Arts, Humanities, and Humanistic Social Sciences
Upcoming Funding Opportunities | February 2016
Unless otherwise noted, all full proposals to external sponsors must be submitted to the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) five business days in advance of the sponsor deadline.
Questions? Please contact
Caitlin McDermott-Murphy, Research Development Specialist: 


INTERNAL OPPORTUNITIES

EXTERNAL OPPORTUNITIES
Match your project to a grant program:

I am looking for research support for my project.

I want to visit an archive or library and/or fund my sabbatical leave.

I am a recent PhD looking for a fellowship opportunity.

I want to build the capacity of my home institution to support humanities activities.

I am organizing a scholarly conference.

I want to host a program for faculty, scholars, or practitioners to expand their knowledge of a topic.

I want to combine digital technology with the humanities or preserve a collection and/or make it easier for people to access.

I want to create a website with humanities content.

I want to develop or put on an exhibition or cultural program for the public or engage in community revitalization.


I am an artist or creative writer looking for project support.

I want to host a visiting scholar.

INTERNAL OPPORTUNITIES

Elson Family Arts Initiativeelson
Deadline: April 1, 2016
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. 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.

Examples of previous awards include a science course that has allowed students to produce artistic works illustrating scientific principles, a course about German national identity where students organize performances from the German musical tradition, and a course exploring modernity in Latin America where students learn to dance the tango. 

For more information, see here. 

Foundations of Human Behavior InitiativeFHBI
Deadline: February 29, 2016
Award Amount: up to $40,000 for ladder faculty and $5,000 for doctoral students and post-docs

This Fund provides seed grants to support transformative research in the social and behavioral sciences. Successful proposals will be those that promise to advance understanding of the social, institutional and biological mechanisms shaping human beliefs and behavior. The funds will be used to support interdisciplinary social science research projects based on innovative experimental or observational designs that make use of sophisticated quantitative methods.

The Fund also supports seminars, conferences, and other research-related activities.

For more information, see here. 

Provostial Fund for the Arts and Humanitiesprovostial
Deadline: February 26, 2016
Award Amount: up to $7,500; the Committee strongly encourages proposals that are more modest in nature

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. 

Anne and Jim Rothenberg Fund for Humanities Researchrothenberg
Deadline: February 26, 2016
Award Amount: up to $7,500; the Committee strongly encourages proposals that are more modest in nature

This fund is intended to support new and ongoing research projects (both individual and collaborative) by Harvard ladder faculty in the humanities. 

Costs associated with publication or any related forms of dissemination are eligible. Proposals might include (but are by no means limited to): research for books, articles, performances, films, installations, translations, web-based projects, scholarly editions, databases, and any other form of scholarly writing or creative work. Proposals may (but need not) be interdisciplinary or cross-cultural in character. Expenses associated with travel to collections and archives, as well as travel to conferences, symposia, seminars, film festivals, and other scholarly gatherings are eligible. Expenses to pay research assistants are permitted, although faculty are asked to hire Harvard undergraduates or graduate students as research assistants. 

The committee hopes that it can fund proposals across all these categories, but if forced to choose, it will give priority to funding travel to do research over travel to present findings. 

For more information, see here. 

EXTERNAL OPPORTUNITIES
 
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizationunesco
UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme
Deadline: April 30, 2016
OSP Deadline: April 22, 2016
Award Amount: the overall success of the Program depends on financial and in-kind support. UNESCO, not being a funding agency, cannot be a major donor. For this reason, UNESCO encourages institutions to mobilize financial partners at the time when they are preparing the project proposals and also offers its services in helping to mobilize resources

The UNESCO program serves as a means of building the capacities of higher education and research institutions through the exchange of knowledge and sharing, in a spirit of international solidarity. The program covers training, research and exchange of academics and offers a platform for information sharing in all fields. The majority of projects are interdisciplinary. 
 
Because of the nature and flexibility of the Chairs Program, universities can respond more readily and with greater autonomy to the demands for new learning and research in a world undergoing rapid economic, social and technological change.

