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APPLICATION
INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS
Summer Seminars and Institutes for College and
University Teachers are offered by the National Endowment for the Humanities to
provide college and university faculty members and independent scholars with an
opportunity to enrich and revitalize their understanding of significant
humanities ideas, texts, and topics. These study opportunities are especially designed for this program and
are not intended to duplicate courses normally offered by graduate programs,
nor will graduate credit be given for them. Prior to completing an application, please review the enclosed letter
from the project director (or letter downloaded from the director's website, if
available) and consider carefully what is expected in terms of residence and
attendance, reading and writing requirements, and general participation in the
work of the project.
Each seminar
includes 15 participants working in collaboration with one or two leading
scholars. Participants will have access
to a major library collection, with time reserved to pursue individual research
and study projects. Institutes provide intensive collaborative study of texts, topics,
and ideas central to undergraduate teaching in the humanities under the
guidance of faculties distinguished in their fields of scholarship. Institutes aim to prepare participants to
return to their classrooms with a deeper knowledge of current scholarship in
key fields of the humanities. Please note: The use of the words "seminar" or "institute" in this document is
precise and is intended to convey differences between the two project types.
ELIGIBILITY
These projects are designed primarily for teachers
of American undergraduate students. Qualified independent scholars and those employed by museums, libraries,
historical societies, and other organizations may be eligible to compete
provided they can effectively advance the teaching and research goals of the
seminar or institute. Applicants must be
Applicants must complete the
NEH application cover sheet and provide all of the information requested below
to be considered eligible. Candidates
for degrees are only eligible to apply if they are employed by an institution
other than the one at which they are degree candidates and if their
participation is intended to enhance their teaching of American
undergraduates. Degree candidates can
never use their participation in an NEH seminar or institute to meet a degree
requirement, including work on masters' theses or doctoral dissertations. An applicant need not have an advanced degree
in order to qualify. Adjunct and part-time lecturers are eligible to
apply. Individuals may not apply to
study with a director of a seminar or institute who is a current colleague or a
family member. Individuals must not
apply to seminars directed by scholars with whom they have previously studied. Institute selection committees are advised
that only under the most compelling and exceptional circumstances may an
individual participate in an institute with a director or a lead faculty member
who has previously guided that individual’s research or in whose previous
institute or seminar he or she has participated. An individual may apply to no more than two projects in any one
year.
A selection committee reads
and evaluates all properly completed applications in order to select the most
promising applicants and to identify a small number of alternates. (Seminar selection committees consist of the
project director and two colleagues. Institute selection committees consist of three to five members, usually
drawn from the institute faculty and staff members.) While recent participants are eligible to
apply, selection committees are charged to give first consideration to
applicants who have not participated in an NEH-supported seminar or institute
in the last three years (2004, 2005, 2006). Recent participation in NEH’s Landmarks of American History and Culture Program
does not negatively affect eligibility or competitiveness.
The most important consideration in the selection of
participants is the likelihood that an applicant will benefit
professionally. This is determined by
committee members from the conjunction of several factors, each of which should
be addressed in the application essay. These factors include:
1. quality and commitment as a teacher, scholar,
and interpreter of the humanities;
2. intellectual interests, both generally and as
they relate to the work of the seminar or institute;
3. special perspectives, skills, or experiences
that would contribute to the seminar or institute;
4. commitment to participate fully in the formal
and informal collegial life of the seminar or institute;
5. the likelihood that the experience will
enhance the applicant's teaching and scholarship; and
6. for
seminars, the conception and organization of the applicant's independent
project and its
potential contribution to
the seminar.
When choices must be made
among equally qualified candidates, several additional factors are
considered: Preference is given to applicants who have not previously participated
in an NEH seminar or institute, or who would significantly contribute to the diversity
of the seminar or institute.
