PKG00264674-instructions.pdf

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

Funding Opportunity Title: Public Scholars

Funding Opportunity Number: 20201216-FZ

Funding Opportunity Type: New

Federal Assistance Listing Number: 45.160

Application Due Dates:

December 16, 2020 December 15, 2021

Ensure your Grants.gov registration and password are current.

NEH will not grant deadline extensions for lack of registration.

Division of Research Programs Telephone: 202-606-8200 Email: publicscholar@NEH.gov

TTY: 800-877-8399

OMB control number 3136-0134, expiration date June 30, 2021.

mailto:publicscholar@NEH.gov%22%EF%B7%9FHYPERLINK%20%22mailto:

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Executive Summary The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Division of Research Programs is accepting applications for the Public Scholars program. The purpose of this program is to support the creation of well-researched nonfiction books in the humanities written for the broad public by offering grants to individual authors for research, writing, travel, and other activities leading to publication. The program is intended both to encourage non-academic writers to deepen their engagement with the humanities by strengthening the research underlying their books, and to encourage academic writers in the humanities to communicate the significance of their research to the broadest possible range of readers.

Funding Opportunity Title: Public Scholars Funding Opportunity Number:

20201216-FZ

Federal Assistance Listing Number (CFDA):

45.160

Application Due Dates: December 16, 2020, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time December 15, 2021, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time

Anticipated Funding Announcements:

August 2021 (proposals submitted for the December 16, 2020 deadline) August 2022 (proposals submitted for the December 15, 2021 deadline)

Anticipated Total Annual Funding:

Approximately $1,500,000 per deadline

Estimated Number and Type of Awards:

Approximately 25 grants per deadline

Estimated Award Amount: Up to $60,000 ($5,000 per month) Cost Sharing/Match Required:

No

Period of Performance: Six months to one year.

Proposals submitted for the December 16, 2020 deadline must be for awards starting between September 1, 2021 and September 1, 2022.

Proposals submitted for the December 15, 2021 deadline must be for awards starting between September 1, 2022 and September 1, 2023.

Eligible Applicants: Individuals

See Section C for additional eligibility information.

Program Resource Page: https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/public-scholar-program Pre-Application Webinar November 9, 2020 at 2:00 Eastern Time https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1004877071487260171 https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/public-scholar-program https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1004877071487260171

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Table of Contents A. Program Description

1. Purpose

2. Background

B. Federal Award Information

1. Type of Application and Award

2. Summary of Funding

C. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants

2. Cost Sharing

3. Other Eligibility Information

D. Application and Submission Information

1. Application Package

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

3. Grants.gov Registration Process

4. Submission Dates and Times

5. Intergovernmental Review

6. Funding Restrictions

7. Other Submission Requirements

E. Application Review Information

1. Review Criteria

2. Review and Selection Process

3. Assessment of Risk and Other Pre-Award Activities

4. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

F. Federal Award Administration Information

1. Federal Award Notices

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

3. Reporting

G. Agency Contacts

H. Other Information

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A. Program Description

1. Purpose The Public Scholars program supports the creation of well-researched nonfiction books in the humanities written for the broad public. It does so by offering grants to individual authors for research, writing, travel, and other activities leading to publication. Writers with or without an academic affiliation may apply, and no advanced degree is required. The program is intended both to encourage non-academic writers to deepen their engagement with the humanities by strengthening the research underlying their books and to encourage academic writers in the humanities to communicate the significance of their research to the broadest possible range of readers. NEH especially encourages applications to this program from independent writers, researchers, scholars, and journalists.

The program welcomes projects in all areas of the humanities, regardless of geographic or chronological focus. The resulting books 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 written in a readily accessible style, must clearly explain specialized terms and concepts, and must frame their topics to have wide appeal. They should also be carefully researched and authoritative, making appropriate use of primary and/or secondary sources and showing appropriate familiarity with relevant existing publications or scholarship. Applications to write books directed primarily to professional scholars are not suitable.

The program supports projects at any stage of development. Applicants may propose to complete their manuscript by the end of the period of performance or may propose to do so by some later date. Applicants may seek support for the creation of digital or web-based products intended to supplement the book that they propose.

Upon completion of their book projects, Public Scholars award recipients are encouraged to serve as ambassadors for the humanities by participating in public events, such as serving as keynote speakers at conferences and offering public lectures at book festivals, library and museum programs, or other events aimed at reaching broad audiences.

Certain types of publications and activities are prohibited from receiving support under this program. They are listed in section D6. Funding Restrictions.

2. Background This program is authorized by 20 U.S.C. §956, et seq. Awards are subject to 2 CFR Part 200 Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, and the NEH Public Scholars Terms and Conditions.