For more information, see here.
 
Poetry Foundationpoetry
Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships
Deadline: April 30, 2016
OSP Deadline: OSP review is not required for grants awarded directly to individuals
Award Amount: $25,800

These fellowships are intended to encourage the further study and writing of poetry. Previously published poems may be included in the application. Applicants must be U.S. citizens. Applicants must be at least 21 years of age and no older than 31 years of age as of April 30, 2016.

For more information, see here.
 
National Endowment for the HumanitiesNEH_fellowships
Fellowships
Deadline: April 28, 2016
OSP Deadline: OSP review is not required for grants awarded directly to individuals
Award Amount: $4,200 per month for six to twelve months

Fellowships support individuals pursuing advanced research that is of value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both. Recipients usually produce articles, monographs, books, digital materials, archaeological site reports, translations, editions, or other scholarly resources in the humanities. Projects may be at any stage of development.

Recipients may begin their awards as early as January 1, 2016, and as late as September 1, 2017. The award period must be full-time and continuous. Teaching and administrative assignments or other major activities may not be undertaken during the fellowship period.

For more information, see here.
 
National Endowment for the HumanitiesNEH_japan
Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan
Deadline: April 28, 2016
OSP Deadline: OSP review is not required for grants awarded directly to individuals
Award Amount: $4,200 per month for six to twelve months

The Fellowship Program for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan is a joint activity of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission (JUSFC) and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Awards support research on modern Japanese society and political economy, Japan's international relations, and U.S.-Japan relations. The program encourages innovative research that puts these subjects in wider regional and global contexts and is comparative and contemporary in nature. 

Research should contribute to scholarly knowledge or to the general public's understanding of issues of concern to Japan and the United States. Appropriate disciplines for the research include anthropology, economics, geography, history, international relations, linguistics, political science, psychology, public administration, and sociology. 

Awards usually result in articles, monographs, books, digital materials, archaeological site reports, translations, editions, or other scholarly resources. Fellows may undertake their projects in Japan, the United States, or both, and may include work in other countries for comparative purposes. Projects may be at any stage of development.

For more information, see here.
 
Department of EducationDEd_Fulbright
Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program: Advanced Overseas Intensive Language Training Projects
Deadline: April 23, 2016 (anticipated)
OSP Deadline: April 15, 2016
Award Amount: up to $375,000 (estimated average award size is $125,000)

The Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (GPA) Program supports overseas projects in training, research, and curriculum development in modern foreign languages and area studies for groups of teachers, students, and faculty engaged in a common endeavor. 

Short-term projects may include seminars, curriculum development, or group research or study. Long-term projects support advanced overseas intensive language projects, which give advanced language students the opportunity to study languages overseas. 

For more information, see here.
 
John W. Kluge Centerkluge_fellowship
David B. Larson Fellowship in Health and Spirituality
Deadline: April 17, 2016
OSP Deadline: OSP review is not required for grants awarded directly to individuals
Award Amount: $4,200 per month for six to twelve months

The David B. Larson Fellowship seeks to encourage the pursuit of scholarly excellence in the scientific study of the relation of religiousness and spirituality to physical, mental, and social health. The fellowship provides an opportunity for a period of six to twelve months of concentrated use of the collections of the Library of Congress, through full-time residency in the Library's John W. Kluge Center.

Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents and must possess a doctoral degree awarded by the deadline date.

For more information, see here.
 
National Endowment for the ArtsNEA_challenge
Challenge America
Deadline: April 14, 2016
OSP Deadline: April 7, 2016
Award Amount: $10,000; requires a minimum $10,000 match

The Challenge America category offers support primarily to small and mid-sized organizations for projects that extend the reach of the arts to underserved populations--those whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography, ethnicity, economics, or disability. Grants are available for professional arts programming and for projects that emphasize the potential of the arts in community development.

This category encourages and supports the following objective: 
  • Engagement: Engaging the public with diverse and excellent art.

