Enduring Questions: Pilot Course Grants

must give evidence of “pre-disciplinary” character, encouraging reflection on human experience and avoiding extensive specialization;
must focus on an explicitly stated question or questions, pursued in a disciplined and deliberate manner;
must draw on significant readings from prior to the twentieth century and may draw on later works, with a preference for reading books in their entirety or near entirety;
may draw on artworks (e.g., music, plays, sculpture);
must reflect intellectual pluralism, anticipating more than one plausible or interesting answer to the question(s) at hand;
must be open to all students regardless of major or concentration;
may not be offered for graduate credit; and
require a letter of institutional support from the president, provost, dean, program chair, or department chair, attesting to the course being new and committing to offering the course at least twice.

Enduring Questions grants may not be used for:

redevelopment of previously offered courses;
improvement of multiple courses;
curricular or pedagogical methods or theories;
graduate-level teaching preparation;
textbook research or revision;
projects that seek to promote a particular political, philosophical, religious, or ideological point of view;
projects that advocate a particular program of social action;
works in the creative and performing arts (e.g., painting, writing fiction or poetry, dance performance, etc.); or
doctoral dissertations, theses, or any other research pertaining to a degree program.

Providing Access to Grant Products

As a taxpayer-supported federal agency, the NEH endeavors to make the products of its awards available to the broadest possible audience. Our goal is for scholars, educators, students, and the American public to have ready and easy access to the wide range of NEH award products. For the Enduring Questions grant program, such products may include online course materials. For projects that lead to the development of Web sites, all other considerations being equal, the NEH gives preference to those that provide free access to the public.

The Endowment currently sponsors two agency-wide programs—We the People and Digital Humanities—and one special initiative, Rediscovering Afghanistan. Below is information on each. The NEH encourages applications in these three areas of special interest. Proposals will be evaluated through NEH’s established review process and will not receive special consideration.

We the People

To help Americans make sense of their history and of the world around them, NEH established the We the People program. NEH encourages applications that explore significant events and themes in our nation’s history and culture and that advance knowledge of the principles that define America. To learn more about We the People, visit the program’s Web site.

Digital Humanities

NEH welcomes applications for humanities projects that use digital technology or study its impact. Digital technologies offer humanists new methods of conducting research, conceptualizing relationships, and presenting scholarship. Digital humanities projects deploy these technologies and methods to enhance our understanding of a topic or issue. NEH also is interested in projects that study the impact of digital technology on the humanities—exploring the ways in which it changes how we read, write, think, and learn. Learn more about the NEH Office of Digital Humanities.

Rediscovering Afghanistan

NEH invites applications for projects that focus on Afghanistan’s history and culture. The special initiative is designed to promote research, education, and public programs about Afghanistan and to encourage United States institutions to assist Afghanistan in efforts to preserve and document its cultural resources. Learn more about the initiative.

Enduring Questions grants can be funded up to $25,000 in outright funds for projects serving a single institution. The Endowment anticipates making no more than 20 awards. The grant period may run range between eighteen and twenty-four months, depending on the project.

Grant Period

18 months: 7/1/09-12/31/10

24 months: 7/1/09-6/30/11

Cost Sharing

Cost sharing is not required.

(Learn more about different types of grant funding.)

Any U.S. nonprofit organization with IRS 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status is eligible, as are state and local governmental agencies. Individuals are not eligible to apply.

NEH generally does not award grants to other federal entities or to applicants whose projects are so closely intertwined with a federal entity that the project takes on characteristics of the federal entity’s own authorized activities. This does not preclude applicants from using grant funds from, or sites and materials controlled by, other federal entities in their projects.

Project directors must be tenure-track, non-tenure track, and adjunct faculty members at two-year or four-year colleges and universities. Graduate students are not eligible for this grant program.

Applicants must have the president, provost, dean, program chair, or department chair certify in writing that the institution supports the proposed course and that it is new and will be offered at least twice (see Section V.5, below).

Ineligible applications will not be reviewed.

HOW TO PREPARE YOUR APPLICATION

Application advice

Prior to beginning, applicants should review the evaluation criteria listed below in Section VI.