According to the 1965 National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act, “The term ‘humanities’ includes, but is not limited to, the study of the following: language, both modern and classical; linguistics; literature; history; jurisprudence; philosophy; archaeology;

comparative religion; ethics; the history, criticism and theory of the arts; those aspects of the social sciences which have humanistic content and employ humanistic methods; and the study and application of the humanities to the human environment with particular attention to reflecting our diverse heritage, traditions, and history and to the relevance of the humanities to the current conditions of national life.”

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:20%20section:956a%20edition:prelim) https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=236bb02f01d2e050f7a5b60c88a67066&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=236bb02f01d2e050f7a5b60c88a67066&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=236bb02f01d2e050f7a5b60c88a67066&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5 https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/neh-public-scholar-program-terms-and-conditions

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NEH Areas of Interest NEH is especially interested in supporting projects that advance humanities-related work in the following areas.

“A More Perfect Union”: NEH Special Initiative Advancing Civic Education and Commemorating the Nation’s 250th Anniversary As our nation approaches its 250th anniversary in 2026, NEH encourages projects that promote a deeper understanding of American history and culture and that advance civics education and knowledge of our core principles of government. The agency-wide “A More Perfect Union” initiative will help Americans better understand the world’s oldest constitutional democracy and how our founding ideals are met in a modern, pluralistic society.

NEH welcomes consideration of diverse topics in American history, from Native American culture to rural life to the rise of the industrial city, from the Civil War to the Cold War to the Civil Rights movement, projects that examine foundational documents in U.S. history, etc., as well as projects that examine historical objects, places, traditions, events, and individuals who collectively shaped our states and nation. Applications about the contributions of under-represented communities are highly encouraged.

Standing Together In recognition of the importance of the humanities both in helping Americans to understand the experiences of service members and in assisting veterans as they return to civilian life, NEH has launched a special initiative titled Standing Together: The Humanities and the Experience of War. This special initiative draws on the power of the humanities 1) to support advanced research in the humanities that explores war and its aftermath; 2) to promote discussion and deepened understanding of the experiences of those Americans affiliated with the armed services, whether active duty or veterans; and 3) to support returning veterans and their families.

Examples of previously funded projects may be found by using the NEH's Funded Projects Query Form available online.

To learn more about NEH, visit https://www.neh.gov/about.

B. Federal Award Information

1. Type of Application and Award NEH seeks new applications in response to this notice. Previously rejected applications may be revised and resubmitted.

NEH will provide funding in the form of grants.

2. Summary of Funding Approximately $1,500,000 is expected to be available to fund approximately 25 recipients per deadline.

The actual amount available will not be determined until enactment of the final FY 2021 and FY 2022 federal budgets. This program notice is subject to the appropriation of funds, and is a contingency action taken to ensure that, should funds become available for this purpose, applications can be processed and funds awarded in a timely manner.

https://www.neh.gov/grants/standing-together https://www.neh.gov/grants/standing-together https://securegrants.neh.gov/PublicQuery/main.aspx?q=1&a=0&n=0&o=0&k=0&f=0&s=0&cd=0&p=1&pv=289&d=0&y=0&prd=0&cov=0&prz=0&wp=0&pg=0&ob=year&or=DESC https://www.neh.gov/about

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Applicants may request a period of performance of no less than six and up to twelve months.

Proposals submitted for the December 16, 2020 deadline must be for work starting between September 1, 2021 and September 1, 2022. Proposals submitted for the December 15, 2021 deadline must be for work starting between September 1, 2022 and September 1, 2023.

Awards may be held part time or full time (or part time for some months and full time for other months). Successful applicants receive a stipend of $5,000 per full-time month. The maximum stipend is $60,000 for a twelve-month period. Awards will be reduced to reflect the smaller time commitment when recipients work part time or for less than twelve months. The minimum award is $30,000, corresponding to six months of full-time work or the equivalent.

The period of performance must be continuous. Applicants may not propose a period of performance shorter than the equivalent of six full-time months, and doing so will result in disqualification. Recipients must work at least half-time on their projects throughout the period of performance. The period of performance may not exceed twelve months, whether full- or part-time. Recipients who work full-time on their projects must forgo other major activities, including teaching. Recipients combining a part-time award with teaching must carry a reduced class load during the period of performance. Applicants should request periods of performance that suit their schedules and the needs of their projects. Requesting a period of performance shorter than twelve months will not improve an applicant’s chance of receiving an award.

Successful applicants will be awarded outright funds. Outright funds awarded by NEH are not contingent on additional funding from other sources.

C. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants U.S. citizens, whether they reside inside or outside the United States, are eligible to apply.

