comics archive in Marsh room at libarary

How to Apply

NEH-funded Institutes are professional development programs that convene K-12 educators or higher education faculty from across the nation to deepen their understanding of significant topics in the humanities and enrich their capacity for effective scholarship and teaching.

NEH-funded Landmarks of American History and Culture programs support a series of one-week residential, virtual, and combined format professional development workshops across the nation to enhance how K-12 educators, higher education faculty, and humanities professionals incorporate place-based approaches to humanities teaching and scholarship.

You are eligible to apply if you are a:

  • United States citizen, including those teaching abroad at U.S. chartered institutions and schools operated by the federal government;
  • resident of U.S. jurisdictions; or
  • foreign national who has been residing in the United States or its jurisdictions for at least the three years immediately preceding the application deadline.

You are not eligible to apply if you:

  • are a foreign national teaching abroad
  • are related to the project director(s)
  • are affiliated with the applicant institution (employees, currently enrolled students, etc.)
  • have been taught or advised in an academic capacity by the project director(s)
  • are delinquent in the repayment of federal debt (taxes, student loans, child support payments, and delinquent payroll taxes for household or other employees)
  • have been debarred or suspended by any federal department or agency
  • have attended a previous NEH professional development project (Seminars, Landmarks, or Institutes) led by
    the project director(s)

NEH does not require participants to have earned an advanced degree.

In any given year, an individual may attend only one Institute or Landmarks workshop.

To be considered for selection, applicants must submit a complete application following the directions under Participant Application (below). Any questions about applications should be directed to the individual project team.

Eligibility and Applying

To be considered, you must submit a complete application as indicated on the individual project’s website. Prospective participants must follow the stated application and acceptance deadlines. In general, application extensions will not be granted. Any questions about applying should be directed to the individual project team. Participant eligibility criteria (see section above) are determined by NEH. Application review and offer decisions are determined by individual project teams in accordance with NEH eligibility requirements.

Participant Acceptance

In any given year, an individual may attend only one Institute or Landmarks workshop. Participants may not accept an additional offer or withdraw in order to accept a different offer once they have accepted an offer to attend an NEH Institutes or Landmarks program. 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).

Principles of Civility

Project teams and program participants must adhere to the Principles of Civility for NEH Professional Development Programs detailed in the section below.

Participant Stipends and Attendance

Stipends provide compensation to participants for their time commitment and help to defray participation costs, such as travel, program activities, lodging, and meals (for residential programs), and technical support (for virtual programs). For residential programs, participants cover their own costs for travel to/from a program, lodging, and meals. Stipends are taxable as income.

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 arrive after the beginning or depart before the end of the Institutes or Landmarks 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.

Participant stipend is $2200, consistent with the amount set by the NEH for two-week residential programs.

Participant Evaluations

The NEH requires project directors to collect anonymous participant evaluations at the conclusion of their programs. Unedited participant evaluation responses will be included in the project’s final report to the NEH and any future Institutes or Landmarks applications.

NEH Seminars, Institutes, and Landmarks programs are intended to extend and deepen knowledge and understanding of the humanities by focusing on significant topics, texts, and issues; contribute to the intellectual vitality and professional development of participants; and foster a community of inquiry that provides models of excellence in scholarship and teaching.

NEH expects that project directors will take responsibility for encouraging an ethos of openness and respect, upholding the basic norms of civil discourse.

Seminar, Institute, and Landmarks presentations and discussions should be:

  1. firmly grounded in rigorous scholarship, and thoughtful analysis;
  2. conducted without partisan advocacy;
  3. respectful of divergent views;
  4. free of ad hominem commentary; and
  5. devoid of ethnic, religious, gender, disability, or racial bias.

NEH welcomes comments, concerns, or suggestions on these principles at [email protected].

Applications closed on March 5, 2024 at 11:59 PM Pacific.

Applicants will be notified of the decision on their application on April 5, 2024.

Applicants who are accepted to the Institute must accept or decline by April 19, 2024 .

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).

If you have questions not answered by the materials on this website, please contact [email protected].