For more information, see here.
 
Endangered Language Fundendangered
Language Legacies Grant Program
Deadline: April 10, 2016
OSP Deadline: April 4, 2016
Award Amount: up to $4,000 (awards average $2,000)

The Endangered Language Fund provides grants for language documentation and revitalization, and for linguistic fieldwork. The work most likely to be funded is that which serves both the native community and the field of linguistics, although projects which have immediate applicability to one group and more distant applicability to the other will also be considered. 

Support for publication is a low priority, although it will be considered. Proposals can originate in any country. The language involved must be in danger of disappearing within a generation or two. Endangerment is a continuum, and the location on the continuum is one factor in our funding decisions. Eligible expenses include consultant fees, equipment, travel, etc

For more information, see here.
 
Council on Library and Information ResourcesCLIR
Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives
Deadline: April 5, 2016
OSP Deadline: March 29, 2016
Award Amount: $50,000 to $500,000 for 12 to 36 months

The purpose of this program is to digitize and provide access to non-digital collections of rare or unique content in cultural heritage institutions. Its aims are to enhance the emerging global digital research environment in ways that support new kinds of scholarship for the long term and to ensure that the full wealth of resources held by memory institutions becomes integrated with the open Web.

This program supports both single-institution and multi-institutional, collaborative grants.

For more information, see here.
 
National Historical Publications & Records CommissionNHPRC_access
Access to Historical Records
Draft Deadline [optional]: April 4, 2016
OSP Deadline [for draft applications]: March 28, 2016
Final Deadline: June 15, 2016
Award Amount: up to $200,000 over one to two year(s); cost sharing is required

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission seeks proposals that promote the preservation and use of historical records collections to broaden understanding of our democracy, history, and culture. This grant program is designed to support archival repositories in preserving and processing primary source materials. The program emphasizes the creation of online tools that facilitate the public discovery of historical records.

The Commission looks to fund projects that undertake one or more of the following activities:
  • Preservation, arrangement, and online description of historical records in all formats;
  • Digital preservation of electronic records and unstable audio or moving image formats.
After completing arrangement and description activities, applicants may also propose to digitize materials to provide online access to collections.

For more information, see here.
 
National Historical Publications & Records CommissionNHPRC_publishing
Publishing Historical Records in Documentary Editions
Draft Deadline [optional]: April 4, 2016
OSP Deadline [for draft applications]: March 28, 2016
Final Deadline: June 15, 2016
Award Amount: up to $200,000 for one year; cost sharing is required

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission seeks proposals to publish documentary editions of historical records. Projects may focus on the papers of major figures from American history or cover broad historical movements in politics, military, business, social reform, the arts, and other aspects of the national experience. The historical value of the records and their expected usefulness to broad audiences must justify the costs of the project.

The goal of this program is to provide access to, and editorial context for, the historical documents and records that tell the American story. The NHPRC encourages projects, whenever possible and appropriate, to provide access to these materials in a free and open online environment, without precluding other forms of publication.

Grants are awarded for collecting, describing, preserving, compiling, transcribing, annotating, editing, encoding, and publishing documentary source materials in print and online. 

For more information, see here.
 
New Music USAnew_music
Project Grants
Deadline: April 4, 2016, 5PM
OSP Deadline: March 28, 2016
Award Amount: between $250 and $15,000

New Music USA supports a wide range of new music projects. A "project" refers to any activity that involves new music getting out into the world through live performance or recording. Projects can take place up to two years past the deadline or up to six months prior. Requests can come from individuals or organizations. The most competitive projects are those that include specified living composers and recent music.

The Fund is especially interested in supporting artists directly for their work, whether that's creating, engaging, performing, or something else. The program places special emphasis on funds towards:
  • the creation of new musical work;
  • new live music for dance;
  • recording costs; and/or
  • residency and community outreach activities.

For more information, see here.
 