Foreign nationals who have been living in the United States or its jurisdictions for at least the three years prior to the application deadline are also eligible. Foreign nationals who take up permanent residence outside the United States any time between the application deadline and the end of the period of performance will forfeit their eligibility to hold an award. (Leaving the U.S. on a temporary basis is permitted.)

The Public Scholars program accepts applications from individuals, whether they have an affiliation with a scholarly institution or not.

Applicants must also meet one of the following conditions: they must either a) have written as sole author a nonfiction book published by a university or commercial press; OR b) have written at least three articles or essays appearing in general-interest publications that reach a large national or international audience of readers. The articles or essays may be published either in print or electronically.

In either case, applicants must list the relevant publications on their résumés.

Applicants may not meet this requirement with a co-authored volume, an edited collection of essays or an anthology, a scholarly edition, a translation, a self-published book, or a book that has not yet been published at the application deadline. Nor may they meet it with podcasts, self-published or co-authored articles or essays, or writings appearing in publications aimed primarily at readers with a professional interest in the material, including peer-reviewed academic journals and peer-reviewed edited volumes.

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Prospective applicants who are unable to meet the requirement for previous publications may wish to apply instead to the NEH Fellowships or Summer Stipends programs.

2. Cost Sharing Cost sharing is not required in this program.

Cost sharing or matching is the portion of the project costs not paid by NEH funds. Cost sharing will not be considered in the evaluation of applications.

3. Other Eligibility Information Rules on the submission of applications Applicants may not submit multiple applications under this announcement. They may, however, compete concurrently in the following NEH programs for individuals in a given year:

• Fellowships or NEH-Mellon Fellowships for Digital Publication

• Awards for Faculty at Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and

Universities, or Tribal Colleges and Universities

• Summer Stipends

• Dynamic Language Infrastructure - Documenting Endangered Languages Fellowships

• Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan

Applicants may also apply for an NEH-funded fellowship offered by an independent research institution.

Each competition has distinct application requirements. Follow the instructions in the relevant notice of funding opportunity.

You may not hold two or more NEH individual awards (for example, a Fellowship and a Public Scholars award or a Summer Stipend) with overlapping periods of performance or in support of the same tasks, and you may not accept or hold two NEH individual awards in the same fiscal year. (Note: if you apply to the Summer Stipends program and the Public Scholars program in immediate succession, accepting an award in the Stipends program will preclude acceptance of an award in the Public Scholars program.)

You may not work on a project supported by an NEH institutional award as either a project director or participant during the period of performance of an NEH individual award that is held full time.

If for any reason an application is submitted more than once prior to the application due date (including submitting to the wrong funding opportunity number or making corrections/updates), NEH will accept your last validated online submission, under the correct funding opportunity number, prior to the Grants.gov application due date as the final and only acceptable application.

NEH does not make awards to other federal entities or to applicants whose projects are so closely intertwined with a federal entity that the project takes on characteristics of the federal entity’s own authorized activities. This does not preclude applicants from using funds from, or sites and materials controlled by, other federal entities in their projects.

All application materials must be received by the application deadline. Applications that are late, incomplete, unresponsive, or ineligible, or that violate the format requirements (including page limits) will not be considered for funding under this notice.

https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/fellowships https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/summer-stipends https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/fellowships https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/neh-mellon-fellowships-digital-publication https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/awards-faculty-hispanic-serving-institutions https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/awards-faculty-historically-black-colleges-and-universities https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/awards-faculty-historically-black-colleges-and-universities https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/awards-faculty-tribal-colleges-and-universities https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/summer-stipends https://www.neh.gov/program/dli-del-fellowships https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/fellowships-advanced-social-science-research-japan https://www.neh.gov/divisions/research/fpiri-supported-fellowships https://www.neh.gov/divisions/research/fpiri-supported-fellowships

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Currently enrolled students While applicants need not have advanced degrees, individuals currently enrolled in a degree-granting program are ineligible to apply.

Dissertation revisions Applicants may not request funding for projects based on completed dissertations.

Projects previously supported by NEH You may not apply for funding for a project previously supported by an NEH Fellowship, a Public Scholars award, or an Award for Faculty. You may, however, apply for funding for a project previously supported by a two-month NEH Summer Stipend, provided the tasks supported are different. In such a case, NEH will review the accomplishments from the previous award to determine whether the project is likely to result in a book of broad interest to a general audience.

An NEH award for one stage of a project does not commit NEH to continued support for the project. Applications for each stage of a project are evaluated independently.

Concurrent grants from other organizations Recipients of NEH Public Scholars awards may simultaneously hold fellowships or grants from institutions other than NEH in support of the same project during their period of performance.