Because of the large number of applications expected, the Endowment staff is unable to read and comment on draft proposals. However, potential applicants may discuss with the staff specific questions that arise during the preparation of their proposals. Contact NEH’s Division of Education Programs at 202-606-8380 or education@neh.gov.

Hearing-impaired applicants can contact NEH via TDD at 1-866-372-2930.

Once an application has been submitted, the staff will not comment on it except with respect to issues of completeness and eligibility.

NEH does not accept applications by e-mail or fax.

You will prepare your application for submission via Grants.gov just as you would a paper application. Format pages with one-inch margins and with a 12-point, Times Roman font. Applications exceeding the page limits will not be reviewed.

In addition to two forms described below (the Federal Domestic Assistance Short Organizational (SF 424 Short) and the Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs), your application should consist of the following six parts (attached via the NEH Attachment Form):

Narrative—Not to Exceed Five Double-Spaced Pages
Applicants should provide an intellectual justification for their new humanities course. The narrative should not assume specialized knowledge and should be free of technical terms and jargon. The narrative should address the following areas:
- Intellectual Rationale and Teaching Value
  Identify the enduring question(s) to be explored and and the core readings for the course. Explain the relationship between the core readings and the enduring question(s) to be explored, as well as the relationship of the works to each other. Identify a provisional list of additional works that the project director will use to prepare the course. The rationale must give evidence of a “pre-disciplinary” character of the course. The readings must draw on significant works prior to the twentieth century and may draw on later works, with a preference for works read in their entirety or near entirety. The course may draw on works of visual art and music. The work(s) to be studied and the question(s) to be explored must reflect intellectual pluralism, anticipating more than one plausible or interesting approach.
- Envisioned Course Design
  Identify the intended audience for this course. Describe how the new course will be structured, what will be expected of the students, and how they will engage in a community of intellectual inquiry. Justify the choice of readings and other sources and describe how they will be studied and discussed. Explain how the course will deal with the challenges of, for example, extensive required reading. Describe any ancillary activities (class trips to concerts, plays, or museums, etc.). Describe any student writing or research components, as well as any other independent projects or potential outcomes of the course. Discuss how the effectiveness of the new course will be determined.
- Project director
  Describe how the faculty member’s intellectual interests and accomplishments as a teacher have prepared him or her to offer this course.
Bibliography—Not to Exceed Two Single-Spaced Pages
The bibliography should consist of primary and secondary sources that relate directly to the proposed course. Include the works you plan to study and related literature and other sources that you intend to consult in designing the course.
Budget
Using the instructions, complete the budget form (PDF). The NEH share of the project may not exceed $25,000. Review the following budget instructions in addition to those accompanying the budget forms. If you wish, you may attach separate pages with notes to explain any of the budget items in more detail. Applicants are advised to retain a copy of the PDF containing their budget form.

In addition to the $15,000 stipend for the project director, applicants may request funding for a digital humanities component, books and materials, ancillary activities (e.g., plays, concerts, museum admissions) with students, and publicity and dissemination of the course. Please describe with some detail how you intend to use these optional budget item funds in a budget narrative.
Résumé—Not to Exceed Two Single-Spaced Pages
- Current and Past Positions.
- Education: List degrees, dates awarded, and titles of theses or dissertations.
- Awards and Honors: Include dates. If you have received support from NEH, indicate the dates and the results.
- Course List: List courses taught within the last five years. Provide basic information about your teaching in the last year, including the number of students taught, the number of sections offered, and the total number of preparations.
- Other Relevant Professional Activities and Publications.

Letter of Institutional Commitment
A letter from the project director’s president, provost, dean, program chair, or department chair MUST certify that the institution supports the proposed project and will offer the course at least twice. Ideally, the chair or dean would also explain the importance of the course within the institution’s overall curriculum.
Abstract—Not to Exceed 200 Words
The abstract should be clear, free of jargon, and accessible to nonspecialists.

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION VIA GRANTS.GOV

Register or Verify Registration with Grants.gov

Applications for this program must be submitted via Grants.gov. Before using Grants.gov for the first time, each organization must register with the Web site to create an institutional profile. Once registered, your organization can then apply for any government grant on the Grants.gov Web site.

