NEH Summer Stipends

SPA’s Jackie Davis and Augusta Isley led the last colloquium of the 2017-2018 academic year on  Wednesday, April 11, 2018 in the Atrium. Perry Collins, Ball State's copyright and scholarly communications manager, joined Davis and Isley to give some additional advice and information.

This colloquium focused on specifically on the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

What is the NEH?

Stan Geidel introduces the speakers.

The NEH is an independent federal agency, which was created in 1965. It is also one of the largest funders of humanities programs in the United States. The NEH supports humanities programs in the following four areas:

• Preserving and providing access to cultural resources 
• Education 
• Research 
• Public programs

What does the NEH do?

• Strengthens teaching and learning in the humanities in schools and colleges across the nation
• Facilitates research and original scholarship 
• Provides opportunities for lifelong learning 
• Preserves and provides access to cultural and educational resources
• Strengthens the institutional base of the humanities 

The NEH is comprised of seven program division and offices and several administrative offices, which are: 

• Division of Education Programs
• Division of Research Programs
• Office of Digital Humanities 
• Division of Preservation and Access
• Division of Public Programs
• Federal/State Partnerships
• Office of Challenge Grants

These different divisions offer opportunities ranging from summer seminars and institutes, to summer stipends, to fellowships that can be applied for.

Summer Stipends and Internal Competition

Augusta Isley presents.

• NEH limits the number of applications per institution to 2
• BSU holds an internal competition in August- one month prior to the federal deadline
• Applications are given feedback and submitted via Grants.gov by the PI
• Guidelines for internal are the same as the NEH
• Provost endorsement is required 
• Updated guidelines are posted 60 days before deadline, but they do not change much from year to year

The Ball State application deadline is August 24, 2018, while the deadline for final submission to the NEH is September 26 (for projects beginning in May 2019). 

NEH Review Process

Perry Collins wraps up the lecture.

Once your application is submitted it follows this review process: 

1. Peer Review Panels: Invited scholars and experts review applications and identify exemplary proposals
2. NEH Staff Recommendations
3. National Council for the Humanities 
4. Chairman: funding decisions based on recommendations of panelists, staff, and council

Applications are evaluated based on:

1. Intellectual quality of the project
2. Significant humanities topics and texts
3. Potential for significant results/impact

For help with developing your proposal please reach out to the proposal manager for your department, which can be found on our website.

Feel free to contact Jackie Davis at jsdavis@bsu.edu, Augusta Isley at amwray@bsu.edu, or Perry Collins at pmcollins@bsu.edu with additional questions.

Finally, be sure to connect with the NEH on social media, they can be found on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat with @NEHGOV.