They may be on sabbatical (paid or unpaid). They may also have an advance from a publisher.

Collaborative projects The Public Scholars program is designed primarily for individual researchers. Awards may not be divided. If you are seeking funding for a co-author, each person must submit a separate application specifying their individual contribution. Panelists will be asked to evaluate each application on its own merits. Each application must clearly explain how the work will be divided and the extent to which each collaborator’s contribution depends on that of the other(s).

Applicants who are seeking funding only for themselves but who are working as part of a collaborative team are eligible. In this case, too, the application must clearly explain how the work will be divided and the extent to which each collaborator’s contribution depends on that of the other(s). Applicants with an institutional affiliation who are working as part of a collaborative team should consider applying to the Collaborative Research program.

D. Application and Submission Information

1. Application Package You are required to apply online through Grants.gov Workspace using the Standard Form 424 (SF-424) application package associated with the funding opportunity and following the instructions provided by Grants.gov unless otherwise noted below.

A link to the Public Scholars funding opportunity on Grants.gov, including the application package, can be found on the program resource page.

To request a paper copy of this announcement, contact publicscholar@neh.gov. Applicants who are deaf or hard of hearing (TTY users) can contact NEH via Federal Relay at 800-877-8399.

2. Content and Form of Application Submission The Application Components Table below will help you prepare a complete application. In addition to the standard forms included in the Grants.gov application package, your application http://www.neh.gov/grants/research/collaborative-research-grants https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/workspace-overview.html https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/public-scholar-program mailto:publicscholar@neh.gov%22%EF%B7%9FHYPERLINK%20%22mailto:

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also consists of a narrative and other required attachments. You will upload these components into the Attachments Form. A budget is not required in this program.

Applications missing any required documents or conditionally required documents from this list will be considered incomplete and may be rejected from further consideration.

Applications that exceed page limits or violate format instructions will be considered nonresponsive and may be rejected from further consideration.

In addition to submitting these components through Grants.gov, you should also arrange for two letters of reference. Instructions for the letters of reference appear below under D7. Other Submission Requirements.

Application component Naming convention

Page limits

Notes

Application for Federal Assistance SF 424 - Individual

Grants.gov form Required

NEH Supplemental Information for Individual Form

Grants.gov form Required

Project/Performance Site Location(s) Form

Grants.gov form Required

Attachments Form Grants.gov form Required Attachment 1: Narrative narrative.pdf 3 Required Attachment 2: Work Plan workplan.pdf 1 Required Attachment 3: Bibliography bibliography.pdf 1 Required Attachment 4: Résumé resume.pdf 2 Required Attachment 5: Writing sample writingsample.pdf 20 Required Attachment 6: Publisher’s letter of interest or commitment publisherletter.pdf Optional

Attachment 7: Explanation of federal debt delinquentdebt.pdf Conditionally required

Application for Federal Assistance – SF-424 - Individual This Grants.gov form is used to capture basic information about the applicant and the proposed project. Fields 1, 2, and 4 will be filled in automatically; field 3 will be left blank.

5a-d. Applicant Information Provide your name, telephone number, e-mail address, and mailing address. You must include an e-mail address in the “Email” field, even though it is not highlighted as a required field. NEH will use this e-mail address to notify you of the outcome of your application.

Provide your mailing address. Note: Your ZIP code must include the four-digit extension, preceded by a hyphen. If you do not know your four-digit extension, use “-0000” (four zeros).

Indicate your citizenship status with an “X.”

Enter your Congressional district. To find the number of your Congressional district, type your ZIP code into the “Find Your Representative” tool on the U.S. House of Representatives website. If you do not have a Congressional district (that is, you are in a state or U.S. territory that does not have districts or you reside in a foreign country), enter a “0” (zero). If you live in one district but your institution is in another, provide the number for the district in which you live.

https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

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6. Project Information

a. “Project Title.” Enter this, even though the field is not highlighted. The title should be brief (not more than 125 characters), descriptive, and informative to a nonspecialist audience.

Note that NEH reserves the right to change the titles of projects that receive awards. See the FAQ document on the program resource page for guidance on how to title your NEH proposal.

b. “Project Description.” Describe your project for a nonspecialist audience, stating the importance of the proposed work to the humanities. This description will appear on your application cover sheet and will serve as a project abstract during the review process. Do not exceed one thousand characters, including spaces. If you exceed one thousand characters, including spaces, Grants.gov may reject your application or cut off your project description at the thousand-character limit.

c. “Proposed Project.” Enter the starting and ending dates for your proposed period of performance. You should start your period of performance on the first day of the month and end it on the last day of the month. Your period of performance must be continuous, and it must be at least six months long and no more than twelve months long. Because award amounts depend on the number of months of work that you specify, the dates that you enter here will determine the maximum amount of your award. No award will exceed $60,000, which is the amount awarded for twelve months of full-time work. No award will be less than $30,000, which is the amount awarded for six months of full-time work or the equivalent. It is possible to change your start and end dates if you receive an award, but the change must not increase the dollar value of your award or reduce it below $30,000. For more information on allowable award terms and how awards are calculated, see Section B. Federal Award Information.

