NEH Grants for Undergraduate Teaching – Sept/Oct Deadlines

The National Endowment for the Humanities supports undergraduate course development through:

• Enduring Questions Course Grants (new courses)
• Teaching Development Fellowships (existing courses)

Enduring Questions Course Grants (up to $25,000)
What is the good life?  What is beauty?  What is friendship?  What is the relationship between humans and the natural world?  Enduring questions such as these have long held interest to college students and allow for a special, intense dialogue across generations.

The National Endowment for the Humanities will award Enduring Questions course grants, which support a college faculty member from any discipline with up to $25,000 to develop a new humanities course at the undergraduate level on a question of enduring significance, to be taught at the sponsoring institution at least twice during the grant period. The application deadline is September 15, 2009. For more information and instructions, please see the grant guidelines at http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/EnduringQuestions.html

Teaching Development Fellowships (up to $21,000)
The National Endowment for the Humanities will award Teaching Development Fellowships to support college and university teachers pursuing research aimed specifically at improving an existing undergraduate course that the applicant has taught already in three different terms and will continue to teach. The research undertaken as a part of the project may involve engaging with fundamental texts or sources, exploring related subjects or academic disciplines, or cultivating neglected areas of learning. Research in any area of the humanities is welcome.

Teaching Development Fellowships cover periods from three to five months and carry stipends of $4,200 per month. Thus, the maximum stipend is $21,000 for a five-month award period. The application deadline is October 1, 2009. For more information and instructions, please see the grant guidelines at http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/TD_Fellowships.html.

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Gans Awarded ENDURING QUESTIONS Grant from NEH

Congratulations are in order to ALSC member Bruce Gans, who has been awarded a $15,000 Enduring Questions grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Enduring Questions grant seeks to encourage both faculty and undergraduates to “grapple with the most fundamental concerns of the humanities.” Gans’ award was given in recognition of his proposed course on the Enduring Question “What is Freedom?” which will draw most of its material from amongst the Encyclopedia Britannica’s list of Great Books. Gans has been working for many years to integrate Great Books curricula into community colleges, and the NEH’s recognition of the viability of Gans’ methodology is encouraging to all Great Books advocates.

-Thom Plasse

ALSC Receives Major Funding from the NEH

We are thrilled to report that on March 10, the Association received a $30,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities funded through the Division of Education Programs, continuing our recent run of great success in raising money for our programs and activities. Great thanks are owed to Immediate Past President Christopher Ricks for the indispensible role he played in presenting our case to the generous and hard-working program officers at the Endowment. We are very hopeful and optimistic that news of this award will help us in our continuing efforts to attract major support from other funding agencies and individuals. So please—spread the word!

N.B. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this Website do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Carole M. Watson Appointed Acting Chairman of the NEH

ALSC congratulates Carole M. Watson on her appointment to the position of Acting Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. President Obama made the appointment on February 10. Read the NEH’s press release here.

Outgoing Chairman Bruce Cole, who served the NEH tirelessly and with great success for an unprecedented 7 years, stepped down on January 1 (read the NEH’s press release here). Cole, who is now serving as President and CEO of the American Revolution Center, was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President George W. Bush on November 17, 2008. This is the second highest honor that can be conferred on an American civilian. ALSC commends Chairman Cole on his great service to the Humanities and the country.

ALSC Celebrates Lincoln’s 200th

ALSC celebrates the memory of arguably the greatest American president. We invite our members and Website visitors to view streaming video from the seminar “Masters of English Prose: Johnson, Lincoln, Churchill,” which ALSC co-sponsored in July of 2007 with the National Endowment for the Humanities and Boston University. The video features a lecture by ALSC Past President Jim Engell of Harvard University. The seminar was directed by long-time ALSC member John C. Briggs (University of California, Riverside)–author of Lincoln’s Speeches Reconsidered (Johns Hopkins UP, 2005), a uniquely extensive close reading of Lincoln’s pre-presidential and presidential speeches—and co-directed by fellow ALSC members Paul Alkon (University of Southern California) and Bruce Redford (Boston University). Members will also know Dr. Briggs’ work from the inaugural issue of ALSC’s special-topics journal Forum, “Writing Without Reading: The Decline of Literature in the Composition Classroom.”

For a wealth of Lincoln-related articles, visit the archive found on the Website of the New York Times.

NEH Encourages Educators to Apply for 2009 Summer Programs in the Humanities

A reprint of a press release of interest.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 3, 2008)—American educators across the country are encouraged to apply now for 2009 summer study opportunities in the humanities. Each summer, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports rigorous national, residential seminars, institutes, and workshops located in the United States and abroad. Program participants receive stipends to help defray travel and living expenses.

For the 2009 Summer Seminars and Institutes, interested teachers must apply for the respective seminars and institutes, 19 for college and university teachers and 31 for school teachers, by March 2, 2009. School teachers can apply to no more than one program, and college and university teachers can apply to no more than two programs. Seminars and Institutes are 2-6 week programs that take place in the United States and abroad. Summer Seminars and Institutes for School Teachers provide K-12 educators with a means to deepen their understanding of important subjects in the humanities. Summer Seminars and Institutes for College and University Teachers allow faculty members to gain a deeper knowledge of current scholarship in key fields of the humanities and advance their own teaching and research.

For the 2009 Landmarks of American History and Culture workshops, interested teachers must apply for the respective workshops, 6 for community college faculty and 20 for school teachers, by March 16, 2009. Educators may apply to and participate in no more than two workshops. The Landmarks workshops are 1-week workshops that take place at sites of historical or cultural significance across the nation and provide educators with the opportunity to engage in intensive study and discussion of important topics in American history and culture.

For more information about the 2009 summer programs in the humanities for teachers, including eligibility and application information and details about each of the seminars, institutes, and workshops offered, please visit http://www.neh.gov/projects/summer09.html.

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Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports learning in history, literature, philosophy and other areas of the humanities. NEH grants enrich classroom learning, create and preserve knowledge, and bring ideas to life through public television, radio, new technologies, exhibitions, and programs in libraries, museums, and other community places. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at www.neh.gov.

Media Contact: Lindsey Mikal at (202) 606-8317 or Elizabeth Fisher at (202) 208-7098

New NEH Funding for Courses on Enduring Questions

What is the good life? What is friendship? What is good government? Is there a human nature, and, if so, what is it? What are the limits of science? Enduring questions such as these have long held interest to college students and allow for a special, intense dialogue across generations.

The National Endowment for the Humanities has recently launched “Enduring Questions: Pilot Course Grants.” This new grant program will support college faculty from any discipline with up to $25,000 to develop and to teach a new undergraduate humanities course that addresses questions like these.

The application deadline is November 13, 2008, and the sponsoring institution must agree to offer the course at least twice. For more information and instructions, please find the grant guidelines at: http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/EnduringQuestions.html.

We encourage you to share information about this new funding opportunity with your members.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me at 202-606-8317 or lmikal@neh.gov.