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FAS Research Development
Opportunities in the Arts, Humanities, and Humanistic Social Sciences
January 2015
Opportunities:
Funding Opportunities
Unless otherwise noted, all full proposals to external sponsors must be submitted to the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) for review five business days in advance of the sponsor deadline.  For questions regarding any of the opportunities listed below, please contact Erin Cromack, Research Development Officer, at cromack@fas.harvard.edu or 617-496-5252

clirCouncil on Library and Information Resources
Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives  

Deadline for Initial Proposals: April 30, 2015
Award Amount: $50,000 to $250,000 over 12 to 24 months for single-institution projects; $50,000 to $500,000 over 12 to 36 months for collaborative projects


The goal of this program is to digitize and provide access to collections of rare or unique content in cultural heritage institutions. Competitive applications will: encourage approaches to digitization that make possible new kinds of scholarship in the digital research environment; support the digitization of entire collections; promote strategic partnerships; promote best practices for ensuring the long-term availability and discoverability of digital content; and ensure that digitized content is made available to the public as easily and completely as possible.


For more information, see here.

 
 
mass_humanitiesMass Humanities
Project Grants
Letter of Inquiry Deadline: March 20, 2015 (review by OSP not required for LOI)
Full Proposal Deadline: April 10, 2015
Award Amount: Up to $5,000, though some thematic and media grants can be as high as $10,000.  Requires 1:1 matching funds.

Mass Humanities' standard grant supports public programming in the humanities in Massachusetts, including film, lecture, reading, and discussion series; exhibits; media pre-production and distribution; and other public activities.  In general, Mass Humanities prioritizes funding projects that engage those whose contact with humanities programming is limited (see Engaging New Audiences for the Humanities), and programming that responds to the current theme, Negotiating the Social Contract.

For more information, see here.

dedalusDedalus Foundation
Institutional Grants
Deadline: March 15, 2015
Award Amount: Up to $25,000
Target Disciplines: Modern Art, Arts Education, Conservation
 

The Dedalus Foundation educates the public by fostering public understanding of modern art and modernism through its support of research, education, publications, and exhibitions in this field.  The Dedalus Foundation Institutional Grants support educational programs, exhibitions, and publications by museums, universities, art schools, and other educational institutions.  In addition to providing funds for short term projects, the Foundation provides seed money to facilitate long term projects that are in their initial or planning stage. 

 

For more information, see  here.  

pfahProvostial Fund for the Arts and Humanities
Deadline: March 13, 2015
Award Amount: Up to $7,500

This fund is intended to support creative, innovative initiatives in the arts and humanities, for projects within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and/or other schools. Proposals might include (but are by no means limited to) performances, master classes, conferences, workshops, seminars and visits by outsiders (although not simply lectures). They may (but need not) involve collaborations across departments and divisions of the FAS and the University as well as with colleagues beyond the University. In the same spirit, they may (but need not) be interdisciplinary or cross-cultural in character. Although a direct tie-in with the curriculum is not an absolute requirement, proposals that have a clear connection to the curriculum -- to existing courses, planned courses, or pedagogical activities more broadly construed -- will be favored.

For more information, see here.

neaNational Endowment for the Arts
Creative Writing Fellowships
Deadline: March 11, 2015
Award Amount: $25,000

The NEA Literature Fellowships program offers grants in prose (fiction and creative nonfiction) to published creative writers that enable recipients to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career advancement. Applications are reviewed through an anonymous process in which the only criteria for review are artistic excellence and artistic merit. Candidates must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States and between January 1, 2008, and March 11, 2015, must have had published:

  • At least five different short stories, works of short fiction,  excerpts from novels or memoirs, or creative essays (or any combination thereof) in two or more literary journals, anthologies, or publications that regularly include fiction and/or creative nonfiction as a portion of their format; or
  • A volume of short fiction or a collection of short stories; or
  • A novel or novella; or
  • A volume of creative nonfiction.

For more information, see here. 

 

neh_scholarNew Program!
National Endowment for the Humanities
Public Scholar Program
Deadline: March 3, 2015
Award Amount: $4,200/month for 6-12 months

The Public Scholar program supports well-researched books in the humanities intended to reach a broad readership.  Such scholarship 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 grounded in humanities research and scholarship. They must address significant humanities themes likely to be of broad interest and must be written in a readily accessible style.  Making use of primary and/or secondary sources, they should open up important and appealing subjects for wider audiences. The challenge is to make sense of a significant topic in a way that will appeal to general readers.