If your organization has already registered and you have verified that your registration is still valid, you may skip this step. If not, please see our handy checklist to guide you through the registration process. We strongly recommend you complete or verify your registration at least two weeks before the application deadline, as it takes time for your registration to be processed. If you have problems registering with Grants.gov, call the Grants.gov help desk at 1-800-518-4726.

Download the Free Adobe Reader Software

To fill out a Grants.gov application package, you will need to download and install the current version of Adobe Reader. The latest version of Adobe Reader, which is designed to function with PCs and Macintosh computers using a variety of popular operating systems, is available at no charge from the Adobe Web site (www.adobe.com) Click on “Get Adobe Reader” and then “Download Now.” Once installed, this software will allow you to view and fill out Grants.Gov application packages for any federal agency.

Once installed, the current version of Adobe Reader will allow you to view and fill out Grants.gov application packages for any federal agency. If you have a problem installing Adobe Reader, it may be because you do not have permission to install a new program on your computer. Many organizations have rules about installing new programs. If you encounter a problem, contact your system administrator.

Download the Application Package

To submit your application, you will need to download the application package from the Grants.gov Web site. You can download the application package at any time. (You do not have to wait for your Grants.gov registration to be complete.) Click the button at the right to download the package.

Save the application package to your computer’s hard drive. To open the application package, select the file and double click. You do not have to be online to work on it.

You can save your application package at any time by clicking the “Save” button at the top of your screen. Tip: If you choose to save your application package before you have completed it, you may receive an error message indicating that your application is not valid if all of the forms have not been completed. Click “OK” to save your work and complete the package another time. You can also use e-mail to share the application package with members of your organization or project team.

The application package contains three forms that you must complete in order to submit your application:

Application for Federal Domestic Assistance - Short Organizational (SF-424 Short)—this form asks for basic information about the project, the project director, and the institution.
Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs—this form asks for additional information about the project director, the institution, and the budget.
NEH Attachment Form—this form allows you to attach your narrative, budget, and the other parts of your application.

HOW TO FILL OUT THE APPLICATION FOR FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE SF-424 SHORT FORM

Select the form from the menu and double click to open it. Please provide the following information:

Name of Federal Agency: This will be filled in automatically with “National Endowment for the Humanities.”
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: This will be filled in automatically with the CFDA number and title of the NEH program to which you are applying.
Date Received: Please leave blank.
Funding Opportunity Number: This will be filled in automatically.
Applicant Information: In this section, please supply the name, address, employer/taxpayer identification number (EIN/TIN), DUNS number, Web site address, and congressional district of the institution. Also choose the "type" that best describes your institution (you only need to select one).

If your institution is located, for example, in the 5th Congressional District of your state, put a “5.” If your institution doesn't have a congressional district (e.g. it is in a state or U.S. territory that doesn't have districts or is in a foreign country), put a “0 ” (zero).

All institutions applying to federal grant programs are required to provide a DUNS number, issued by Dun & Bradstreet, as part of their application. Project directors should contact their institution’s grant administrator or chief financial officer to obtain their institution’s DUNS number. Federal grant applicants can obtain a DUNS number free of charge by calling 1-866-705-5711. (Learn more about the requirement.)
Project Information: Provide the title of your project. Your title should be brief, descriptive, and substantive. It should also be informative to a non-specialist audience. Provide a brief description of your project. The description should be written for a non-specialist audience and clearly state the importance of the proposed work and its relation to larger issues in the humanities. List the starting and ending dates for your project.
Project Director: Provide the Social Security Number, name, title, mailing address, e-mail address, and telephone and fax numbers for the project director.

Disclosure of Social Security Numbers is optional. NEH uses them for internal application processing only.
Primary Contact/Grants Administrator: Provide the contact information for the official responsible for the administration of the grant (e.g., negotiating the project budget and ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions of the award). This person is often a grants or research officer or a sponsored programs official. Normally, the Institutional Grants Administrator is not the same person as the Project Director. If the project director and the grant administrator are the same person, skip to item 9.
Authorized Representative: Provide the contact information for the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) who is submitting the application on behalf of the institution. This person, often called an “Authorizing Official,” is typically the president, vice president, executive director, provost, or chancellor. In order to become an AOR, the person must be designated by the institution’s E-Business Point of Contact. For more information, please consult the Grants.gov user guide, which is available at: www07.grants.gov/applicants/app_help_reso.jsp.

