The Public Humanities Projects program supports projects that bring the ideas of the humanities to life for general audiences through public programming. Projects must engage humanities scholarship to analyze significant themes in disciplines such as history, literature, ethics, and art history. Awards support projects that are intended to reach broad and diverse public audiences in non-classroom settings in the United States. Projects should engage with ideas that are accessible to the general public and employ appealing interpretive formats.
Public Humanities Projects supports projects in three categories (Exhibitions, Historic Places, and Humanities Discussions), and at two funding levels (Planning and Implementation). Proposed projects may include complementary components: for example, a museum exhibition might be accompanied by a website or mobile app.
Projects may be international, national, regional, or local in focus and should reach a broad public audience. We welcome projects tailored to particular groups, such as families, youth (including K-12 students in informal educational settings), underserved communities, and veterans.
Small and mid-sized organizations are encouraged to apply if their projects address topics of regional or national relevance by drawing connections to broad themes or historical questions. Projects that don’t address issues of concern to wider regional or national audiences should consider applying to Public Impact Projects at Smaller Organizations or local sources of funding, such as their state humanities councils. Award amounts offered to successful applicants will reflect the project’s scope and the size of its expected audiences.
Maximum award amount
Planning: $60,000
Implementation: $400,000 (+additional $100,000 for Positions in the Public Humanities, if you choose to apply)
Chair’s Special Awards: $1,000,000
Expected Output
Exhibitions; Interpretation Plans; Discussion Series
Period of performance
Planning: Up to 24 months Implementation: 12 to 48 months
Application deadline: January 8,2024
Apply on Grants.gov More info at NEH.gov/grants
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