7. Signature By clicking on the “I Agree” box, you certify the following:

1. You are not presently debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, declared ineligible, or voluntarily excluded from participation in covered transactions by any federal department or agency, and have not—within the three years preceding the submission of this application— been convicted of or had a civil judgment rendered against you for commission of fraud or a criminal offense in connection with a public (federal, state, or local) transaction or a contract under a public transaction; for violation of federal or state antitrust statutes; for commission of embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsification or destruction of records, making false statements, or receiving stolen property; had any public transactions terminated for cause or default; and are not presently indicted for or otherwise criminally or civilly charged by a governmental entity with any of the preceding offenses. (See 2 CFR parts 180 and 3369.)

2. You are not delinquent in the repayment of any federal debt or you are providing explanatory information about any delinquency. Examples of relevant debt include student loans, delinquent payroll or other taxes, delinquent child support payments, audit disallowances, and benefit overpayments. (See OMB Circular A-129.)

3. You will comply with the Public Scholars Terms and Conditions.

Click on the “Save” button at the top of the form to save your work and return to the main menu.

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NEH Supplemental Information for Individuals Form This NEH form provides additional professional information about you, your institution (if affiliated), and your reference-letter writers.

Field of Project Using the drop-down menu, indicate the field(s) of your project. You may select one, two, or three fields. If you select more than one, list the primary field first. Program staff will take this information into account when assigning your application to a review panel.

Project Director Field of Study Using the drop-down menu, choose the field of study that best describes your area of expertise.

Address Information Indicate whether the address that you have given on the Application for Federal Assistance SF 424 - Individual form is your home or work address.

Institutional Affiliation If you are not affiliated with an institution of higher education, click “No” and continue to the Status section. If you are affiliated with an institution of higher education, complete the information for that institution. Applicants with an institutional affiliation must include their institution’s D-U-N-S® number, omitting hyphens. This number is generally provided by the institution’s sponsored research office and it ensures that NEH identities your institution correctly in the materials we provide to external reviewers.

Status There is no expectation in this program that applicants be professional scholars.

Nonetheless, for purposes of processing, indicate if you are a junior scholar or a senior scholar. Junior scholars are defined as those who are seven years or fewer beyond their terminal degree; senior scholars are defined as those who are more than seven years beyond their terminal degree.

Reference Letters Provide the names, e-mail addresses, and affiliations for your two letter writers. Enter only one e-mail address for each letter writer. If you provide two e-mail addresses for a letter writer, NEH will be unable to contact him or her. (Applicants are responsible for providing accurate e-mail addresses. The NEH grants management system will use the addresses exactly as they have been entered on this form.)

To ensure full consideration, letters must be submitted online not later than January 25, 2021 (for proposals submitted for the December 16, 2020 deadline) or January 24, 2022 (for the December 15, 2021 deadline).

See Section D7 Other Submission Requirements for additional instructions on the submission of reference letters and confirmation of their receipt by NEH.

Nominating Official Leave this section blank.

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Project/Performance Site Location(s) Form Provide the primary location and any other locations where the project activity will occur during the period of performance. This form allows for the collection of multiple performance sites. If you need to add more project/performance site locations than the form allows, enter the information in a separate file and add it to the "Additional Locations" section.

Instructions for each requested data element may be viewed by positioning your cursor over the blank field.

Include only sites where you are reasonably certain at the time of application that you will conduct project activities. It is possible to add sites later. For “Organization,” you may substitute a brief description of locations that do not have a formal organizational name (e.g., "Residence of applicant” or “Interview site in Chicago to be determined.”) You may omit the D- U-N-S number for organizations other than that of the primary location, and for the primary location if it does not have a D-U-N-S number.

Attachments Form Attach your narrative and the other application components to this form. Consult the Application Components Table to see the required application components, how to name each attachment, and the order in which to attach them. You must name your files correctly to avoid processing errors and attach your files in the proper order so that NEH can identify them.

