NEH Summer Seminars and Institutes for
College and University Teachers

Application Information and Instructions

Summer Seminars 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 director's invitation and consider carefully what is expected in by way of residence and attendance, reading and writing requirements, and general participation in the work of the seminar.

Seminars include 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.

Eligibility

Seminars 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 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. Foreign nationals teaching abroad at non-U.S. chartered institutions are not eligible to apply.

Applicants must complete the NEH application cover sheet and provide all the information requested below to be considered eligible. Candidates for degrees are eligible to apply only 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 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. An individual may apply to no more than two projects in any one year.

Selection Criteria

A selection committee will read and evaluate all properly completed applications to ensure selection of the most promising applicants and to identify a small number of alternates. The selection committee includes the seminar director and two colleagues, one here at Washington University, one a former seminar participant. 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 (2006, 2007, or 2008). Recent participation in NEH’s Landmarks of American History 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;
  3. special perspectives, skills, or experiences that would contribute to the seminar;
  4. commitment to participate fully in the formal and informal collegial life of the seminar;
  5. the likelihood that the experience would enhance the applicant’s teaching and scholarship; and
  6. 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.

Stipend, Tenure, and Conditions of Award

Individuals selected to participate in the seminar will receive a stipend of $4,400. Stipends are intended to help cover travel expenses to and from the seminar location, books and other research expenses, and living expenses for the duration of the period spent in residence. Stipends are taxable. Applicants should note that supplements will not be given in cases where the stipend is insufficient to cover all expenses.

Seminar participants are required to attend all meetings and to engage fully in the work of the seminar. During the six-week seminar period, they may not undertake teaching assignments or any other professional activities unrelated to their participation in the seminar. Participants who, for any reason, do not complete the full tenure of the seminar must refund a pro-rata portion of the stipend.

At the end of the seminar’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 become part of the project’s grant file and may become part of an application to repeat the seminar.

Application Instructions

A detailed account of the seminar can be found in the director’s invitation. This includes information about the topic under study; seminar requirements and expectations of the participants; the academic and institutional setting; and specific provisions for lodging, subsistence, and extracurricular activities. All application materials should be sent to the seminar director at the address on the contacts page. Applications may be submitted electronically (see below). Application materials sent to the Endowment will not be reviewed.

Checklist of Application Materials

Unless submitted electronically, a completed application consists of three copies of the following collated items:

An application must, unless submitted electronically, include two (sealed) letters of recommendation as described below.

Application Cover Sheet

An application cover sheet must be completed online at the NEH website. When you are finished, be sure to click on the submit button. Print 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 the cover sheet for that project. Note that filling out a cover sheet is not the same as applying; 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 and sent to the director.

CV

Please include a detailed CV (not to exceed five pages).

Application Essay

The application essay should be no more than four double-spaced pages. The essay should include relevant personal and academic information, and address reasons for applying: the applicant’s interest—academic and personal—in the subject to be studied; qualifications and experiences that equip the applicant to do the work of the seminar and to make a contribution to the seminar community; a statement of what the applicant wants to accomplish by participating; and the relation of the project to the applicant’s professional responsibilities. The essay should include an account of the independent study project the applicant intends to pursue in addition to the common work of the seminar.

Reference Letters

The two referees should be chosen carefully. Referees should be familiar with the applicant’s professional accomplishments or promise, interests, and ability to contribute to and benefit from seminar participation. 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 familiar with the applicant’s scholarship are typically more useful than letters from college or university administrators. Referees should be directed to the description the seminar (or a printed version of that description) and provided with a copy of 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. If you plan to mail your application, please ask your referees to sign their name across the seal on the back of the envelopes containing their letters and send them to you. Enclose the letters with your application. If you submit your application electronically, referees may send electronic versions of their letters to neh09@wustl.edu or mail them to the address on the contacts page.

Submission of Applications and Notification Procedure

Completed applications should be submitted to the project director and must be postmarked (if mailed) or dispatched (if submitted electronically) no later than 2nd March 2009.

Successful applicants will be notified of their selection on 1st April 2009, and will have until 15th April to accept or decline the offer. Applicants who will not be home during the notification period are advised to provide an address, an e-mail address, and telephone number where they can be reached. Information on the status of applications will not 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, 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20506. TDD: 202 606 8282 (this is a special telephone device for the Deaf).