Henry Luce Foundationluce_american_art
American Art
Letter of Inquiry Deadline [required]: April 1, 2016 (OSP review not required)
Full Proposal Deadline: June 15, 2016 
Award Amount: unspecified; recent grants range from $20,000 to over $2M

The Henry Luce Foundation's American Art program supports scholarly special exhibitions and their related publications that contribute significantly to the study of American art.

All periods and genres of American art history are included. Intellectual merit and potential contribution to scholarship are the most important criteria for evaluating proposals. 

For more information, see here.
 
Samuel H. Kress Foundationkress_fellowship
Interpretive Fellowships at Art Museums
Deadline: April 1, 2016
OSP Deadline: March 25, 2016
Award Amount: up to $30,000

The purpose of the Kress Interpretive Fellowship at Art Museums program is to provide a new kind of mentored professional development opportunity within American art museums. The program is intended to encourage students to explore interpretive careers in art museums, whether as future museum educators or curators; to strengthen the profession of museum educator within the art museum community; to strengthen ties between museum educators and curators in the shared task of interpretive programming in art museums; and to expand the range of promising career options available to students of art history and related fields.

Interpretive Fellowships provide competitive grants to American art museums that sponsor supervised internships in art museum education. 

For more information, see here.
 
Samuel H. Kress Foundationkress_history
History of Art
Deadline: April 1, 2016
OSP Deadline: March 25, 2016
Award Amount: unspecified; recent grants range from $6,000 to $20,000

The History of Art Grants Program supports scholarly projects that will enhance the understanding and appreciation of European art and architecture. Grants are awarded to projects that create and disseminate specialized knowledge, including archival projects, development and dissemination of scholarly databases, documentation projects, museum exhibitions and publications, photographic campaigns, scholarly catalogues and publications, and technical and scientific studies.
 
Grants are also awarded for activities that permit art historians to share their expertise through international exchanges, professional meetings, conferences, symposia, consultations, the presentation of research, and other professional events.

For more information, see here.
 
Samuel H. Kress Foundationkress_conservation
Conservation
Deadline: April 1, 2016
OSP Deadline: March 25, 2016
Award Amount:  unspecified; recent grants range from $10,000 to $21,000

The Conservation Program supports the professional practice of art conservation, especially as it relates to European art of the pre-modern era. Grants are awarded to projects that create and disseminate specialized knowledge, including archival projects, development and dissemination of scholarly databases, documentation projects, exhibitions and publications focusing on art conservation, scholarly publications, and technical and scientific studies. 
 
Grants are also awarded for activities that permit conservators and conservation scientists to share their expertise with both professional colleagues and a broad audience.
 
Support for conservation treatments is generally limited to works from the distributed Kress Collection, and is coordinated through the Kress Program in Paintings Conservation at the Conservation Center of the New York University Institute of Fine Arts.

For more information, see here.
 
Samuel H. Kress Foundationkress_digital
Digital Resources
Deadline: April 1, 2016
OSP Deadline: March 25, 2016
Award Amount:  unspecified; recent grants range from $25,000 to $100,000

The Digital Resources program supports efforts to integrate new technologies into the practice of art history and the creation of important online resources in art history, including both textual and visual resources.

Support will also be offered for the digitization of important visual resources (especially art history photographic archives) in the area of pre-modern European art history; of primary textual sources (especially the literary and documentary sources of European art history); for promising initiatives in online publishing; and for innovative experiments in the field of digital art history. 

Please note that this grant program does not typically support the digitization of museum object collections.

For more information, see here.
 
UMass AmherstUMass_fellowships
Du Bois Library Fellowships
Deadline: March 31, 2016
OSP Deadline: OSP review is not required for grants awarded directly to individuals
Award Amount: $2,500 for four consecutive weeks in residence

Fellows may come from any field and any perspective, and they may work on any topic, but their research should explore the major themes that characterize Du Bois's scholarship and activism. These themes include: the history and meaning of racial, social, and economic justice; the problems of democracy and political inclusion; the role of capitalism in world affairs; and the global influence of African cultures. 