Your attachments must be in Portable Document Format (.pdf). Make sure that all files in formats other than PDF (images, Word or Excel files, etc.) have been properly saved as PDF files. Do not simply rename your non-PDF files with PDF extensions. If an attachment contains multiple documents, you must merge those documents into a single PDF. Do not attach a zip file containing multiple PDFs. Check that your attachments still meet the page limits after you have converted to PDF format.

Visit Grants.gov’s Adobe Software Compatibility page to verify the compatibility of your current software or to download the appropriate version. Even if you choose to complete the online webforms in Workspace, you will need to convert the files that you will attach (to the Attachments Form) into PDFs. If you have a problem installing Adobe Reader, it may be because you do not have permission to install a new program on your computer. Many organizations have rules about installing new programs. If you encounter a problem, contact your system administrator.

When you open the Attachments Form, you will find fifteen attachment buttons, labeled “Attachment 1” through “Attachment 15.” By clicking on a button, you will be able to choose the file from your computer that you wish to attach.

Note the following Grants.gov file naming conventions: limit file names to 50 or fewer characters. Do not attach any documents with the same name. All attachments should have a unique name. Use only the following UTF-8 characters when naming your attachments: A-Z, a-z, 0-9, underscore, hyphen, space, period, parenthesis, curly braces, square brackets, ampersand, tilde, exclamation point, comma, semi colon, apostrophe, at sign, number sign, dollar sign, percent sign, plus sign, and equal sign. Attachments that do not follow this rule may cause the entire application to be rejected or cause issues during processing.

Grants.gov may accept and validate your submission even if required components are missing.

This may result in NEH rejecting your application as incomplete. It is your responsibility to ensure that all required components are properly attached and submitted.

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/adobe-software-compatibility.html

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Attachment 1: Narrative (required) The narrative provides a comprehensive framework and description of the proposed project. It should be succinct, well organized, and free of technical terms and jargon so that peer reviewers can understand the proposed project.

You must limit the narrative to three single-spaced pages with one-inch margins and a font size no smaller than eleven points. Images, charts, diagrams, footnotes, and endnotes are allowed, if they fit within the three-page limit.

NEH has aligned each section of the narrative with a corresponding review criterion. Refer to Section E1 Review Criteria for full descriptions. In accordance with Review Criterion 4, the entire narrative and writing sample will be evaluated for clarity of expression.

Successful applications will contain the information below. Use the following section headings for the narrative.

Significance and contribution (corresponds to Review Criteria 1 and 3) Describe the significance and appeal of the proposed project for general audiences. Explain why your topic matters, and why it will be of interest to general readers. Provide an overview of the project, explaining its scope and the basic ideas, problems, arguments, questions, texts, people, and/or events that it will explore. Discuss how the project relates to previous work on the topic and how your work makes a new contribution.

Sources and organization (corresponds to Review Criteria 1 and 3) Discuss your sources and research materials, how you will use them, and how they support your treatment of the topic. Appropriate primary and secondary sources include historical and contemporary documents and other writings, artifacts and objects, literary or artistic or cinematic or visual works, print or digital publications or other digital resources, interviews, observation (including participant observation), the administration of surveys or questionnaires, and other fieldwork.

Explain how you plan to organize your book. Provide a chapter outline, with brief explanations of each chapter’s contents.

Competencies, skills, and access (corresponds to Review Criteria 2 and 5) Explain your competence in the area of your project, and describe your experience in conveying scholarship to, or otherwise writing for, a broad audience. If the subject is new to you, explain your reasons for working in it and your qualifications to do so. Specify the level of competence in any language or skills needed for the study. If relevant, specify the arrangements for access to archives, collections, or institutions that contain the resources you need, or for interviews with relevant people. If you are proposing work with a collaborator, indicate that person’s competencies.

Final product and dissemination (corresponds to Review Criteria 1 and 5) State what your final product(s) will be. Describe the audience(s) you aim to reach and discuss why your treatment is appropriate to the subject matter and audience.

Indicate when you expect to submit the project for publication and when you expect the book to appear. Describe the plans that you and your publisher (if you already have one) have developed for disseminating and marketing the book. If you do not already have a publisher, describe your plans for securing one. Although the program’s primary goal is to support the writing of books, the program also supports the creation of digital, electronic, or Web-based

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materials intended to supplement a proposed book. If you are proposing such materials, discuss their technical specifications and explain how they will be supported and maintained beyond the period of performance.

Indicate how you will handle the documentation of sources and what form the documentation will take. This program supports only nonfiction, so your documentation of sources should be thorough enough to show how you know what you are telling the reader.

You should signal when you are engaging in speculation (if you do so) and avoid ambiguity about whether particular details are supported by documentary evidence. The form of documentation you use is up to you, but you should consider how to balance the demands of readability and precision.

