Dear Colleagues, 

 

This bulletin lists the National Endowment for the Humanities grant competitions that are open. 

 

Thank you, and have a safe and regenerative rest of the summer, 

Iwan 

 

NEH Dialogues on the Experience of War (CDFA #45.163) Optional Draft due September 8, 2021; Application due October 14, 2021 

https://www.neh.gov/grants/education/dialogues-the-experience-war 

The Dialogues on the Experience of War program supports the study and discussion of important humanities sources about war, in the belief that these sources can help U.S. military veterans and others think more deeply about the issues raised by war and military service. Project teams should include humanities scholars, military veterans, and individuals with relevant experience.  

Dialogues projects must include: 

• Discussion programs: The convening of at least two sustained discussion series focused on humanities resources and themes that address the experiences of war and military service. Discussions may be held in person or virtually, but they must provide enough time to build intellectual community among all of the participants. 
• Preparatory programs: The creation of an in person or virtual preparatory program to recruit, train, and mentor a sufficient number of individuals to serve as discussion leaders for the series. 

 

NEH Humanities Connections (CDFA # 45.162) Application due September 14, 2021 

https://www.neh.gov/grants/education/humanities-connections 

The Humanities Connections program seeks to expand the role of the humanities in undergraduate education at two- and four-year institutions. Awards support innovative curricular approaches that foster partnerships among humanities faculty and their counterparts in the social and natural sciences and in pre-service or professional programs (such as business, engineering, health sciences, law, computer science, and other technology-driven fields), in order to encourage and develop new integrative learning opportunities for students. 

Humanities Connections projects must include: 

• substantive and purposeful integration of the subject matter, perspectives, and pedagogical approaches of two or more disciplines (with a minimum of one in and one outside of the humanities) 
• collaboration between faculty from two or more departments or schools at one or more institutions 
• experiential learning as an intrinsic part of the proposed curriculum 
• long-term institutional support for the proposed curriculum innovation(s) 

Competitive applications will demonstrate: 

• that the proposed curricular project expands the role of the humanities in addressing significant and compelling topics or issues in undergraduate education at the applicant institution(s) 
• that these projects develop the intellectual skills and habits of mind cultivated by the study of the humanities 
• that faculty and students will benefit from meaningful collaborations in teaching and learning across disciplines as a result of the project 

The Humanities Connections program includes two funding levels: Planning and Implementation 

 

NEH/NSF Dynamic Language Infrastructure – Documenting Endangered Languages Senior Research Grants (CDFA # 45.160) Application due September 15, 2021 

https://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/documenting-endangered-languages 

The Documenting Endangered Languages (DEL) program is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop and advance knowledge concerning endangered human languages. Made urgent by the imminent death of an estimated half of the 6,000-7,000 currently used languages, this effort aims also to exploit advances in information technology. Awards support fieldwork and other activities relevant to recording, documenting, and archiving endangered languages, including the preparation of lexicons, grammars, text samples, and databases. 

Applications are submitted to NSF for review. https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2020/nsf20603/nsf20603.htmUpon completion of the review process, the administration of awards is conducted separately by NEH or NSF. 

 

NEH Archaeological and Ethnographic Field Research (CDFA # 45.161) Application due September 15, 2021 

https://www.neh.gov/program/archaeological-and-ethnographic-field-research 

The Archaeological and Ethnographic Field Research program makes awards to institutions and organizations conducting empirical field research to answer significant questions in the humanities. Archaeology and ethnography are important methodologies utilized by many disciplines across the humanities and social sciences that provide observational and experiential data on human history and culture. 

Archaeological methods may include field survey and field-based remote sensing, documentation or visualization, and/or excavations in support of answering research questions in all aspects of the human past, including but not limited to ancient studies, anthropology, art history, classical studies, regional studies, epigraphy, and other related disciplines. Ethnographic methods may include participant observation, surveys and interviews, and documentation or recording in pursuit of research questions in anthropology, ethnolinguistics, oral history, ethnomusicology, performance studies, folklore studies, and related disciplines. 

Projects may be led by individuals with institutional affiliation or by teams of collaborating scholars from the same or multiple eligible institutions. Awards provide up to three years of support for fieldwork and data processing. While the ultimate expectation of such awards is the dissemination of results through publications and other media, this program supports costs related to fieldwork such as travel, accommodation, and equipment as well as compensation for field staff and salary replacement for the project director and collaborating scholars. Applicants interested in publishing the results of field research are encouraged to apply to one of NEH’s individual fellowship programs or Collaborative Research. 

 

NEH Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge Grants (CDFA # 45.130) Application due September 29, 2021 

https://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/infrastructure-and-capacity-building-challenge-grants 

The purpose of the Challenge Grants program is to strengthen the institutional base of the humanities by enabling infrastructure development and capacity building. Awards aim to help institutions secure long-term support for their core activities and expand efforts to preserve and create access to outstanding humanities materials.  