HOW TO FILL OUT THE SUPPLEMENTARY COVER SHEET FOR NEH GRANT PROGRAMS

Select the form from the menu and double click to open it. Please provide the following information:

Project Director: Use the pull-down menu to select the major field of study for the project director.
Institution Information: Use the pull-down menu to select your type of institution.
Project Funding: Enter your project funding information. Note that applicants for Challenge Grants should use the right column only; applicants to all other programs should use the left column only.
Application Information: Indicate whether the proposal will be submitted to other NEH grant programs, government agencies, or private entities for funding. If so, please indicate where and when. NEH frequently cosponsors projects with other funding sources. Providing this information will not prejudice the review of your application.
For Type of Application, check “new” if the application requests a new period of funding, whether for a new project or the next phase of a project previously funded by NEH. Check “supplement” if the application requests additional funding for a current NEH grant. If requesting a supplement, provide the current grant number (applicants should discuss their request with a NEH program officer before submitting such an application).

For Project Field Code, use the pull-down menu to select the humanities field of the project. If the project is multidisciplinary, choose the field that corresponds to the project’s predominant discipline.

HOW TO USE THE NEH ATTACHMENT FORM

You will use this form to attach the various files that make up your application.

Your attachments must be in Portable Document Format (.pdf). We cannot accept attachments in their original word processing or spreadsheet formats. If you don’t already have software to convert your files into PDFs, there are many low-cost and free software packages available. To learn more, go to http://www.neh.gov/grants/grantsgov/pdf.html.

When you open the NEH Attachment Form, you will find 15 attachment buttons, labeled “Attachment 1” through “Attachment 15.” By clicking on a button, you will be able to choose the file from your computer that you wish to attach. You must name and attach your files in the proper order so that we can identify them. Please attach the proper file to the proper button as listed below:

ATTACHMENT 1: To this button, please attach your project narrative. Please name the file “narrative.pdf”.

ATTACHMENT 2: To this button, please attach your bibliography. Please name the file “bibliography.pdf”.

ATTACHMENT 3: To this button, please attach your budget. Please name the file “budget.pdf”.

ATTACHMENT 4: To this button, please attach your résumé. Please name the file “resume.pdf”.

ATTACHMENT 5: To this button, please attach your letter of institutional commitment.. Please name the file “letter.pdf”.

ATTACHMENT 6: To this button, please attach your abstract. Please name the file “abstract.pdf”.

No other attachments should be included. Applications submitted with additional attachments or with attachments that exceed the length limitations will not be reviewed.

UPLOADING YOUR APPLICATION TO GRANTS.GOV

When you have completed all three forms, use the right-facing arrow to move each of them to the “Mandatory Documents for Submission” column. Once they have been moved over, the “Submit” button will activate. You are now ready to upload your application package to Grants.gov.

During the registration process, your institution designated one or more AORs (Authorized Organization Representatives). These AORs typically work in your institution’s Sponsored Research Office or Grants Office. When you have completed your application, you must ask your AOR to submit the application, using the special username and password that was assigned to him or her during the registration process.

To submit your application, your computer must have an active connection to the Internet. To begin the submission process, click the “submit” button. A page will appear, asking you to sign and submit your application. At this point, your AOR will enter his or her username and password. When you click the “sign and submit application” button, your application package will be uploaded to Grants.gov. Please note that it may take some time to upload your application package, depending on the size of your files and the speed of your Internet connection.

After the upload is complete, a confirmation page, which includes a tracking number, will appear, indicating that you have submitted your application to Grants.gov. Please print this page for your records. The AOR will also receive a confirmation e-mail.

NEH suggests that you submit your application no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the day of the deadline. That way, should you encounter a technical problem of some kind, you will still have time to contact the Grants.gov help desk for support. The Grants.gov help desk is open Monday to Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time at 1-800-518-4726. You can also send an e-mail to support@grants.gov.

Deadline

Applications for NEH Enduring Questions grants must be received by Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on November 13, 2008. Grants.gov will date- and time-stamp your application after it is fully uploaded. Applications submitted after that date will not be accepted.

