The annual deadline is March 1.
Each year the Center distributes awards ranging from $3,000 to $7,000 to recognize graduate students doing outstanding work in the humanities.
Defining the Humanities
The Center defines the humanities both as designated departments and as an expansive and flexible mode of inquiry. In keeping with the Congressional Act that created the NEH, the humanities include the study and interpretation of the following: linguistics; literature; history; philosophy; archaeology; comparative religion; ethics; the history, criticism and theory of the arts; those aspects of social sciences which have humanistic content and employ humanistic methods; and the study and application of the humanities to the human environment with particular attention to reflecting our diverse heritage, traditions, and history and the relevance of the humanities to the current conditions of life. We understand humanities methods as primarily critical or speculative, as distinguished from the empirical approaches of the natural and social sciences. We welcome nominees who share an interest in issues of interpretation and value that are central to humanities work.
Eligibility & Funds
Eligible departments and programs may nominate up to two graduate students who have completed all PhD requirements except the dissertation, including a GRS-approved prospectus, to apply for a Graduate Student Award. Students who have won a graduate award in a prior year are not eligible to be nominated for another but are eligible to be nominated for a Graduate Dissertation Fellowship. The graduate student awards are supported by the following funds:
- The Helen G. Allen Humanities Award
- The Alice M. Brennan Humanities Award
- The Clarimond Mansfield Award
- The Angela J. & James J. Rallis Memorial Award
- The Edwin S. and Ruth M. White Prize
Application Components
- Signed Dissertation Prospectus Approval Page (Please do not upload the prospectus itself, but only the approval page.)
- Current unofficial transcript with name and BUID
- CV
- Academic and Professional Goals Statement
- Writing sample. Must be an essay, article or dissertation chapter, and must also include a bibliography
- Confidential letter of support from your First Reader
- Confidential letter of support from your DGS
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*Only students who have been formally nominated by their department/program may apply