New NEH grant program aims to provide substantive humanities experiences for students in all academic fields.
Program Description
Humanities Connections grants seek to expand the role of the humanities in the undergraduate curriculum at two- and four-year institutions, offering students in all academic fields new opportunities to develop the intellectual skills and habits of mind that the humanities cultivate. Grant projects focus on connecting the resources and perspectives of the humanities to students’ broader educational and professional goals, regardless of their path of study. Through this new grant program, NEH invites proposals that reflect innovative and imaginative approaches to preparing students for their roles as engaged citizens and productive professionals in a rapidly changing and interdependent world.
Grants support the development and implementation of an integrated set of courses and student engagement activities focusing on significant humanities content. A common topic, theme, or compelling issue or question must link the courses and activities. The linked courses (a minimum of three) may fulfill general education or core curriculum requirements but could also be designed primarily for students in a particular major or course of study. The Humanities Connections program gives special encouragement to projects that foster collaboration between humanities faculty and their counterparts in the social and natural sciences and pre-service or professional programs in business, engineering, health sciences, law, computer science, and other non-humanities fields.
Humanities Connections projects have two core features:
- faculty from at least two separate departments or schools at a single institution must collaborate to devise new curricular arrangements; and
- projects must include provisions for high-impact student engagement activities that relate directly to the topic(s) of the linked courses. These activities could include individual or collaborative undergraduate research projects; opportunities for civic engagement; or a structured experience with community-based, project-based, or site-based learning. Community organizations and cultural institutions can play key roles in this regard.
Awardees may use grant funds to engage faculty in joint study, bring in outside experts, organize seminars on substantive issues, and bring relevant parties together to plan the student engagement activities.
NEH Humanities Connections grants must
- support collaborative teams of faculty members from two or more departments or disciplines, at least one of which must be within the humanities;
- result in a coherent set of at least three new or substantially revised undergraduate courses;
- integrate the subject matter and perspectives of multiple disciplines, either within the humanities or (more broadly) with fields outside the humanities;
- and encourage student engagement through structured opportunities for undergraduate research or experiential learning.
Grantees may not use Humanities Connections funding for
- the development of courses for a graduate degree or non-degree program;
- textbook research or revision;
- promotion of a particular political, religious, or ideological point of view;
- advocacy for social action;
- or projects focused primarily on the creation or performance of art.
NEH funding can support the incorporation of creative writing and the performing or visual arts, so long as they complement the interpretive focus of the project.
Award Information
Successful applicants to the Humanities Connections program will receive grants of up to $100,000. The grant period is between eighteen and thirty-six months and must start no later than September 2017.
Eligibility
This program accepts applications from any U.S. two- or four-year college or university with IRS tax-exempt status, including community colleges, four-year public and private colleges and universities, liberal arts colleges, research universities, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions. Individuals are not eligible to apply.
Collaboration with other organizations is welcome, but the project director must be from the applicant institution.
NEH generally does not award grants to other federal entities or to applicants whose projects are so closely intertwined with a federal entity that the project takes on characteristics of the federal entity’s own authorized activities. This does not preclude applicants from using grant funds from, or sites and materials controlled by, other federal entities in their projects. NEH will not review applications that are late, incomplete, or ineligible.
Application and Submission Information
Applicants are encouraged to contact program officers, who can offer advice about developing proposals. Program officers can also respond to draft proposals (optional), submitted no later than September 6, 2016, to humanitiesconnections@neh.gov. The program may not be able to respond to late-arriving drafts.
Although staff comments and responses to draft proposals are not part of the formal review process and have no bearing on the final outcome of the proposal, previous applicants have found them helpful in strengthening their applications.
Please consult the documents on the program resource page, such as the sample budget. Once an applicant formally submits an application, NEH will not comment on its status except with respect to issues of completeness and eligibility.
How to Submit Your Application
You must submit the application to Grants.gov. Links to the Grants.gov application package and instructions for preparing and submitting the package can be found on the program resource page. Be sure to read the document (PDF) that explains how to confirm that you successfully submitted your application.
Deadlines
Draft proposals (optional): Program staff recommends that draft proposals be submitted by September 6, 2016. Time constraints may prevent staff from reviewing draft proposals submitted after this date. Staff comments in response to draft proposals are not part of the formal review process and have no bearing on the final outcome of the proposal, but previous applicants have found them helpful in strengthening their applications. Drafts should be submitted to humanitiesconnections@neh.gov.
Applications must be received by Grants.gov on or before October 5, 2016. Grants.gov will date- and time-stamp your application after it is fully uploaded. Applications submitted after that date will not be accepted.
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
http://www.neh.gov/grants/education/humanities-connections