Max Award: $75,000
Deadline: Jan 13, 2010
America’s Historical and Cultural Organizations grants support projects in the humanities that explore stories, ideas, and beliefs that deepen the understanding of lives and the world. The Division of Public Programs supports the development of humanities content and interactivity that excite, inform, and stir thoughtful reflection upon culture, identity, and history in creative and new ways.
Grants for America’s Historical and Cultural Organizations should encourage dialogue, discussion, and civic engagement, and they should foster learning among people of all ages. To that end, the Division of Public Programs urges applicants to consider more than one format for presenting humanities ideas to the public.
Planning grants are available for projects that may need further development before applying for implementation. This planning can include the identification and refinement of the project’s main humanities ideas and questions, consultation with scholars in order to strengthen the humanities content, preliminary audience evaluation, preliminary design of the proposed interpretive formats, beta testing of digital formats, development of complementary programming, research at archives or sites whose resources might be used, or the drafting of interpretive materials.
America’s Historical and Cultural Organizations grants support projects that are presented in the following formats:
1. Traveling exhibitions that are presented at multiple venues
2. Long-term exhibitions at one institution
3. Interpretive websites or other digital formats
4. Interpretation of historic places or areas
5. Reading and discussion programs
6. Panel exhibitions that travel widely, reach a broad audience, and take advantage of complementary programming formats (e.g., reading and discussion series, radio, or other media) to enhance the visitor experience
7. Other project formats that creatively engage audiences in humanities ideas
Applications that make innovative use of emerging technologies are encouraged. Projects must do more than simply provide a digital archive of material. They should offer new ways of contextualizing and interpreting information that engages public audiences interactively. Applications may, for example, include plans to create PDA tours and resources, podcasts, virtual environments, wiki formats, other formats that utilize user-generated content, virtual imaging, GIS mapping, online scholar-led discussions, streaming video, games, or other digital formats.
When it is relevant, applications must explain how user-generated postings to public cyberspace will be vetted by qualified scholars or project staff for accuracy and public educational value. Digital components must rest on sound humanities scholarship and enhance the project’s humanities content for the general public in ways that take unique advantage of the proposed formats.
Additional information can be found at the following URL:
http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/AHCO_PlanningGuidelines.html
