How to Apply

Applicant Information

Participant Eligibility Criteria
Participant Expectations
Principles of Civility

Instructions

Institutes for Higher Education Faculty is 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. Prior to completing an application to an Institute, please review the program description 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 are for 25 Summer Scholars, and 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.

Applicants must complete the Institute’s application form and provide all the information requested below to be considered eligible. 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 the Institute who is a current colleague or family member. Individuals must not apply to seminars directed by scholars with whom they have 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 guided that individual’s research or in whose previous institute or seminar he or she has participated.

Please Note: Up to three institute spaces are reserved for current full-time graduate students in the humanities. An individual may apply to up to two projects in any one year (NEH Summer Seminars, Institutes or Landmarks Workshops for Community College Faculty), but may participate in only one.

Selection Criteria

A selection committee reads and evaluates all properly completed applications in order to select the most promising applicants and to identify a number of alternates. (Institute selection committees typically consist of three to five members, usually drawn from the Institute faculty and staff members.) While recent participants are eligible to apply, selection committees are charged to give first consideration to applicants who have not participated in an NEH-supported Seminar, Institute, or Landmarks Workshop in the last three years (2021, 2022, 2023).

The most important consideration in the selection of participants is the likelihood that an applicant will benefit professionally. This is determined by committee members taking into account 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, in general, and as they relate to the work of the Institute
3. Special perspectives, skills, or experiences that would contribute to the 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

Stipend, Tenure, & Conditions of Award

Individuals selected to participate in this four-week Institute will, should they elect to participate, receive a stipend of $3,450. Stipends are intended to help cover travel expenses to and from the project location, books and other research expenses, and living expenses for the period spent in residence. Stipends are taxable; participants are advised to consult a tax professional with any questions about their personal situation. Applicants should note that supplements will not be given in cases where the stipend is insufficient to cover all expenses.

Institute participants are required to attend all meetings and to engage fully as professionals 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 online evaluations in which they review their work during the summer and assess its value to their personal and professional development. These evaluations will become part of the project’s grant file and may become part of an application to repeat the Institute.

Completing Your Application

Before you attempt to complete an application, please read the Home sections of the Institute website: it contains information about the topic under study, the academic and institutional setting, and specific provisions for lodging and subsistence.

All application materials must be sent electronically via the Institute’s application form. Application materials sent to the Endowment will not be reviewed. 

Checklist of Application Materials

A complete application consists of the following items:

• the completed application form; 
• an application essay;
• a detailed résumé, curriculum vitae, or brief biography; and 
• two reference letters. 

Résumé

Please include a detailed résumé, curriculum vitae, or brief biography (not to exceed five pages).

Application Essay

The application essay should be no more than 1,000 words. 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 Institute’s subject; 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 may need to elaborate on the relationship between Institute activities and their responsibilities for teaching and curricular development.

Reference Letters

The two referees may be from inside or outside the applicant’s home institution. They should be familiar with the applicant’s professional accomplishments or promise, teaching and/or research interests, and ability to contribute to and benefit from participation in the Institute. Referees should be provided with the director’s description of the Institute and the applicant’s essay. The confidential letters of recommendation should be sent to moralpsychology@cornell.edu with the subject line, Institute Recommendation: [Applicant’s name], and must be received by the application deadline, Tuesday, March 5, 2024 (11:59 PM Pacific).

Application Form

Please send this form, your CV, résumé, or brief biography and short application essay (maximum 1,000 words) to moralpsychology@cornell.edu. Subject line should read NEH Summer Institute Application.

Submission of Applications & Notification Procedure

Completed applications must be submitted no later than Tuesday, March 5, 2024 (11:59 PM Pacific).

Successful applicants will be notified of their selection on Friday, April 5, 2024, and they will have until Friday, April 19, 2024 to accept or decline the offer.

Note: Once you have accepted an offer to attend this NEH Summer Institute, you may not accept an additional offer or withdraw in order to accept a different offer.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Endowment programs do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or age. For further information, write to the Equal Opportunity Officer, National Endowment for the Humanities, 400 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024. TDD: 202-606-8282 (this is a special telephone device for the Deaf).