The program funds two distinct types of projects, each with its own Notice of Funding Opportunity: 

• Capital Projects supports the design, purchase, construction, restoration, or renovation of facilities for humanities activities.  This includes the purchase and installation of related moveable and permanently affixed equipment for exhibiting, maintaining, monitoring, and protecting collections (whether on exhibit or in storage), and for critical building systems, such as electrical, heating ventilation and air conditioning, security, life safety, lighting, utilities, telecommunications, and energy management.   
• Digital Infrastructure supports the maintenance, modernization, and sustainability of existing digital scholarly projects and platforms. 

Fundraising is a critical part of NEH Challenge grant awards: up to 10 percent of total funds (Challenge matching funds plus certified gifts) may be used for fundraising costs during the period of performance.  

 

NEH Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections (CDFA #45.149) Optional Draft due December 9, 2021; Application due January 13, 2021 

https://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/sustaining-cultural-heritage-collections 

The Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections program helps cultural institutions meet the complex challenge of preserving large and diverse holdings of humanities materials for future generations by supporting sustainable conservation measures that mitigate deterioration, prolong the useful life of collections, and support institutional resilience: the ability to anticipate and respond to disasters resulting from natural or human activity. 

Cultural institutions, including libraries, archives, museums, and historical organizations, face an enormous challenge: to preserve humanities collections that facilitate research, strengthen teaching, and provide opportunities for lifelong learning.  To ensure the preservation of books and manuscripts, photographs, sound recordings and moving images, archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, art, and historical objects, cultural institutions must implement measures that slow deterioration and prevent catastrophic loss from emergencies resulting from natural or human activity.  They can accomplish this work most effectively through preventive conservation.  Preventive conservation encompasses managing relative humidity, temperature, light, and pollutants in collection spaces; providing protective storage enclosures and systems for collections; and safeguarding collections from theft, fire, floods, and other disasters. 

As museums, libraries, archives, and other collecting institutions strive to be effective stewards of humanities collections, they must find ways to implement preventive conservation measures that are sustainable.  This program helps cultural repositories plan and implement preservation strategies that pragmatically balance effectiveness, cost, and environmental impact.  Sustainable approaches to preservation can contribute to an institution’s financial health, reduce its use of fossil fuels, and benefit its green initiatives, while ensuring that collections are well cared for and available for use in humanities programming, education, and research.  Sustainable preventive conservation measures may also aim to prepare and plan for, absorb, respond to, recover from, and more successfully protect collections in the event of emergencies resulting from natural or human activity. 

 

NEH Public Scholars (CDFA # 45.160) Application due December 15, 2021 

https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/public-scholar-program 

The Public Scholars program supports the creation of well-researched nonfiction books in the humanities written for the broad public.  It does so by offering grants to individual authors for research, writing, travel, and other activities leading to publication.  Writers with or without an academic affiliation may apply, and no advanced degree is required.  The program is intended both to encourage non-academic writers to deepen their engagement with the humanities by strengthening the research underlying their books and to encourage academic writers in the humanities to communicate the significance of their research to the broadest possible range of readers.  NEH especially encourages applications to this program from independent writers, researchers, scholars, and journalists. 

 

NEH Scholarly Editions and Scholarly Translations (CDFA #45.161) Optional Draft due September 24, 2021; Application due December 1, 2021 

https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/scholarly-editions-and-translations-grants 

The Scholarly Editions and Scholarly Translations program provides grants to organizations to support collaborative teams who are editing, annotating, and translating foundational humanities texts that are vital to learning and research but are currently inaccessible or are available only in inadequate editions or translations.  Typically, the texts are significant literary, philosophical, and historical materials, but other types of work, such as musical notation, may also be the subject of an edition. 

The program supports continuous full-time or part-time activities during the periods of performance of one to three years.  Projects must be undertaken by at least two scholars working collaboratively.  While international collaboration is permitted, projects must maintain an equitable balance between scholars at U.S. institutions and scholars at non-U.S. institutions.  In addition to supporting long-term editorial projects, the program also encourages applications for short-term projects and for projects that are at a planning stage. 

 

A reminder of these previously announced opportunities that are still open: 

 

Library of Congress - Of the People: Widening the Path: Community Collections grants to Organizations Due September 7, 2021 

https://blogs.loc.gov/ofthepeople/2021/07/support-and-faq-for-community-collections-program-for-organizations/ 

 

John S. and James L. Knight Foundation: Combatting Disinformation in Communities of Color Due September 15, 2021. 

https://knightfoundation.org/challenges/combatting-disinformation-in-communities-of-color/?mc_cid=adaa696d07&mc_eid=397720c894

US Environmental Protection Agency Children’s Healthy Learning Environments in Low-Income and/or Minority Communities Due September 10. 2021. 

https://www.epa.gov/children/childrens-healthy-learning-environments-low-income-andor-minority-communities-grant 

OCHP will host an informational webinar for potential applicants on August 12, 2021, from 2:00pm – 3:00pm Eastern Time. To register, visit: https://www.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_6j1fyoTZROSGD-L-yBSqOQ 

 

Sloan Foundation Support for Authors Researching, Writing Books aimed at Public Understanding of Science and Technology Due Sept. 1,2021; Jan. 1, 2022; May 1, 2022. 

https://sloan.org/programs/public-understanding/books