AGENCY: National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)

PROGRAM: Historical and Cultural Organizations Grants

OBJECTIVES: This program provides funding to support projects in the humanities that explore stories, ideas, and beliefs that deepen our understanding of our lives and our world. This program supports projects that are presented in these formats: a) traveling exhibitions that are presented at multiple venues; b) long-term exhibitions at one institution; c) interpretive Web sites or other digital formats; d) interpretation of historic places or areas; e) reading and discussion programs; f) panel exhibitions that travel widely, reach a broad audience, and take advantage of complementary programming formats to enhance the visitor experience; or g) other project formats that creatively engage audiences in humanities ideas. Projects must do more than simply provide a digital archive of material. They should offer new ways of contextualizing and interpreting information that engage public audiences interactively.

NEH offers two categories of grants for historical and cultural organization projects:

Planning Grants – These projects may need further development before applying for implementation. Planning can include the identification and refinement of the project’s main humanities ideas and questions, consultation with scholars in order to strengthen the humanities content, preliminary audience evaluation, preliminary design of the proposed interpretive formats, beta testing of digital formats, development of complementary programming, research at archives or sites whose resources might be used, or the drafting of interpretive materials.

Implementation Grants – These projects are in the final preparation for presentation to the public. Proposals must include a full walkthrough for an exhibition, or a prototype or storyboard for a digital project that demonstrates a solid command of the humanities ideas and scholarship that relate to the subject. Proposals for implementation grants should have already completed most of the planning for the projects, including the identification of the key humanities themes, relevant scholarship, and program formats.

DEADLINE: January 13, 2010

FUNDING INFORMATION: Planning Grants awards typically range from $40,000-$75,000 for planning projects of up to twelve months. Implementation Grants may request up to $400,000 over a period of eighteen to thirty-six months. Chairman’s Special Awards of up to $1 million are available for projects that have exceptional significance and promise to reach exceptionally wide audiences.

AGENCY CONTACT:
Division of Public Programs
National Endowment for the Humanities
Room 426
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20506
202-606-8269
Email: publicpgms@neh.gov 
Web: Planning: http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/AHCO_PlanningGuidelines.html; Implementation: http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/AHCO_ImplementationGuidelines.html

REMARKS: Applications must be submitted electronically using the Grants.gov system. Instructions and forms are available on the Grants.Gov website (http://www.grants.gov). Additional information about Grants.gov for BU Investigators can be obtained on the OSP website at: http://www.bu.edu/osp/pdf/Grantsgovinfo.pdf. Please contact the OSP Assistant Director assigned to your school or department as soon as possible to coordinate submission through the Grants.gov system.