-research-japan	The Fellowship Program for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan is a joint activity of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission (JUSFC) and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Awards support research on modern Japanese society and political economy, Japan's international relations, and U.S.-Japan relations. The program encourages innovative research that puts these subjects in wider regional and global contexts and is comparative and contemporary in nature. Research should contribute to scholarly knowledge or to the general public’s understanding of issues of concern to Japan and the United States. Appropriate disciplines for the research include anthropology, economics, geography, history, international relations, linguistics, political science, psychology, public administration, and sociology. Awards usually result in articles, monographs, books, digital materials, archaeological site reports, translations, editions, or other scholarly resources. The fellowships are designed for researchers with advanced language skills whose research will require use of data, sources, and documents in their original languages or whose research requires interviews onsite in direct one-on-one contact. Fellows may undertake their projects in Japan, the United States, or both, and may include work in other countries for comparative purposes. Projects may be at any stage of development.
Humanities Collections and Reference Resources	7/19/16	http://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/humanities-collections-and-reference-resources	The Humanities Collections and Reference Resources (HCRR) program supports projects that provide an essential underpinning for scholarship, education, and public programming in the humanities. Thousands of libraries, archives, museums, and historical organizations across the country maintain important collections of books and manuscripts, photographs, sound recordings and moving images, archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, art and material culture, and digital objects. Funding from this program strengthens efforts to extend the life of such materials and make their intellectual content widely accessible, often through the use of digital technology. Awards are also made to create various reference resources that facilitate use of cultural materials, from works that provide basic information quickly to tools that synthesize and codify knowledge of a subject for in-depth investigation. HCRR offers two kinds of awards: 1) for implementation and 2) for planning, assessment, and pilot efforts (HCRR Foundations grants).
Institutes for Advanced Topics in Digital Humanities	3/15/16	http://www.neh.gov/grants/odh/institutes-advanced-topics-in-the-digital-humanities	These NEH grants support national or regional (multi-state) training programs for scholars and advanced graduate students to broaden and extend their knowledge of digital humanities. Through these programs, NEH seeks to increase the number of humanities scholars using digital technology in their research and to broadly disseminate knowledge about advanced technology tools and methodologies relevant to the humanities. The projects may be a single opportunity or offered multiple times to different audiences. Institutes may be as short as a few days and held at multiple locations or as long as six weeks at a single site. For example, training opportunities could be offered before or after regularly occurring scholarly meetings, during the summer months, or during appropriate times of the academic year. The duration of a program should allow for full and thorough treatment of the topic. Today, complex data—its form, manipulation, and interpretation—are as important to humanities study as more traditional research materials. Datasets, for example, may represent digitized historical records, high-quality image data, or even multimedia collections, all of which are increasing in number due to the availability and affordability of mass data storage devices and international initiatives to create digital content. Moreover, extensive networking capabilities, sophisticated analytical tools, and new collaboration platforms are simultaneously providing and improving interactive access to and analysis of these data as well as a multitude of other resources. The Institutes for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities program seeks to enable humanities scholars in the United States to incorporate advances like these into their scholarship and teaching.
Landmarks of American History and Culture: Workshops for School Teachers	2/25/16	http://www.neh.gov/grants/education/landmarks-american-history-and-culture-workshops-school-teachers	The Landmarks of American History and Culture program supports a series of one-week residence-based workshops for a national audience of K-12 educators. NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops use historic sites to address central themes and issues in American history, government, literature, art, music, and related subjects in the humanities. Each workshop is offered twice during the summer. Workshops accommodate thirty-six school teachers (NEH Summer Scholars) at each one-week session. The goals of the workshops are to increase knowledge and appreciation of subjects, ideas, and places significant to American history and culture through humanities reading and site study; build communities of inquiry and provide models of civility and of excellent scholarship and teaching; provide teachers with expertise in the use and interpretation of historical sites and of material and archival resources; and foster interaction between K-12 educators and scholarly experts. NEH Landmarks Workshops are academically rigorous and focus on key primary sources and scholarly works relevant to major themes of American history and culture. Leading scholars should serve as lecturers or seminar leaders. Workshops should also enable participants to work with primary documents and develop a project. NEH Landmarks Workshops are held at or near sites important to American history and culture, such as presidential residences or libraries; colonial-era settlements; major battlefields; historic districts; parks and preserves; sites of key economic, social, political, and constitutional developments; and places associated with major writers, artists, and musicians. Applicants should make a compelling case for the historical significance of the site(s), the material resources available for use, and the ways in which the site(s) will enhance the workshop. NEH Landmarks Workshops may be hosted by institutions or organizations such as community colleges, universities, four-year colleges, learned societies, libraries or other repositories, centers for advanced study, cultural organizations, professional associations, and schools or school systems. NEH expects host institutions to provide facilities conducive to scholarly engagement with topics and sites. Host institutions should arrange suitable housing for participants, which participants pay for from stipends provided by NEH.
