How to Apply

Depending on public-health guidelines related to COVID-19, plans for a residential offering are subject to change.

In accordance with NEH guidelines, participation in seminar activities is limited to members of the seminar. Project applicants who accept an offer to participate are expected to remain during the entire period of the program and to participate in its work on a full-time basis. If a participant is obliged through special circumstances to depart before the end of the program, it shall be the recipient institution’s responsibility to see that only a pro rata share of the stipend is received or that the appropriate pro rata share of the stipend is returned if the participant has already received the full stipend. Once an applicant has accepted an offer to attend any NEH Summer Program (Seminar, Institute, or Landmark), they may not accept an additional offer or withdraw in order to accept a different offer.

Participants in this program will be required to submit a final evaluation to NEH following the conclusion of the seminar. Please review the eligibility criteria for participation in NEH Summer Seminars and Institutes here. All participants in NEH summer programs are required to follow the NEH’s Principles of Civility, which are available here. 

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.

Participants in this program will receive a taxable stipend of $3,450 from OSU during the opening seminar meeting on July 5.

Application

The participant application deadline for this program is 11:59pm on March 1, 2022. Applications should be compiled a completed as a single PDF file, or as separate PDF files (clearly marked), and submitted electronically to NEHreformationbooks2022@jmu.edu.

A completed application consists of

  • the completed application cover sheet (available here), and
  • a detailed résumé or curriculum vitae, and
  • an application essay as outlined below, and
  • two letters of reference (see below).

Application Essay

The application essay should be no more than four double spaced pages.  It should address your interest, both academic and personal, in the subject to be studied; qualifications and experiences that equip you to do the work of the seminar or institute and to make a contribution to a learning community; a statement of what you want to accomplish by participating; and the relation of the project to your professional responsibilities. Applicants to seminars should be sure to discuss any independent study project that is proposed beyond the common work of the seminar.

Reference Letters

Please solicit two reference letters from individuals inside or outside your home institution.  Referees may send their letters directly to Mark Rankin via email (NEHreformationbooks2022@jmu.edu). Referees may also provide hard copies to Mark Rankin at the Department of English, James Madison University, 921 Madison Drive, Harrisonburg, VA, 22807. Please use the following link to complete a waiver and provide it to your recommenders in electronic format for them to submit along with their letters:

Letter-of-Recommendation-access-waiver-request

Referees should be familiar with your professional accomplishments or promise, teaching and/or research interests, and ability to contribute to and benefit from participation in the seminar. Please provide them with the description of this seminar found on this website and your application essay.

The selection committee will notify applicants of the status of their applications on March 25, 2022. The participant acceptance deadline is April 8, 2022.

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.  (Seminar selection committees typically consist of the project director and two colleagues.  Institute selection committees typically consist of three to five members, usually drawn from the institute faculty and staff members.)

Special consideration is given to the likelihood that an applicant will benefit professionally.  It is important, therefore, to address each of the following factors in your application essay:

  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 seminar or institute;
  3. special perspectives, skills, or experiences that would contribute to the seminar or institute;
  4. the likelihood that the experience will enhance the applicant’s teaching and scholarship; and
  5. for seminars, the conception and organization of the applicant’s independent project and its potential contribution to the seminar.

At least three seminar spaces and at least five institute spaces will be reserved for non-tenure-track/adjunct faculty members. Recent participants in NEH summer programs are eligible to apply, but 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 (2019, 2020, 2021).  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 Summer Seminar or Institute, or who significantly contribute to the diversity of the seminar or institute.

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