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. The Institute Selection Committees is composed of four members drawn from the Institute’s directors and participating faculty.
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:
- quality and commitment as a teacher, scholar, and interpreter of the humanities;
- intellectual interests, in general and as they relate to the work of the institute;
- special perspectives, skills, or experiences that would contribute to the institute;
- the likelihood that the experience will enhance the applicant’s teaching and scholarship.
At least five institute spaces will be reserved for non-tenure track/adjunct faculty members. Applicants need not have an advanced degree. Recent participants 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 (2014, 2015, 2016). 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.
For more information, please see NEH’s Eligibility Criteria.