All full time graduate students, faculty, and independent scholars are eligible to apply; and, the competition especially encourages applications from early career scholars. Applicants must be U.S. citizens.

For more information, see here.
 
Max van Berchem Foundationmax_van_berchem
Deadline: March 31, 2016
OSP Deadline: March 24, 2016
Award Amount: unspecified grant amount

The Max van Berchem Foundation supports research projects in Islamic and Arabic archaeology, history, geography, art history, epigraphy, religion and literature.

For more information, see here.
 
German Academic Exchange ServiceDAAD
North American Universities Host German Guest Lecturers
Deadline: March 30, 2016
OSP Deadline: March 23, 2016
Award Amount: stipend of €98-€143 per day; the host institution must commit a monetary honorarium of $2,200 per month for the guest lecturer
Duration: four to six weeks

This program supports North American universities that want to host German professors and lecturers for short-term teaching engagements. The program aims to promote activity in specialized fields, help fill curricular gaps, and/or act as a stimulus for teaching and research. 

The program is open to all disciplines. 

For more information, see here.
 
American Council of Learned SocietiesACLS_public
Public Fellows
Deadline: March 24, 2016
OSP Deadline: OSP review is not required for awards granted directly to individuals
Award Amount: $65,000 per year, plus up to $3,000 in professional development
Tenure: two years; the award start date may be either August 1 or September 1

ACLS invites applications for the sixth competition of the Public Fellows program. This year, the program will place up to 21 recent PhDs from the humanities and humanistic social sciences in two-year staff positions at partnering organizations in government and the nonprofit sector. Fellows will participate in the substantive work of these organizations and receive professional mentoring.

ACLS seeks applications from recent PhDs who aspire to careers in administration, management, and public service by choice rather than circumstance. Competitive applicants will have been successful in both academic and extra-academic experiences.

Applicants must possess U.S. citizenship or permanent resident status.

For more information, see here.
 
Mass Humanitiesmasshum
Project Grants
Letter of Inquiry Deadline (required): March 21, 2016
OSP Deadline: March 14, 2016
Award Amount: up to $10,000

Project grants support public programming in the humanities in Massachusetts, including but not limited to: 
  • Humanities based civic conversations;
  • Public lecture, conference and panel discussion;
  • Reading and discussions programs;
  • Film and discussion programs;
  • Museum exhibitions and related programming;
  • Theatrical productions with post- or pre-performance discussion;
  • Oral history projects;
  • Walking tours;
  • Audio tours;
  • Film pre-production and distribution;
  • Websites; and
  • Content-based professional development workshops for teachers.
In general, Mass Humanities prioritizes funding projects that engage those whose contact with humanities programming is limited (see their Engaging New Audiences for the Humanities initiative), and programming that responds to their current theme, Negotiating the Social Contract.

For more information, see here.
 
Knight Foundationknight
Knight News Challenge
Deadline: March 21, 2016
OSP Deadline: March 14, 2016
Award Amount: $200,000 to $500,000

The Knight Foundation supports translational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. This competition is open to nonprofits, for-profits or individuals anywhere in the world. 

The Knight News Challenge accelerates media innovation by funding breakthrough ideas in news and information. Innovators from all industries and countries are invited to participate. The Knight Foundation helps its award winners to develop their organizations, recruit collaborators, manage projects and grow their networks.

For more information, see here.
 
Chamber Music AmericaCMA_classical
Classical Commissioning Program
Deadline: March 20, 2016
OSP Deadline: March 14, 2016
Award Amount: grants provide a composer's fee ranging from $5,000 to $20,000, plus a $1,000 honorarium to each ensemble member and up to $1,000 for copying costs

Grants are made for commissioning fees, copying costs and ensemble rehearsal honoraria. Compositions must be written for small ensembles (2 to 10 musicians) performing one to a part, generally without a conductor, and may represent a diverse musical spectrum, including contemporary art music, world music, and works that include electronics.
 
The new composition must be performed a minimum of three times in the U.S.

For more information, see here.
 
