About
This one-week National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar explores late twentieth century U.S. history through the lens of the National Women’s Conference held in Houston, Texas in 1977. The only federally funded conference of its kind in U.S. history, the National Women’s Conference occurred in conjunction with the United Nations’ International Women’s Year. Approximately 130,000 elected delegates participated in the lead-up state conventions. The final conference convened in Houston to create a National Plan of Action for presentation to President Jimmy Carter. During our first five days together, we will consider the overarching themes related to the work of the conference: political/party realignment, Sunbelt and global politics, democratic representation and state-building, social movement and identity politics, states’ rights and federalism, liberalism and conservatism, deindustrialization and globalization, and Vietnam War and Cold War policy. We will also devote two days to pedagogy, public history, and digital humanities, considering how to introduce the National Women’s Conference in multimedia form to a variety of audiences.
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 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.
Please note: At least three seminar spaces and at least five institute spaces are reserved for non-tenure-track/adjunct faculty members.
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 an NEH Summer Seminar or Institute whose director is affiliated with the same institution or is 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.
To be considered eligible, applicants must submit a complete application. This includes an NEH cover sheet and the additional materials requested on the individual seminar or institute website
Stipend, Tenure and Conditions of Award
Individuals selected to participate in this one-week project will receive $1,200. Stipends are intended to help cover travel expenses to and from the project location, books and other research expenses, and ordinary living expenses. Stipends are taxable. Applicants to all projects 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 as professionals 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 will receive a reduced stipend.
At the end of the project's residential period, NEH Summer Scholars will be asked to submit online 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.
Selection Criteria
The seminar selection committee (the co-directors and one other faculty member) will read and evaluate all properly completed applications in order to select the most promising applicants and to identify a number of alternates.
Special consideration is given to the likelihood that an applicant will benefit professionally. It is important, therefore, to address each of the following factors in your application essay:
- quality and commitment as a teacher, scholar, and interpreter of the humanities;
- intellectual interests, in general and as they relate to the work of the seminar;
- special perspectives, skills, or experiences that would contribute to the seminar;
- the likelihood that the experience will enhance the applicant's teaching and scholarship; and
- the conception and organization of the applicant's current (or future) research and its potential contribution to the seminar.
At least three seminar spaces will be reserved for non-tenure-track/adjunct faculty members. Recent participants are eligible to apply, but selection committees are charged to give first consideration to applicants who have never participated in an NEH-supported Seminar or Institute. We seek applicants who are junior, mid-career, and senior scholars and who bring diverse methodological and/or field/subfield perspectives to the conversation (i.e., while we welcome scholars of women and gender we also want scholars who study politics, society, and culture). When choices must be made among equally qualified candidates, several additional factors are considered.
Application instructions
Before you attempt to complete an application, please study the project website, which 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 and subsistence.
CHECKLIST OF APPLICATION MATERIALS
A complete application consists of three copies of the following collated items:
- the completed application cover sheet,
- a detailed résumé, curriculum vitae, or brief biography with contact information for two professional references, and
- an application essay
The Application Cover Sheet
The application cover sheet must be filled out online.
Résumé and References
Please include a detailed résumé, curriculum vitae, or brief biography (not to exceed five pages).
Be sure the résumé provides the name, title, phone number, and e-mail address of two professional references.
The Application Essay
The application essay should be no more than four double spaced pages. It should address your interest, both academic and personal, in the subject to be studied; qualifications and experiences that equip you to do the work of the seminar and to make a contribution to a learning community; a statement of what you want to accomplish by participating; and the relation of the project to your professional responsibilities.
Applicants to seminars should be sure to discuss any independent study project that is proposed beyond the common work of the seminar.
SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS AND NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE
Completed applications should be submitted to the project director, not the NEH, and should be postmarked no later than March 1, 2017. Application materials sent to the NEH will not be reviewed.
Send your application to: Dr. Nancy Beck Young, Department of History, 3553 Cullen Boulevard, Room 524, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-3003
Successful applicants will be notified of their selection on Friday, March 31, 2017, and they will have until Friday, April 7 to accept or decline the offer.
Note: Once you have accepted an offer to attend any NEH Summer Program (NEH Summer Seminar or Institute), you may not accept an additional offer or withdraw in order to accept a different offer.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT
Endowment programs do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or age. For further information, write to the Equal Opportunity Officer, National Endowment for the Humanities, 400 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024. TDD: 202/606‑8282 (this is a special telephone device for the Deaf).
For more information click "Further official information" below.
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
http://classweb.uh.edu/nehnatlwomensconf/