STIPEND, TENURE, AND CONDITIONS OF AWARD
Individuals selected to
participate in six-week long projects will receive a stipend of $4,200; those
in five-week projects will receive $3,600; those in four-week projects will
receive $3,000; those in three-week projects will receive $2,400; and those in
two-week projects will receive $1,800. Stipends
are intended to help cover travel expenses to and from the project location,
books and other research expenses, and living expenses for the duration of the
period spent in residence. Stipends are
taxable. Applicants to all projects,
especially those held abroad, should note that supplements will not be given in
cases where the stipend is insufficient to cover all expenses.
Seminar and institute
participants are required to attend all meetings and to engage fully in the
work of the project. During the
project's tenure, they may not undertake teaching assignments or any other
professional activities unrelated to their participation in the project. Participants who, for any reason, do not
complete the full tenure of the project must refund a pro-rata portion of the
stipend.
At the end of the project's
residential period, participants will be asked to submit on-line evaluations in
which they review their work during the summer and assess its value to their
personal and professional development. These
evaluations will become part of the project's grant file and may become part of
an application to repeat the seminar or institute.
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
This application packet
should accompany a letter from the project director that contains detailed
information about the topic under study; project requirements and expectations
of the participants; the academic and institutional setting; and specific
provisions for lodging, subsistence, and extracurricular activities. If you do not have such a letter, please
request one from the director of the project in which you are interested before
you attempt to compete and submit an application. In some cases, directors have websites for
their projects and the information letter may be downloaded from their
website. All application materials should be sent to the project director. Sending application materials to the
Endowment will result in delay.
CHECKLIST OF APPLICATION MATERIALS
A
completed application consists of three copies of the following collated items:
- the completed application cover sheet,
- a detailed resume, and
- an application essay as outlined below.
In
addition, it must include two letters of recommendation as described below.
The application cover sheet
must be filled out on line at this address:
<http://www.neh.gov/online/education/participants/> Please fill it
out on line as directed by the prompts. When
you are finished, be sure to click on the "submit" button. Print out the cover sheet and add it to your
application package. At this point you
will be asked if you want to apply to another project. If you do, follow the prompts and select
another project and then print out the cover sheet for that project. Note that filling out a cover sheet is not
the same as applying, so there is no penalty for changing your mind and filling
out cover sheets for several projects. A
full application consists of the items listed above, as sent to a project
director.
Resume
Please include a detailed
resume (not to exceed five pages).
The application essay should
be no more than four double spaced pages. This essay should include any relevant personal and academic
information. It should address reasons
for applying; the applicant's interest, both academic and personal, in the
subject to be studied; qualifications and experiences that equip the applicant
to do the work of the seminar or institute and to make a contribution to a
learning community; a statement of what the applicant wants to accomplish by
participating; and the relation of the project to the applicant's professional
responsibilities. Applicants to seminars
should be sure to discuss any independent study project that is proposed beyond
the common work of the seminar. Applicants to institutes may need to elaborate on the relationship
between institute activities and their responsibilities for teaching and
curricular development.
Reference Letters
The two referees should be
chosen carefully. They should be
familiar with the applicant's professional accomplishments or promise,
interests, and ability to contribute to and benefit from participation in the
seminar or institute. They should
specifically address these issues in their recommendations. Letters from colleagues who know the
applicant's teaching and from those outside the applicant's institution who
know his or her scholarship are often more useful than letters from college or
university administrators. Referees should
be provided with the director's description of the seminar or institute and the
applicant's essay. If an applicant has previously
participated in an NEH summer seminar or institute, a recommendation from the
director or lead scholar of that program would be useful. Please ask each of your
referees to sign their name across the back of the sealed envelope containing
their letter, and enclose the letters with your application.
Completed applications
should be submitted to the project
director and should be postmarked
no later than March 1, 2007.
Successful applicants will
be notified of their selection on April 2, 2007, and they will have until April
15 to accept or decline the offer. Applicants who will not be home during the notification period are
advised to provide an address and phone number where they can be reached. No information on the status of applications
will be available prior to the official notification period.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT
Endowment programs do not discriminate on the basis of
race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age. For further information, write to the Equal
Opportunity Officer, National Endowment for the Humanities,