NEH SUMMER SEMINARS & INSTITUTES FOR COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY TEACHERS

APPLICATION INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS

for the Summer Institute: Mesoamerica and the Southwest:

A New History for an Ancient Land

Summer Seminars and Institutes for College and University Teachers are offered by the National Endowment for the Humanities to provide college and university faculty members and independent scholars with an opportunity to enrich and revitalize their understanding of significant humanities ideas, texts, and topics.  These study opportunities are especially designed for this program and are not intended to duplicate courses normally offered by graduate programs, nor will graduate credit be given for them.  Prior to completing an application, please review the enclosed letter from the project director and consider carefully what is expected in terms of residence and attendance, reading and writing requirements, and general participation in the work of the project.

Institutes provide intensive collaborative study of texts, topics, and ideas central to undergraduate teaching in the humanities under the guidance of faculties distinguished in their fields of scholarship.  Institutes aim to prepare participants to return to their classrooms with a deeper knowledge of current scholarship in key fields of the humanities. Please note:  The use of the words ÒseminarÓ or ÒinstituteÓ in this document is precise and is intended to convey differences between the two project types.

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 are not eligible to apply.  

Applicants must complete the NEH application cover sheet and provide all of the information requested below to be considered eligible.  Candidates for degrees are only eligible to apply if they are employed by an institution other than the one at which they are degree candidates and if their participation is intended to enhance their teaching of American undergraduates.  Degree candidates can never use their participation in an NEH seminar or institute to meet a degree requirement, including work on masters' theses or doctoral dissertations.  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 study with a director of a seminar or institute who is a current colleague or a family member.  Individuals must not apply to seminars directed by scholars with whom they have previously 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 previously guided that individual's research or in whose previous institute or seminar he or she has participated.  An individual may apply to no more than two projects in any one year. 

SELECTION CRITERIA

A selection committee reads and evaluates all properly completed applications in order to select the most promising applicants and to identify a small number of alternates.  (Institute selection committees consist of three to five members, usually drawn from the institute faculty and staff members.)   Selection committees are charged to give first consideration to applicants who have not participated in an NEH-supported seminar or institute in the last three years. 

The most important consideration in the selection of participants is the likelihood that an applicant will benefit professionally.  This is determined by committee members from the conjunction of several factors, each of which should be addressed in the application essay.  These factors include:

  1.  quality and commitment as a teacher, scholar, and interpreter of the humanities;

  2.  intellectual interests, both generally and as they relate to the work of the institute;

  3.  special perspectives, skills, or experiences that would contribute to the seminar or institute;

  4.  commitment to participate fully in the formal and informal collegial life of the institute;

  5.  the likelihood that the experience will enhance the applicant's teaching and scholarship; and

When choices must be made among equally qualified candidates, several additional factors are considered:  Preference is given to applicants who have not previously participated in an NEH seminar or institute, or who would significantly contribute to the diversity of the seminar or institute.

STIPEND, TENURE, AND CONDITIONS OF AWARD

Stipends are intended to help cover travel expenses to and from the project location, books and other research expenses, and living expenses for the duration of the period spent in residence. Individuals selected to participate in six-week long projects normally receive a stipend of $3,700.

Because "Mesoamerica and the Southwest" is being held on-site in Mexico and the Southwest, with a series of field-study visits, the grant monies usually allocated as stipends have been pooled to cover participant travel and lodging expenses within the Institute, all of which will be covered directly by CCHA (these costs per participant are equal in value to the current $3700 stipend for a six-week Institute). Participants will receive all lodging, internal travel and site-visit costs for scheduled activities during the Institute, and some pre-arranged meals, as will be specified in the detailed Daily Schedule. NEH funds cannot additionally cover individual travel to and from the Institute.  Participants will be responsible for meal expenses other than when pre-arranged, for personal expenses and for their individual travel arrangements to Mexico City by June 19 and for return from Albuquerque after August 2. Stipends are taxable.  Adjustments in cases where the stipend is insufficient to cover all expenses are not possible. 

Seminar and institute participants are required to attend all meetings and to engage fully 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 must refund a pro-rata portion of the stipend.

At the end of the project's residential period, participants will be asked to submit evaluations in which they review their work during the summer and assess its value to their personal and professional development. Special forms for this report will be distributed by each project director.  Completed forms should be returned directly to the Endowment.  They will become part of the project's grant file and may become part of an application to repeat the seminar or institute.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

This application packet should accompany a letter from the project director that 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, subsistence, and extracurricular activities.  If you do not have such a letter, please request one from the director of the project in which you are interested before you attempt to compete and submit an application.  All application materials for "Mesoamerica and the Southwest" should be sent to the project manager, as directed.  Sending application materials and reference letters to the Endowment will result in delay.

CHECKLIST OF APPLICATION MATERIALS

The following items constitute a completed application to a summer seminar or institute:

         -  three copies of the completed application cover sheet,

         -  three copies of a detailed resume,

         -  three copies of an application essay as outlined below, and

         -  two letters of recommendation (sent separately).

The Application Essay

The application essay should be no more than four double spaced pages.  This essay should include any relevant personal and academic information.  It should address reasons for applying; the applicant's interest, both academic and personal, in the subject to be studied; qualifications and experiences that equip the applicant to do the work of the seminar or institute and to make a contribution to a learning community; a statement of what the applicant wants to accomplish by participating; and the relation of the project to the applicant's professional responsibilities.  Applicants to seminars should be sure to discuss any independent study project that is proposed beyond the common work of the seminar.  Applicants to institutes may need to elaborate on the relationship between institute activities and their responsibilities for teaching and curricular development.

REFERENCE LETTERS

The two referees should be chosen carefully.  They should be familiar with the applicant's professional accomplishments or promise, interests, and ability to contribute to and benefit from participation in the seminar or institute.  They should specifically address these issues in their recommendations.  Letters from colleagues who know the applicant's teaching and from those outside the applicant's institution who know his or her scholarship are often more useful than letters from college or university administrators.  Referees should be provided with copies of the director's description of the seminar or institute and the applicant's essay.  If an applicant has previously participated in an NEH summer seminar or institute, a recommendation from the director or lead scholar of that program would be useful.  It is the applicant's responsibility to ask the referees to send their letters directly to the project manager, as directed below, and to make certain that their letters are mailed to arrive not more than one week after the March 1 deadline.

SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS AND NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE

Completed applications for ÒMesoamerica and the SouthwestÓ should be submitted to the project manager and should be postmarked no later than March 1, 2004:

         David A. Berry, "Mesoamerica and the Southwest" Project Manager

         Community College Humanities Association

         c/o Essex County College

         303 University Avenue

         Newark, NJ   07102-1798

Successful applicants will be notified of their selection by April 1, 2004, and they will have until April 15 to accept or decline the offer.  Applicants who will not be home during the notification period are advised to provide an address and phone number where they can be reached. No information on the status of applications will be available prior to the official notification period.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT

Endowment programs do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age.  For further information, write to the Equal Opportunity Officer, National Endowment for the Humanities, 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20506.  TDD:  202/606‑8282 (this is a special telephone device for the Deaf).