Awards for Faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Division of Research Programs
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Grants.gov will be offline due to scheduled maintenance between March 18-20, 2023.
The Awards for Faculty program strengthens the humanities at Historically Black Colleges and Universities by encouraging and expanding humanities research opportunities for individual faculty and staff members. Awards support individuals pursuing scholarly research that is of value to humanities scholars, students, and/or general audiences.
The program welcomes proposals in all areas of the humanities, regardless of geographic or chronological focus. This program offers applicants flexibility in project outcomes and award periods. Projects must be based on humanities research. Eligible projects include:
- research in primary and secondary materials leading to the development of books, monographs, peer-reviewed articles, e-books, digital materials, translations with annotations or a critical apparatus, critical editions, or other scholarly resources
- research related to institutional or community goals or interests, such as projects that draw on archival collections, collection and interpretation of oral histories, or the development of materials in support of culture or language preservation and revitalization
- research leading to the improvement of a single existing undergraduate course, including the development of humanities resources (for example, oral histories, identification and preparation of previously unavailable archival sources, or newly compiled historical or literary collections)
- research leading to digital or web-based products intended to supplement a course revision or publication project
The program is open to all faculty and staff members, including full-time, part-time, adjunct, and retired faculty and staff at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). Awards support individuals who work between half time and full time on their projects. Projects may be at any stage of development.
There will be a pre-application webinar Friday, January 27, 1:00 pm Eastern Time. Register here.
Watch a Recording of the Online Information Session
A live online information session was held on January 27, 2023. The session explained the goals of the program, the eligibility requirements, how applications are reviewed, application materials, and how to submit the application package. To watch a recording of the session, please click here. The main presentation is about forty minutes long, followed by Q&A.
Read the Notice of Funding Opportunity to ensure you understand all the expectations and restrictions for projects delivered under this program and that you are prepared to write the most effective application.
Application Materials
Awards for Faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities Grants.gov application package
Program Resources
Awards for Faculty Frequently Asked Questions, 2023-2024 (PDF)
Awards for Faculty Sample Projects (PDF)
List of recent Awards for Faculty
Sample Application Narratives
The narrative samples below are not intended to serve as models, but to give you a sense of how a successful application might be crafted. Note that the format has changed since these applications were submitted. Follow the guidelines in the currently posted Notice of Funding Opportunity to insure that your application is complete and eligible.
Scholarly Resources Projects and Community or Institutional Goals or Interests Projects
Sample Application: A Study of Diné (Navajo) Traditional Sheep Butchering
Sample Application: Women Writers and the Portrayal of Women in British Indian Fiction
Sample Application: Women of Leech Lake Nation: Historical Trauma and Colonization
Sample Application: Moroccan Director Moumen Smihi (b.1945): Arab Modernities and Cinema
Sample Application: Andean Cosmopolitans: Indigenous Journeys to the Habsburg Royal Court
Sample Application, The Abolitionist Movement's Involvement in American Politics, 1750-1865
Sample Application, The Discourse of Sovereignty in American Indian Print Culture
Sample Application, A History of Prison Architecture and Punishment in Colonial Senegal
Sample Application, The Mind of Eighteenth-Century British Writer Charlotte Lennox
Sample Application, Northern Cheyenne Ledger-Art Notebooks
Course Revision Projects
Sample Application, Pre-Columbian Art of the Western and Northern Frontiers of Mesoamerica
As soon as you know you're ready to apply, make sure you register for a Grants.gov, account as this is vital to the application process. If you already have registered, make sure it is up to date.
As soon you are ready to apply, register for a Grants.gov account as this is vital to the application process. If you already registered, confirm that your registration is current.
Follow the instructions outlined in the Notice of Funding Opportunity and Grants.gov.
NEH will request letters of reference from your recommenders approximately seven to ten days after the application deadline. You will be notified by email when each of your letters of reference has been received. Once you receive final confirmation of receipt from Grants.gov, you may check the status of your letters by logging in to the secure area of NEH’s website. Enter your NEH application number and your Grants.gov tracking number. You will be able to see the names and e-mail addresses of your letter writers and whether their letters have arrived. If necessary, you may send reminders to your letter writers (including the upload link) from this site. You are responsible for ensuring that your letter writers have received the solicitations from NEH and submitted their letters.