Apply for Public Scholars Program (United States)

Writers with or without an academic affiliation may apply, and no advanced degree is required. The program encourages non-academic writers to deepen their engagement with the humanities by strengthening the research underlying their books, and it encourages academic writers in the humanities to communicate the significance of their research to the broadest possible range of readers. NEH especially encourages applications from independent writers, researchers, scholars, and journalist.

The program welcomes projects in all areas of the humanities, regardless of geographic or chronological focus. The resulting books might present a narrative history, tell the stories of important individuals, analyze significant texts, provide a synthesis of ideas, revive interest in a neglected subject, or examine the latest thinking on a topic.

Books supported by this program must be written in an accessible style. They must clearly explain specialized terms and concepts and must frame their topics to have wide appeal. At the same time, they should be authoritative, carefully researched, and appropriately documented, making use of relevant primary and/or secondary sources and showing appropriate familiarity with relevant existing publications or scholarship.

Proposals for books directed primarily to professional scholars are unlikely to be competitive in this program.

The program supports projects at any stage of development. You may propose to complete your manuscript during the period of performance or at a later date. You may also seek support for the creation of digital or web-based products intended to supplement your proposed book.

Focus Areas

• NEH is especially interested in supporting projects that advance humanities-related work in the following areas.
  • American Tapestry: Weaving Together Past, Present, and Future
    • This is a wide-ranging special initiative at NEH that leverages the humanities to tackle some of the most pressing challenges of the time: strengthening the democracy, advancing equity for all, and addressing the changing climate. The initiative encourages humanities projects that elevate the role of civics in schools and public programs, advance knowledge of the country’s history and political institutions, and examine threats to its democratic principles. The initiative also encourages projects that explore the untold stories of historically underrepresented groups and build capacity at cultural and educational institutions to benefit underserved communities. Finally, the initiative welcomes projects that promote research into the historical roots and cultural effects of climate change and support the cultural and educational sectors in building climate resilience. By supporting humanities projects that align with these three themes—strengthening the democracy, advancing equity for all, and addressing the changing climate—the American Tapestry initiative seeks to tell the country’s history in all its complexity and diversity.
  • United We Stand: Connecting Through Culture
    • In coordination with the White House “United We Stand” Summit in September 2022, NEH launched a new initiative titled United We Stand: Connecting Through Culture that uses the humanities to combat hate-motivated violence and promote civic engagement, social cohesion, and cross-cultural understanding. As a part of this initiative, NEH encourages humanities projects that further the understanding of the nation’s racial, ethnic, gender, and religious diversity; examine the sources of hate and intolerance in the United States; and explore progress towards greater inclusiveness. NEH especially welcomes projects that explore the Muslim American and/or the Jewish American experience, including the history of Islamophobia and/or antisemitism.
  • NEH’s Support for the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative 
    • As a part of NEH’s partnership with the Department of the Interior on the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, NEH encourages projects that further public understanding and knowledge of the Federal Indian boarding school system. From 1819 through the 1970s the government of the United States operated a system of schools for Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children premised on a policy of coerced cultural assimilation. Native children were forcibly separated from their families and sent to attend federal Indian boarding schools, where they were frequently subject to harsh treatment and abuse. A number of these students died, and others never returned to their families and communities. Many were also deprived of their cultural inheritance. NEH encourages projects that document and explore the history of the federal Indian boarding schools as well as projects that contribute to Native and Indigenous cultural and language revitalization.

Funding Information

• Successful applicants will receive a stipend of $5,000 per full-time month; the maximum award is $60,000 for a twelve-month period. You may work on your project part time or full time (or combine periods of part-time and full-time work). NEH will reduce awards to reflect the smaller time commitment when recipients work part time or for less than twelve months. The minimum award is $30,000, requiring a commitment to six months of full-time work or the equivalent.
• NEH anticipates approximately $1,500,000 to fund approximately 25 recipients per deadline. NEH will award successful applicants outright funds, which are not contingent on additional funding from other sources.
• NEH will not determine the funding available each fiscal year until Congress enacts the final budget. This notice is subject to the availability of appropriated funds and is a contingency action taken to ensure that, should funds become available for this purpose, NEH can process applications and issue awards in a timely manner.

Duration

• Your period of performance must:
  • start on the first day of the month and end on the last day of the month
  • be continuous
  • be the equivalent of six to twelve full-time months. If you propose a time period of less than the equivalent of six full-time months, NEH will reject your application.
  • not exceed twelve months, even if it includes part-time work
• You must:
  • work at least half time on your project throughout your period of performance
  • forego other major activities, including teaching, while holding a full-time award
  • carry a reduced teaching load when working part time on your project, if you teach while holding an award

Eligibility Criteria

• The Public Scholars program accepts applications from individuals, whether they have an affiliation with a scholarly institution or not.
• You must be one of the following to be eligible:
  • A U.S. citizen residing domestically or abroad
  • A foreign national who has lived in the United States or its jurisdictions for at least the three years prior to the application deadline
• Foreign nationals who take up permanent residence outside the United States any time between the application deadline and the end of the period of performance will forfeit their eligibility. Leaving the U.S. on a temporary basis is permitted.
• Organizations are ineligible. If you elect to have the stipend paid through your institution, it must remit all NEH funds to you and not take an institutional allowance or claim indirect costs.

Publication Requirement

• In addition to the criteria above, to be eligible to apply to this program you must have either:
  • written and published a nonfiction book with a university press or trade press; OR
  • written and published at least three nonfiction articles or essays in general-interest publications that reach a large national or international audience. The articles or essays may be published either in print or electronically.

For more information, visit NEH.