TO: Faculty in Humanities Departments and Related Fields
FROM: Gerald R. Greenberg, Sr. Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; Humanities; Curriculum, Instruction, and Programs
DATE: June 27, 2018
RE: Invitation to the Internal 2019 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Summer Stipend Competition
The College of Arts and Sciences Humanities Council is pleased to facilitate the 2019 NEH Summer Stipend program internal competition. The University may nominate two faculty members for the national competition. The program provides $6,000 grants for two consecutive full-time months of research and writing.
Summer Stipends support individuals pursuing advanced research that is of value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both. Eligible projects usually result in articles, monographs, books, digital materials and publications, archaeological site reports, translations, editions. Projects must incorporate analysis and not result solely in the collection of data.
Faculty whose research interests are closely aligned with NEH’s mission are invited to submit an application to the internal competition before noon on Monday, August 27. Applications will be reviewed by a subcommittee of the Humanities Council and, if necessary, ad hoc reviewers to provide appropriate area representation from within Syracuse University. Application materials and the internal competition timeline follow.
More details on the format, application requirements, and eligibility are found at https://www.neh.gov/files/grants/summer-stipends-sep-26-2018.pdf. Applicants are encouraged to review the program guidelines thoroughly.
Those with questions should contact the Summer Stipends staff at stipends@neh.gov.
The two nominees selected as a result of the internal competition will apply as individuals through Grants.gov; Grants.gov summer stipend application requires a multi-step registration process to submit to NEH. See https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/summer-stipends.
NEH Summer Stipend Program
INTERNAL NOMINATION PROCESS
2019 Application Instructions and Guidelines
https://www.neh.gov/files/grants/summer-stipends-sep-26-2018.pdf.
Application Submission
Before Noon on Monday, August 27, 2018:
Submit one signed original and transmit a single electronic file (without signatures) in Word format to Cassidy Perreault, 441 Hall of Languages, srassocdeancas@syr.edu.
Eligibility:
Please refer to heading “Eligibility” page five, https://www.neh.gov/files/grants/summer-stipends-sep-26-2018.pdf .
Clarity:
Your abstract and narrative should be clearly understood by experts from all disciplines within the humanities.
Feasibility:
Propose only what you can reasonably accomplish in two months.
Application Components
- Cover Page (located at the end of this document)
Please complete the cover page included at the end of this memo. The cover sheet is also to be signed by your department chair.
- Narrative—Not to Exceed Three Single-Spaced Pages
Please refer to heading “Application Elements, 1. Narrative” page 9, https://www.neh.gov/files/grants/summer-stipends-sep-26-2018.pdf.
- Bibliography—Not to Exceed One Single-Spaced Page
Please refer to heading “Application Elements, 2.Bibliograghy” page 11, https://www.neh.gov/files/grants/summer-stipends-sep-26-2018.pdf.
- Résumé—Not to Exceed Two Single-Spaced Pages
Please refer to heading “Application Elements, 3. Résumé” page 11, https://www.neh.gov/files/grants/summer-stipends-sep-26-2018.pdf.
- Appendix—Only for Editions, Translations, or Database Projects, or for Proposals that Include Visual Materials
Please refer to heading “Application Elements, 4. Appendix” page 11, https://www.neh.gov/files/grants/summer-stipends-sep-26-2018.pdf.
- Letters of Recommendation
Candidates who eventually submit a proposal to the NEH, in addition to preparing the narrative, bibliography, résumé, and (if necessary) appendix, will also be asked to solicit two letters of reference. Letters of reference are more highly regarded if they address the specific proposed activity and the candidate’s ability to undertake it. Ideally, referees should come from different institutions.
As part of Syracuse University’s internal competition we ask that you provide the names, e-mail addresses, and affiliations for your two reference letter writers on the NEH Supplemental Information for Individuals Form. Please supply only one email address for each referee.
For the two candidates selected as a result of the internal competition, approximately seven to ten days after the deadline, NEH will send requests to your letter writers, asking them to submit their letters online. Although all submitted letters will be added to an applicant’s file, it is possible that evaluators will not take into account letters submitted after the October 18, 2018, deadline.
Review Process
A subcommittee of the Humanities Council and ad hoc reviewers as necessary to assure appropriate representation on the review panel will review applications. The subcommittee will use an approach modeled after the NEH selection process to identify two nominees.
The following review criteria are considered globally when proposals are rated; however, the order presented may convey the degree of importance to NEH:
- the intellectual significance of the proposed project, including its value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both
- the quality or promise of quality of the applicant as an interpreter of the humanities
- the quality of the conception, definition, organization, and description of the project and the applicant’s clarity of expression
- the feasibility of the proposed plan of work, including, when appropriate, the soundness of the dissemination and access plans
- the likelihood that the applicant will complete the project
Depending upon the number of proposals submitted and their quality, applications may also be ranked.
The Humanities Council will inform Dean Karin Ruhlandt of its recommendation; Dean Ruhlandt is the University nominating official for the NEH Summer Stipend Program.
NEH Review Process
All eligible applications receive peer review. Knowledgeable persons outside NEH will read each application and advise the agency about its merits. NEH staff comments on matters of fact or on significant issues that otherwise would be missing from these reviews, then makes recommendations to the National Council on the Humanities. The National Council meets at various times during the year to advise the NEH chairman on grants. The chairman takes into account the advice provided by the review process and, by law, makes all funding decisions. More details about NEH’s review process are available http://www.neh.gov/grants/application-process.