Applications
Summer 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 their understanding of significant ideas, texts, and topics in the humanities. In 2010, for the first time, we will receive applications from current full-time graduate students in the humanities. Institutes focus on an intensive study of texts, topics, and ideas central to undergraduate teaching in the humanities under the guidance of faculties distinguished in their fields of scholarship. They aim to prepare participants to return to their classrooms with a deeper knowledge of current scholarship in key fields of the humanities.
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 institute. Also this year, we will receive applications from current full-time graduate students in the humanities. Two places have been set aside for competitive applications from graduate students. We recommend that graduate student applicants have completed all coursework for the doctorate.
Applicants must be United States citizens, residents of U.S. jurisdictions, or foreign nationals who have been residing in the United States or its territories for at least the three years immediately preceding the application deadline.
Applicants must complete the NEH application cover sheet and provide all of the information requested below to be considered eligible. 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 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 guided that individual’s research or in whose previous institute or seminar he or she has participated. An individual may apply to up to three projects in any one year (seminars, institutes or Landmarks workshops), but may participate in only one.
Selection Criteria
A selection committee will evaluate all complete applications in order to select the most promising applicants and to identify a small number of alternates. The Institute selection committee consists of the project director and two colleagues. 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.
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 an application essay of no more than 3-4 pages. These factors include:
- quality and commitment as a teacher, scholar, and interpreter of the humanities;
- intellectual interests, both generally and as they relate to the work of the institute;
- special perspectives, skills, or experiences that would contribute to the institute;
- commitment to participate fully in the formal and informal collegial life of the institute;
- and the likelihood that the experience will enhance the applicant's teaching and scholarship
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, institute, or Landmarks workshop, or who significantly contribute to the diversity of the seminar or institute. 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.
Stipend, Tenure, and Conditions of Award
Individuals selected to participate in five-week projects will receive $3,900. Stipends are intended to help defray 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. 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. Institute participants may wish to apply their home institutions for additional travel funds, to help with the expense of travel to England.
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 evaluations in which they review their work during the summer and assess its value to their personal and professional development. Special forms for this report will be distributed by each project director. Completed forms should be returned directly to the Endowment. They will become part of the project's grant file and may become part of an application to repeat the institute.
Application Instructions
Before completing an application, please read the “Dear Colleague Letter” from the project director that contains information about the topic under study, and project requirements and expectations of the participants. Information pertaining to the academic and institutional setting, specific provisions for lodging, subsistence, and extracurricular activities, will be found there and above on this web site. If you cannot open this letter, please request a copy from the director before you attempt to compete and submit an application. All application materials must be sent to the project director. Application materials sent to the Endowment will not be reviewed.
Although hard-copy applications will be accepted, we recommend that you submit all materials electronically as e-mail attachments to the project director at Irven-Resnick@utc.edu. It is not necessary to send a copy of your completed cover sheet, since the director can access these online at NEH. You should send the following items:
a detailed résumé (not to exceed 5 pages) and an application essay as outlined below. Please send these either as MS Word or PDF documents. In addition, please ask your two referees to send their letters of recommendation as scanned PDF documents (showing their signature). If this is not possible, they can FAX these letters to (423) 425-4153, or send them by mail to the project director at:
Professor Irven M. Resnick
Department of Philosophy and Religion (Dept. #2753)
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
615 McCallie Ave.
Chattanooga, TN 37403-2598
(423) 425-4446 (voice); (423) 425-4153 (FAX)
Checklist of Application Materials:
If you elect to send your materials by mail, the following items will constitute a completed application to the summer institute:
- three copies of the completed application cover sheet,
- three copies of a detailed résumé (not to exceed 5 pages),
- three copies of an application essay as outlined below, and
- two letters of recommendation (sent separately).
The Application Essay:
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 institutes may need to elaborate on the relationship between institute activities and their responsibilities for teaching and curricular development.
Reference Letters:
The two referees may be from inside or outside the applicant’s home institution. They should be familiar with the applicant's professional accomplishments or promise, teaching and/or research interests, and ability to contribute to and benefit from participation in the seminar or institute. Referees should be provided with the director's description of the seminar or institute and the applicant's essay. Applicants who are current graduate students should secure a letter from a professor or advisor.
Submission of Applications and Notification of Award
Completed applications should be submitted to the project director via e-mail or, if submitted in hard copy, postmarked no later than March 2, 2010. Successful applicants will be notified of their selection by April 1, 2010, and they will have until April 5 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,
Application Cover Sheet
The application cover sheet will be available after 1 November and 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.