National Endowment for the Humanitiesneh_digital_institutes
Institutes for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities
Deadline: March 15, 2016
OSP Deadline: March 8, 2016
Award Amount: $50,000 to $250,000 for one to three years

Grants support national or regional (multi-state) training programs for scholars and advanced graduate students to broaden and extend their knowledge of digital humanities. Through these programs, NEH seeks to increase the number of humanities scholars using digital technology in their research and to broadly disseminate knowledge about advanced technology tools and methodologies relevant to the humanities.

The projects may be a single opportunity or offered multiple times to different audiences. Institutes may be as short as a few days and held at multiple locations or as long as six weeks at a single site. The duration of a program should allow for full and thorough treatment of the topic.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
  • applications of the Text Encoding Initiative, electronic editing, and publishing;
  • scholarly communication and publishing;
  • e-literature;
  • textual analysis and text mining;
  • immersive and virtual environments in multimedia research, including those for mobile platforms;
  • 3-D imaging technology;
  • digital image and sound analysis;
  • information aesthetics and approaches to visualizations of humanities topics and research;
  • computing gaming and simulations as applied to the humanities;
  • high-performance computing or supercomputing and the humanities; and
  • advanced Geographic Information Systems applications.

For more information, see here.
 
College Art Associationmillard_meiss
Millard Meiss Publication Fund
Deadline: March 15, 2016 (applications must be submitted by a publisher)
OSP Deadline: March 2, 2016
Award Amount: the award amount is unspecified; awards are based on the specific needs of each publication

Applications for publication grants will be considered only for book-length scholarly manuscripts in the history of art, visual studies, and related subjects that have been accepted by a publisher on their merits, but cannot be published in the most desirable form without a subsidy.

The Fund encourages applications that propose enhancing the visual component of the study through the inclusion of color plates or an expanded component of black-and-white illustrations. Expenses generated by exceptional design requirements (maps, line drawings, charts, and tables) are also suitable for consideration. Permission and rental fees/reproduction rights, especially in cases where they are burdensome, are also appropriate.

For more information, see here.
 
French Embassy in the United States and the FACE FoundationPAF
Partner University Fund
Deadline: March 13, 2016
OSP Deadline: March 7, 2016
Award Amount: up to $100,000 per year for three years

PUF promotes innovative collaborations of excellence in research and education between French and American institutions of higher education. The program supports emerging transatlantic partnerships with the potential to continue beyond the initial 3-year grant.

PUF will support partnerships in the Humanities. Applications will combine collaborations such as:
  • Joint research, joint publications and joint conferences;
  • Graduate students, postdoc and faculty transatlantic mobility;
  • Collaboration in teaching (organization of workshops, seminars, symposia...);
  • Joint and dual degrees at the master's and PhD levels.
Projects must be jointly submitted by at least one American and one French university or research institution.

For more information, see here.
 
National Endowment for the ArtsNEA_creative
Creative Writing Fellowships
Deadline: March 9, 2016
OSP Deadline: OSP review is not required for grants awarded directly to individuals
Award Amount: $25,000

The National Endowment for the Arts' Literature Fellowships program offers grants in prose (fiction and creative nonfiction) and poetry to published creative writers that enable recipients to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career advancement.

The Literature Fellowships program operates on a two-year cycle with fellowships in prose and poetry available in alternating years. For FY 2017, which is covered by these guidelines, fellowships in poetry are available. Fellowships in prose (fiction and creative nonfiction) will be offered in FY 2018. You may apply only once each year.

For more information, see here.
 
Chamber Music Americajazz
New Jazz Works
Deadline: March 4, 2016
OSP Deadline: February 26, 2016
Award Amount: up to $19,000 for up to three years

The Chamber Music America foundation supports the creation of new works by professional U.S.-based jazz artists and helps assure that these compositions will be heard through live performances and recordings. 

