Summer Seminars and Institutes | 20180222 FS

Opportunity Information: Apply for 20180222 FS

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Summer Seminars and Institutes program is a discretionary grant opportunity that supports high-quality, short-term professional development in the humanities for a national audience of educators. The central goal is to broaden and deepen humanities understanding by funding one- to four-week programs where participants, known as NEH Summer Scholars, engage closely with important humanities topics that connect directly to K-12 or undergraduate teaching. These programs are meant to strengthen both scholarship and classroom practice by giving educators time, structure, and expert guidance to study significant texts and other humanities resources in a sustained and intensive setting.

At its core, the opportunity is designed to do several things at once: encourage deep study of major works and sources, showcase models of excellent humanities scholarship and teaching, support the intellectual growth of participating educators, and help create lasting professional networks and communities of inquiry that continue beyond the summer program. NEH-funded seminars and institutes are expected to be rigorous and content-rich, with a strong emphasis on discussion, interpretation, pedagogy, and the relationship between current humanities scholarship and effective teaching.

Projects can be hosted by a wide range of U.S.-based organizations that can provide an appropriate scholarly environment. Eligible host sites include colleges and universities, learned societies, centers for advanced study, libraries and other repositories, cultural or professional organizations, and even schools or school systems. Regardless of the type of host, the site must offer suitable facilities for collegial interaction and serious study, since a major feature of the program is the sustained exchange among participants and faculty. All supported activities must take place in the United States or its territories.

The program offers two main formats, and applicants must design their project as either a Seminar or an Institute. A Summer Seminar is intentionally small and highly focused: it typically brings together sixteen participants who work closely with one or two established scholars. Seminars generally have few, if any, visiting faculty, because the structure is built around sustained interaction with the director(s) and consistent engagement with common readings, group discussion, teaching-focused conversation, and guidance on participants independent projects. The seminar format is meant to be intimate, discussion-driven, and highly interactive.

A Summer Institute is larger and is built around a broader team of experts and perspectives. Institutes typically enroll about twenty-five to thirty-six participants and are led by multiple scholarly faculty who present a range of approaches to a humanities theme. The institute format is still intensive, but it is designed to expose participants to multiple viewpoints and methods while helping them make connections between scholarship on the topic and the practical realities of teaching it. Institutes emphasize the shared exploration of content and pedagogy in a cohort setting, often with a richer mix of lectures, discussions, workshops, and collaborative learning.

Programs are designed for one of two distinct audiences: either K-12 educators or college and university faculty. For proposals serving K-12 educators, NEH places an added requirement on project design and leadership: someone with substantial K-12 experience must be meaningfully involved in both planning and implementation, and the program must clearly address K-12 curricular needs. This reflects the expectation that the content and teaching strategies will be appropriate and directly useful for the classroom contexts participants work in.

In terms of administrative details from the opportunity listing, the funding opportunity title is Summer Seminars and Institutes, with funding opportunity number 20180222 FS. The activity category is Humanities, and the CFDA number is 45.163. The award ceiling is listed as $200,000. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township, and special district governments; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; and nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education). The agency is the National Endowment for the Humanities. The original closing date shown is February 22, 2018, and the posting record indicates a creation date of December 22, 2017.

• The National Endowment for the Humanities in the humanities sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Summer Seminars and Institutes" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 45.163.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-12-22.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-02-22. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $200,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

Apply for 20180222 FS

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