Name the file narrative.pdf.

NARRATIVE GUIDANCE

To ensure that you fully address the review criteria, this table provides a crosswalk between the narrative language and where each section falls within the review criteria. In accordance with Review Criterion 4, the entire narrative and writing sample will be evaluated for clarity of expression.

Narrative Section Review Criteria

Significance and contribution 1 and 3

Sources and organization 1 and 3

Competencies, skills, and access 2 and 5

Final product and dissemination 1 and 5

Attachment 2: Work plan (required) Present a schedule for the period of performance. Explain the tasks you expect to accomplish and your timeline for them. Indicate how many months of support you are requesting and whether you propose full- or part-time work, or a combination of the two. If you are proposing part-time work, indicate the fraction of time you will devote to the project (e.g., half-time or three-quarters time). Specify the part or stage of the project that will be supported by the award.

Indicate what, if any, parts of the project have already been completed. If the project will not be completed during the period of performance, indicate when you expect to submit the project for publication and when you expect the book to appear.

Indicate where you will work and, if more than one location is involved, how long you will spend in each place.

If you are seeking funds as part of a larger collaborative project, clearly explain how the work will be divided and the extent to which each collaborator’s contribution depends on that of the other(s).

Your work plan should not depend on factors outside your control, such as the receipt by a particular date of an editor’s comments. If you plan to submit your manuscript to an editor or publisher before the end of the period of performance, explain what additional work the project will require after you submit the manuscript and why it merits support.

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The work plan must not exceed one page. Use one-inch margins and a font-size no smaller than 11-point. You may present information in table form.

Name the file workplan.pdf.

Attachment 3: Bibliography (required) The bibliography should consist of primary and/or secondary sources that relate directly to the project. If you are proposing work with archival materials, indicate the archive(s) in which they are held. If your sources include interviews, indicate when they were conducted. Reviewers will use the bibliography to assess your knowledge of the subject area.

Any standard bibliographic format is acceptable. Items referenced in the narrative need not appear in the bibliography, if the citation in the narrative enables readers to identify the work.

The bibliography must not exceed one page. Use one-inch margins and a font size no smaller than eleven point. Name the file bibliography.pdf.

Attachment 4: Résumé (required) Your résumé must not exceed two pages and should include the following information:

• name

• current and past positions

• education (list degrees, dates awarded, and titles of theses or dissertations)

• awards and honors, including dates. If you have received prior support from NEH, indicate the dates of these awards and the products that resulted from them.

• publications (include full citations for publications and presentations)

• other relevant professional activities and accomplishments, including your level of competence in any relevant foreign languages.

Do not submit a narrative biographical statement instead of a résumé.

Attachment 5: Writing sample (required) Applicants must submit a writing sample consisting of not more than twenty double-spaced pages or the equivalent, including footnotes or end notes (if any). You may single-space footnotes or end notes. Leave one-inch margins and use a font no smaller than eleven point. It is best to provide a draft chapter of the proposed book, or a partial chapter. If a draft chapter is not available, a writing sample in the style of the proposed book is acceptable. If the sample is a PDF of pages from a previous publication, its length must not exceed the equivalent of twenty double-spaced pages in eleven-point typescript. If the sample has been published, you must indicate this and list the publication on your résumé.

If the sample relates to the proposed book, indicate how (for example, specify if possible which chapter it is, whether it is a complete chapter or a partial chapter, or contains material that will ultimately be broken into several chapters).

The writing sample should demonstrate how the final product will read. If the sample is drawn from the proposed book, it should demonstrate how you will handle the documentation of sources or contain a note explaining this. For additional guidance on documentation, refer to the narrative instructions for the “Final product and dissemination” section. The sample must be written by the applicant, must not be co-authored, and must not be more than five years old.

It may not include more than one work or excerpts from more than one work. It may not include a table of contents, outline, or abstract of the proposed book or of portions of it (this

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information belongs in the narrative). You may include brief notes explaining abridgments made to conform to the page limit. Visual materials and a bibliography are also permitted, so long as they fit within the twenty-page limit.

Name the file writingsample.pdf.

Attachment 6: Publisher’s letter of interest or commitment (optional) Applicants who have already explored publication arrangements are encouraged to submit a letter of interest or commitment from a publisher. The letter should be from an official representative of the publisher. Letters of commitment should indicate the physical format(s) planned for the book, dissemination plans, and print-run expectations. Do not substitute or include a copy of the book contract.

Name the file publisherletter.pdf.

Attachment 7: Explanation of delinquent federal debt (conditionally required) If you are delinquent in the repayment of any federal debt, provide explanatory information on a separate page or pages. Also provide evidence that you have entered into a repayment agreement with the Internal Revenue Service, and that you are current on all payments due.

