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Application Information

Note: Be sure to read our Dear Colleague Letter (pdf) before applying.

Application Deadline

Your completed application, postmarked no later than March 2, 2010, should be addressed as follows:

Checklist of Application Materials

A completed application consists of three collated copies of the following items:

• the completed application cover sheet
• a detailed résumé
• an application essay as outlined below
• two letters of recommendation

Application Cover Sheet

The application cover sheet must be filled out online. Please fill it out online as directed by the prompts. When you are finished, be sure to click on the “submit” button. Print out the cover sheet and add it to your application package. Please note that filling out a cover sheet is not the same as formally applying to participate, so there is no penalty for changing your mind or for filling out a cover sheet for more than one project. A full application consists of the items listed above, as sent to the project director.

Résumé

Please include a résumé detailing your educational qualifications and professional experience.

Application Essay

The application essay should be no more than four double spaced pages. An essay should usually be written in response to the information contained in our Dear Colleague letter. It should address your reasons for applying; your interest, both academic and personal, in the Canterbury Tales; the qualifications and experiences that equip you to do the work of the seminar and to make a contribution to a learning community; a statement of what you want to accomplish by participating; and the relation of the project to your professional responsibilities.

Reference Letters

The two referees should be chosen carefully. They should be familiar with your professional accomplishments or promise, interests, and ability to contribute to and benefit from participation in a community of intellectual inquiry. They should specifically address these issues in their recommendations. Letters from colleagues who know your teaching and from those outside your institution who know your habits of mind can be particularly useful. Referees should, if possible, be familiar with the work of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the seminars and institutes program. It is helpful for referees to read the description of the project sent by the director and the application essay. If you have previously participated in an NEH summer seminar or institute, a recommendation from the director or lead scholar of that program would be useful. Please ask each of your referees to sign his or her name across the seal on the back of the envelope containing the reference letter, and enclose the letters with your application.

Selection Process

In selecting participants, we will follow the NEH eligibility guidelines with no special criteria other than the desire to include highly motivated teachers from a variety of backgrounds. Prior knowledge of the Canterbury Tales or of Middle English is welcome but neither required nor expected.

NEH Eligibility Guidelines

Full-time teachers in American K-12 schools, whether public, private, or church-affiliated, as well as home-schooling parents, are eligible to apply to seminars and institutes. Americans teaching abroad are also eligible if a majority of the students they teach are American citizens. Librarians and school administrators may also be eligible. Applicants should consult the guidelines and application information received directly from seminar and institute directors concerning any additional eligibility requirements specific to the project. Selection committees are directed to give first consideration to applicants who have not participated in an NEH-supported seminar or institute in the last three years.

New this year: Up to two seminar spaces are reserved for current full-time graduate students in the humanities.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Endowment programs do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age. For further information, write to NEH Equal Opportunity Officer, 1100 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20506. TDD: 202/606 8282 (this is a special telephone device for the deaf).