Evaluators are asked to apply the following criteria when judging the quality of applications.

Intellectual quality
Are the intellectual rationale of the project and its approach to the enduring question(s) compelling?

Does the intellectual rationale give evidence of a “pre-disciplinary” approach to the course?

Is there a well-articulated relationship between the enduring question(s) to be considered and the works to be studied?

Do the question(s) to be considered and the core works to be read by students reflect intellectual pluralism?

Does the study seriously engage humanities sources prior to the twentieth century?

Does the course emphasize the reading of books in their entirety or near entirety?

Is the proposal clear, free of jargon, and accessible to nonspecialists?
Feasibility
Is the envisioned course design effectively tailored to its intended audience?

Are reading loads ambitious but realistic?

Are ancillary activities, if any, well conceived?

Is the teacher intellectually prepared to offer the proposed course?

Is there a commitment on the part of the institution to support this course?
Impact
Does the course have the potential to foster intellectual community anchored in enduring questions among students in the course?

Does the course have the potential to foster intellectual community anchored in enduring questions at the applicant institution?

The Endowment expects grantees to provide broad access to all grant products, insofar as the conditions of the materials and intellectual property rights allow. For projects that lead to the development of Web sites, all other considerations being equal, the NEH gives preference to those that provide free access to the public.

Review and Selection Process

Knowledgeable persons outside NEH will read each application and advise the agency about its merits. The Endowment’s staff comments on matters of fact or on significant issues that otherwise would be missing from these reviews, then makes recommendations to the National Council on the Humanities. The National Council meets at various times during the year to advise the NEH chairman on grants. The chairman takes into account the advice provided by the review process and, by law, makes all funding decisions.

Award notices

Applicants will be notified of the result of their application by letter or e-mail in June 2009. They may obtain reasons for the funding decision by sending a letter or e-mail to NEH, Division of Education Programs, 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Room 302, Washington, D.C. 20506 or education@neh.gov.

Administrative requirements

Before submitting an application, applicants should review their responsibilities as an award recipient.

Award conditions

The requirements for awards to organizations are contained in the General Terms and Conditions for Awards to Organizations, any specific terms and conditions contained in the award document, and the applicable OMB circulars governing federal grants management.

Reporting requirements

A schedule of report due dates will be included with the award document.

Interim and final performance reports will be required. Further details can be found in Performance Reporting Requirements (formerly Enclosure 2).

A Federal Cash Transactions Report (2-page PDF) will be due within 30 days after the end of each calendar quarter. A final Financial Status Report (2-page PDF) will be due within 90 days after the completion date of the award period. Further details can be found in Financial Reporting Requirements (formerly Enclosure 1).

Recipients will be expected to submit a course syllabus, a bibliography, and other relevant materials upon the completion of the grant. These materials may be posted on the NEH Web site.

If you have questions about the program, contact:

Division of Education Programs
National Endowment for the Humanities
Room 302
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20506
202-606-8380 or education@neh.gov

If you need help using Grants.gov, contact:

Grants.gov: http://www.grants.gov/
Grants.gov help desk: support@grants.gov
Grants.gov customer support tutorials and manuals: www07.grants.gov/applicants/app_help_reso.jsp
Grant.gov support line: 1-800-518-GRANTS (4726

Privacy Policy

Information in these guidelines is solicited under the authority of the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act of 1965, as amended, 20 U.S.C. 956. The principal purpose for which the information will be used is to process the grant application. The information may also be used for statistical research, analysis of trends, and Congressional oversight. Failure to provide the information may result in the delay or rejection of the application.

Application Completion Time

The Office of Management and Budget requires federal agencies to supply information on the time needed to complete forms and also to invite comments on the paperwork burden. NEH estimates the average time to complete this application is fifteen hours per response. This estimate includes time for reviewing instructions, researching, gathering, and maintaining the information needed, and completing and reviewing the application.

Please send any comments regarding the estimated completion time or any other aspect of this application, including suggestions for reducing the completion time, to the Office of Publications, National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington, D.C. 20506; and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (3136-0134), Washington, D.C. 20503. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB number.