Examples of relevant debt include student loans, delinquent payroll or other taxes, delinquent child support payments, audit disallowances, and benefit overpayments. See OMB Circular A- 129.

Name the file delinquentdebt.pdf

3. Grants.gov Registration Process

Registering and creating an “individual applicant” profile All applicants to this program must submit their applications via Grants.gov Workspace.

If you are registering with Grants.gov for the first time, go to https://apply07.grants.gov/apply/register.faces.

Once you have registered at Grants.gov, you must add an “individual applicant” profile in order to submit an application to the Public Scholars program or other programs for individuals. Do this by clicking on the “My Account” link, then on “Manage Profiles” and “Add Profile.”

Grant.gov’s instructions for adding a profile are available here:

https://www.grants.gov/help/html/help/index.htm?callingApp=custom#t=Register%2FAddPr ofile.htm

Only applicants whose Grants.gov accounts include an individual applicant profile will be able to submit applications for the Public Scholars program. If you have successfully created an individual applicant profile, the “Apply” button on the Grants.gov opportunity page will be red.

Otherwise it will be grayed out.

When you create your “individual applicant” profile, Grants.gov may automatically fill in the box for the D-U-N-S® number with a default value. Do not change this number.

Applicants who have already registered at Grants.gov and created an “individual applicant” profile need not re-register to submit their proposals. We encourage you, however, to check https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/circulars/A129/a-129.pdf https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/circulars/A129/a-129.pdf https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/workspace-overview.html https://apply07.grants.gov/apply/register.faces https://www.grants.gov/help/html/help/index.htm?callingApp=custom#t=Register%2FAddProfile.htm https://www.grants.gov/help/html/help/index.htm?callingApp=custom#t=Register%2FAddProfile.htm

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your account ahead of the deadline to confirm that it is still active and that your password has not expired.

If you have problems registering with Grants.gov or adding an “individual applicant” profile, contact the Grants.gov help desk at 1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov.

Applicants who lose their username and password can request a reminder at https://apply07.grants.gov/apply/login.faces?userType=applicant&cleanSession=1.

Additional registration information Individuals do not need to register in the System for Award Management (SAM). Awards will not be processed for individuals with delinquent federal debt or for individuals who have been suspended, debarred, declared ineligible, or voluntarily excluded from eligibility for covered transactions by any federal department or agency. To see if you have delinquent federal debt or other exclusions recorded in SAM, go to the SAM website; click on “Search Records,” and then on “Advanced Search - Exclusion.”

NEH may not make an award to an applicant until the applicant has complied with all applicable requirements and, if an applicant has not fully complied with the requirements by the time NEH is ready to make an award, NEH may determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive an award and use that determination as the basis for making an award to another applicant.

NEH strongly recommends that you complete your registration at least two weeks before the application deadline. If you fail to allow sufficient time to complete registration with Grants.gov, you will not be eligible for a deadline extension or waiver of the online submission requirement.

4. Submission Dates and Times There will be two application due dates under this announcement:

December 16, 2020, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time December 15, 2021, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time

Letters of reference must be submitted online not later than Monday, January 25, 2021 (for proposals submitted for the December 16, 2020 deadline) or Monday, January 24, 2022 (for proposals submitted for the December 15, 2021 deadline). See section D7 Other Submission Requirements for instructions.

Applications must be complete, within the specified page limits and formatting requirements, and validated by Grants.gov under the correct funding opportunity number prior to the deadline to be considered under this notice.

Confirm that you successfully submitted your application. It is your responsibility as an applicant to confirm that Grants.gov and subsequently NEH have received your application.

NEH will assign a tracking number beginning with FZ- to your application when it has been received. The assignment of a tracking number does not, however, guarantee that the application is free of technical problems (such as missing attachments or failure to convert attachments to PDFs). If NEH’s system detects a technical problem with your application after retrieving it from Grants.gov, you will be sent an email notification, provided you have included an e-mail address in your application.

mailto:support@grants.gov https://apply07.grants.gov/apply/login.faces?userType=applicant&cleanSession=1 https://www.sam.gov/SAM/ https://www.grants.gov/help/html/help/Applicants/CheckApplicationStatus/CheckApplicationStatus.htm

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Once an applicant formally submits an application, NEH will not comment on its status except with respect to issues of completeness and eligibility.

5. Intergovernmental Review This funding opportunity is not subject to intergovernmental review under Executive Order 12373.

6. Funding Restrictions Funds under this notice may not be used for the following purposes:

• research for doctoral dissertations or theses by students enrolled in a degree program

• dissertation…