Under the New Jazz Works program, the foundation provides grants for: 
  • Core: the creation and two performances of a new work; 
  • Continued Life: additional performances and recording of the new composition; 
  • Administrative Support: activities such as booking or promoting performances, recording the new work, or other administrative functions identified by the grantee; and 
  • Attendance at a CMA National Conference.
The composition and two performances must take place during the first 18 months of the grant.

For more information, see here.
 
Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundationfirestone_graham
Letter of Inquiry Deadline: March 1, 2016
OSP Deadline: February 23, 2016
Award Amount: $5,000 to $15,000

The Foundation offers grants to support catalogues and other publications accompanying contemporary art exhibitions and projects, especially those supporting emerging and under-recognized artists, and produced by organizations outside the nation's cultural centers. One-time special projects are preferred. Limited funds are also available for publications related to the grantee organization and its programs or collections.

To be considered, project dates must fall within one year of the funding cycle in which the organization is requesting funds. And, the Foundation is unlikely to provide grants exceeding one third of the proposed publication budget.

For more information, see here.
 
J. M. Kaplan Fundfurthermore
Furthermore Grants in Publishing
Deadline: March 1, 2016
OSP Deadline: February 23, 2016
Award Amount: $1,500 to $15,000

Furthermore grants in publishing support the publication of nonfiction books that concern: art, architecture, and design; cultural history, the city, and related public issues; and conservation and preservation. The Fund looks for work that appeals to an informed general audience, gives evidence of high standards in editing, design, and production, and promises a reasonable shelf life. 

Funds apply to such specific publication components as writing, research, editing, indexing, design, illustration, photography, and printing and binding. Grant applications are accepted twice a year with deadlines of March 1 and September 1.

For more information, see here.
 
Massachusetts Historical SocietyMHS
Short-Term Research Fellowships
Deadline: March 1, 2016
OSP Deadline: OSP review is not required for grants awarded directly to individuals
Award Amount: $2,000 for four weeks

The Massachusetts Historical Society will offer approximately 20 short-term research fellowships in 2016. Each grant supports four weeks of research at the Society sometime between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017. 

Short-term awards are open to independent scholars, advanced graduate students, and holders of the Ph.D. or the equivalent, with candidates who live 50 or more miles from Boston receiving preference. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or already hold the J-1 visa or equivalent documents that will allow them to accept the stipend.

For more information, see here.
 
Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Artsandy_warhol
Deadline: March 1, 2016
OSP Deadline: February 23, 2016
Award Amount: recent grant amounts range from $30,000 to $120,000

The Foundation focuses on serving the needs of artists by funding the institutions that support them. Grants are made on a project basis to curatorial programs at museums, artists' organizations, and other cultural institutions to originate innovative and scholarly presentations of contemporary visual arts. 

Projects may include: scholarly exhibitions at museums; curatorial research; visual arts programming at artist-centered organizations; artist residencies and commissions; arts writing; and efforts to promote the health, welfare and first amendment rights of artists. It is assumed that research will lead to a significant exhibition, though this is not a requirement. 

For more information, see here.
 
John D. Templeton Foundationtempleton_small
Small Grants
Letter of Inquiry Deadline: February 29, 2016
OSP Deadline: February 22, 2016
Award Amount: $217,400 or less

The Foundation accepts Letters of Inquiry for projects that fall under their Core Funding Areas. A number of topics--including creativity, freedom, gratitude, love, and purpose--can be found under more than one Area. The Foundation welcomes proposals that bring together these overlapping elements, especially by combining the tools and approaches of different disciplines.

Templeton's Core Funding Areas are:
  • Science and the Big Questions: includes mathematical and physical sciences, life sciences, human sciences, philosophy and theology, and science in dialogue;
  • Character Virtue Development;
  • Individual Freedom and Free Markets;
  • Exceptional Cognitive Talent and Genius; and
  • Genetics.

For more information, see here.
 
Doris Duke Charitable Foundationdoris_duke
Performing Arts
Letter of Inquiry Deadline: February 26, 2016
OSP Deadline: February 19, 2016
Award Amount: $60,000 to $200,000

The Performing Arts program supports projects that: strengthen the national infrastructure of the professional nonprofit dance, jazz, presenting and/or theatre fields; or improve conditions for the national community of performing artists in professional nonprofit dance, jazz and theatre.