Preservation and Access Education and Training	5/3/16	http://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/preservation-and-access-education-and-training	The Preservation and Access Education and Training program is central to NEH’s efforts to preserve and establish access to cultural heritage collections. Thousands of libraries, archives, museums, and historical organizations across the country maintain important collections of books and manuscripts, photographs, sound recordings and moving images, archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, art and material culture collections, electronic records, and digital objects. The challenge of preserving and making accessible such large and diverse holdings is enormous, and the need for knowledgeable staff is significant and ongoing. Preservation and Access Education and Training grants are awarded to organizations that offer national or regional (multi-state) education and training programs. Grants aim to help the staff of cultural institutions, large and small, obtain the knowledge and skills needed to serve as effective stewards of humanities collections. Grants also support educational programs that prepare the next generation of conservators and preservation professionals, as well as projects that introduce the staff of cultural institutions to new information and advances in preservation and access practices.
Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions	5/3/16	http://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/preservation-assistance-grants-smaller-institutions	Preservation Assistance Grants help small and mid-sized institutions—such as libraries, museums, historical societies, archival repositories, cultural organizations, town and county records offices, and colleges and universities—improve their ability to preserve and care for their significant humanities collections. These may include special collections of books and journals, archives and manuscripts, prints and photographs, moving images, sound recordings, architectural and cartographic records, decorative and fine art objects, textiles, archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, furniture, historical objects, and digital materials. Applicants must draw on the knowledge of consultants whose preservation skills and experience are related to the types of collections and the nature of the activities on which their projects focus. Within the conservation field, for example, conservators usually specialize in the care of specific types of collections, such as objects, paper, or paintings. Applicants should therefore choose a conservator whose specialty is appropriate for the nature of their collections. Similarly, when assessing the preservation needs of library, museum, or archival holdings, applicants must seek a consultant specifically knowledgeable about the preservation of these types of collections. The program encourages applications from small and mid-sized institutions that have never received an NEH grant. The program also encourages applications from presidentially designated institutions (Hispanic-serving institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Tribal Colleges and Universities), and from Native American tribes with significant humanities collections.
Research and Development	6/21/16	http://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/research-and-development	The Research and Development program supports projects that address major challenges in preserving or providing access to humanities collections and resources. These challenges include the need to find better ways to preserve materials of critical importance to the nation’s cultural heritage—from fragile artifacts and manuscripts to analog recordings and digital assets subject to technological obsolescence—and to develop advanced modes of organizing, searching, discovering, and using such materials. This program recognizes that finding solutions to complex problems often requires forming interdisciplinary project teams, bringing together participants with expertise in the humanities; in preservation; and in information, computer, and natural science. All projects must demonstrate how advances in preservation and access would benefit the cultural heritage community in supporting humanities research, teaching, or public programming.
Scholarly Editions and Translations Grants	12/9/15	http://www.neh.gov/grants/research/scholarly-editions-and-translations-grants	Scholarly Editions and Translations grants support the preparation of editions and translations of pre-existing texts and documents of value to the humanities that are currently inaccessible or available in inadequate editions. Typically, the texts and documents are significant literary, philosophical, and historical materials; but other types of work, such as musical notation, are also eligible. Projects must be undertaken by a team of at least one editor or translator and one other staff member. These grants support full-time or part-time activities for periods of one to three years. Applicants should demonstrate familiarity with the best practices recommended by the Association for Documentary Editing or the Modern Language Association Committee on Scholarly Editions. Translation projects should also explain the approach adopted for the particular work to be translated. Editions and translations produced with NEH support contain scholarly and critical apparatus appropriate to the subject matter and format of the edition. This usually means introductions and annotations that provide essential information about the form, transmission, and historical and intellectual context of the texts and documents involved. Proposals for editions of foreign language materials in the original language are eligible for funding, as well as proposals for editions of translated materials.
Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections	12/1/15	http://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/sustaining-cultural-heritage-collections	Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections (SCHC) helps cultural institutions meet the complex challenge of preserving large and diverse holdings of humanities materials for future generations by supporting sustainable conservation measures that mitigate deterioration and prolong the useful life of collections. Libraries, archives, museums, and historical organizations across the country face an enormous challenge: to preserve collections that facilitate research, strengthen teaching, and provide opportunities for life-long learning in the humanities. Ensuring the preservation of books and manuscripts, photographs, sound recordings and moving images, archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, art, and historical objects requires institutions to implement measures that slow deterioration and prevent catastrophic loss. This work is best accomplished through preventive conservation, which encompasses managing relative humidity, temperature, light, and pollutants in collection spaces; providing protective storage enclosures and systems for collections; and safeguarding collections from theft and from natural and man-made disasters. As museums, libraries, archives, and other collecting institutions strive to be effective stewards of humanities collections, they must find ways to implement preventive conservation measures that are sustainable. This program therefore helps cultural repositories plan and implement preservation strategies that pragmatically balance effectiveness, cost, and environmental impact. Sustainable approaches to preservation can contribute to an institution’s financial health, reduce its use of fossil fuels, and benefit its green initiatives, while ensuring that collections are well cared for and available for use in humanities programming, education, and research. All applicants, whether applying for planning or implementation projects, are required to focus on sustainable preventive conservation strategies.