NEH especially welcomes applicants who are in the writing stages of their projects or who already have a commitment from a publisher. However, the Public Scholar program also supports projects in the early stages of development.

For more information, see here.

doris_dukeDoris Duke Charitable Foundation
Fund for National Projects
Letter of Inquiry Deadline: February 27, 2015
Award Amount: Grants range from $60,000 to $200,000 and cannot exceed 50 percent of a project's total cost
Eligible Disciplines: Dance, jazz, presenting or theatre fields

The fund supports projects that strengthen the national infrastructure of the dance, jazz, presenting or theatre fields; or improve conditions for the national community of performing artists in dance, jazz and theatre, such as but not limited to:
  • Research projects assessing the national health of professional nonprofit arts groups or of individual professional artists;
  • Special national convenings for entire professional nonprofit performing arts fields (beyond traditional national annual conferences);
  • Special projects that address unique circumstances that affect an entire professional nonprofit field.
National projects engage a broad national constituency, occur once (or periodically) rather than annually, and have the potential to significantly impact a field. Highest priority will be given to projects that improve the health of the Arts Program's priority performing arts fields and do not duplicate ongoing efforts or existing services. 

For more information, see here.  

grahamGraham Foundation
Production and Presentation Grants
Deadline: February 25, 2015
Award Amount: Up to $30,000

These grants assist organizations with the production-related expenses that are necessary to take a project from conceptualization to realization and public presentation. These projects include, but are not limited to, publications, exhibitions, installations, films, new media projects, conferences/lectures, and other public programs.  An organization applying for publication support should have a committed publisher for the work with a contractual agreement to publish the proposed project. 

Note: An academic department/unit may only apply for one grant per year.

For more information, see here.

neh_summerNational Endowment for the Humanities
Summer Seminars and Institutes
Deadline: February 24, 2015
Award Amount: Awards for seminars range between $75,000 and $150,000 for a grant period of twelve months.  Awards for institutes range from $90,000 to $200,000 for a grant period of fifteen months.

These grants support faculty development programs in the humanities for school teachers and for college and university teachers. NEH Summer Seminars and Institutes may be as short as two weeks or as long as five weeks.  NEH Summer Seminars and Institutes extend and deepen knowledge and understanding of the humanities by focusing on significant topics and texts; contribute to the intellectual vitality and professional development of participants; build communities of inquiry and provide models of civility and excellent scholarship and teaching; and link teaching and research in the humanities.

For more information, see here.

neh_digitalNational Endowment for the Humanities
Digital Humanities Implementation Grants
Deadline: February 18, 2015
Award Amount: $100,000 to $325,000 over 1-3 years

This program is designed to fund the implementation of innovative digital-humanities projects that have successfully completed a start-up phase and demonstrated their value to the field. Such projects might enhance our understanding of central problems in the humanities, raise new questions in the humanities, or develop new digital applications and approaches for use in the humanities. The program can support innovative digital-humanities projects that address multiple audiences, including scholars, teachers, librarians, and the public.

For more information, see here.

pficHarvard University
Provost Fund for Interfaculty Collaboration
Deadline: February 20, 2015
Award Amount: Up to $25,000

The Provost's Fund for Interfaculty Collaboration (PFIC) was developed to promote discussion and collaboration on topics and activities of mutual intellectual interest that involve faculty from two or more Harvard Schools. The Provost has limited funds to support a variety of faculty collaborations, including but not limited to cross-School interdisciplinary courses, working groups, and small-scale conferences.

To be eligible for support, the designated leader and faculty involved with the proposal must hold primary Harvard faculty appointments at the rank of Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor. Additionally, the faculty involved must be from at least two different Schools or two different divisions within FAS. Priority will be given to applicants who have not previously received funding from the grant.

For more information, see here.

elsonElson Family Arts Initiative
Deadline: January 23, 2015 or April 3, 2015
Award Amount: Up to $5,000

The Elson Family Arts Initiative fund supports undergraduate education in the arts and humanities and the integration of the arts into the curriculum within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.  Course proposals may (but need not) involve collaborations across departments and divisions of the FAS. The updated application guidelines are below.  The Committee will only consider proposals that have a curricular connection and that show the prudent use of funds. As a general rule, priority will be given to proposals for art-making in courses where art-making has not traditionally been inserted.

For more information, see here.
Contact
Erin Cromack
Research Development Officer
617-496-5252

For previous funding opportunity announcements, view our email archive

Unless otherwise noted, all applications to external sponsors must be submitted to the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) for review five business days in advance of the sponsor deadline.