National projects engage a broad national constituency, occur once (or periodically) rather than annually, and have the potential to significantly impact a field.

In general, the Arts Program does not fund visual arts, museums or galleries; film or media projects; literary arts; symphonies, opera companies, classical chamber music or musical forms beyond jazz; classical ballet companies; avocational arts activities; arts programs for rehabilitative or therapeutic purposes; training and conservatory programs; capital projects; research or publications.

For more information, see here.
 
National Endowment for the Humanitiesneh_landmarks
Landmarks of American History and Culture: Workshops for School Teachers
Deadline: February 25, 2016
OSP Deadline: February 18, 2016
Award Amount: up to $160,000 for programs serving commuters in one of their two weeks and $180,000 for programs serving a national audience in both weeks

The Landmarks of American History and Culture program supports a series of one-week workshops for K-12 educators. Workshops use historic sites to address central themes and issues in American history, government, literature, art, music, and related subjects in the humanities.

Each workshop is offered twice during the summer. Workshops accommodate thirty-six school teachers (NEH Summer Scholars) at each one-week session. At least one workshop week must serve a national audience and provide housing for participants. The other workshop week may also serve a national audience; alternatively, it may limit its audience to participants who are able to commute and do not require housing.

The goals of the workshops are to:
  • increase knowledge and appreciation of subjects, ideas, and places significant to American history and culture through humanities reading and site study;
  • build communities of inquiry and provide models of civility and of excellent scholarship and teaching;
  • provide teachers with expertise in the use and interpretation of historical sites and of material and archival resources; and
  • foster interaction between K-12 educators and scholarly experts.

For more information, see here.
 
National Endowment for the Humanitiesneh_seminars
Summer Seminars and Institutes
Deadline: February 25, 2016
OSP Deadline: February 18, 2016
Award Amount (Seminars): between $50,000 and $135,000 
Award Amount (Institutes): between $60,000 and $225,000

These grants support professional development programs in the humanities for school teachers and for college and university faculty. Seminars and Institutes may last for as short as one week and as long as four weeks and should:
  • provide models of excellent teaching;
  • provide models of excellent scholarship;
  • broaden and deepen understanding of the humanities;
  • focus on the study and teaching of significant topics, texts, and other sources;
  • contribute to the intellectual vitality of participants; and
  • build communities of inquiry.
A Summer Seminar or Institute may be hosted by a college, university, learned society, center for advanced study, library or other repository, cultural or professional organization, or school or school system. The host site must be suitable for the project, providing facilities for collegial interaction and scholarship. These programs are designed for a national audience of participants.

For more information, see here.
 
Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Artsgraham
Grants to Organizations
Deadline: February 25, 2016
OSP Deadline: February 18, 2016
Award Amount: up to $30,000 for up to two years

The Graham Foundation makes project-based grants to individuals and organizations and produces public programs to foster the development and exchange of diverse and challenging ideas about architecture and its role in the arts, culture, and society.

For organizations, the Foundation's priorities are to: 
  • assist with the production and presentation of significant programs about architecture and the designed environment in order to promote dialogue, raise awareness, and develop new and wider audiences;

  • support them in their effort to take risks in programming and create opportunities for experimentation;

  • recognize the vital role they play in providing individuals with a public forum in which to present their work; and

  • help them to realize projects that would otherwise not be possible without the Foundation's support.

For more information, see here.
Contact
Caitlin McDermott-Murphy
Research Development Specialist
617-496-2618

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.
The Research Development (RD) team provides resources and support to FAS faculty seeking funding. This support includes: finding funding; proposal development; programs and workshops; and grantsmanship advice and strategy. To learn more, please visit our website or contact Caitlin McDermott-Murphy at cmcdermottmurphy@fas.harvard.edu or 617-496-2618.