How To Apply to Voices of the Ancients

Application Information

Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops provide K-12 educators with the opportunity to engage in intensive study and discussion of important topics and issues in American history and culture, while providing them with direct experiences in the interpretation of significant historical and cultural sites and the use of archival and other primary evidence.

Prior to completing an application to a specific workshop, please review the project website and consider carefully what is expected in terms of residence and attendance, reading and writing requirements, and general participation in the work of the project.

During NEH Landmarks workshops, K-12 educators collaborate with core faculty and visiting scholars to study the best available scholarship on a specific landmark or cluster of landmarks. Workshops, offered twice in one summer, accommodate 32 teachers in each one-week session. Participants benefit by gaining a sense of the importance of historical and cultural places, by making connections between the workshop content and what they teach, and by developing individual teaching and/or research materials.

Selection Criteria

A selection committee (consisting in most cases of the project director, one of the project scholars, and a veteran teacher) will read and evaluate all completed applications.

Special consideration is given to the likelihood that an applicant will benefit professionally and personally from the workshop experience. It is important, therefore, to address each of the following factors in the application essay:

1. your professional background;
2. your interest in the subject of the workshop;
3. your special perspectives, skills, or experiences that would contribute to the workshop; and
4. how the experience would enhance your teaching or school service.

While recent participants are eligible to apply, selection committees are asked to give first consideration to applicants who have not previously participated in an NEH-supported seminar, institute, or workshop.

Stipend, Tenure, and Conditions of Award

Teachers selected to participate as Voices of the Ancients Scholars will receive a $1,300 stipend at the end of the workshop session. Stipends are intended to help cover travel expenses to and from the project location, lodging, and meals. Stipends are taxable income.

Summer Scholars are required to attend all scheduled meetings and to engage fully as professionals in all project activities. Participants who do not complete the full tenure of the workshop will receive a reduced stipend.

At the end of the workshop, Voices of the Ancients Scholars will be asked to provide an assessment of their workshop experience, especially in terms of its value to their personal and professional development. These confidential evaluations will become a part of the project’s grant file.

Application Checklist

A completed application consists of the following items:

• A completed application form. The application must be completed and submitted online. Please follow the prompts; be sure to indicate your first and second choices for workshop dates. You should receive a copy of your responses once you submit the form.
• A résumé or short biography detailing your educational qualifications and professional experience. Be sure the résumé provides the name, title, phone number, and email address of one professional reference.
• An application essay that is no more than two double-spaced pages. The essay should address your professional background; interest in the subject of the institute; special perspectives, skills, or experiences that would contribute to the institute; and how the experience would enhance your teaching or school service.

Submission of Applications and Notification Procedure

Completed applications should be submitted via the online application to the project director, not the NEH, no later than March 5, 11:59 pm Pacific. 

Your completed application should be submitted online.

All applicants will be notified on April 2, 2025 and must accept their offer by April 16, 2025.

Once you have accepted an offer to attend any NEH-supported Summer Program (NEH Landmarks Workshop, NEH Summer Seminar, or NEH Summer Institute), you may not withdraw in order to accept an offer from another program.

Participant Eligibility Criteria

You are eligible to apply if you are a:

• United States citizen, including those teaching abroad at U.S. chartered institutions and
  schools operated by the federal government;
• resident of U.S. jurisdictions; or
• foreign national who has been residing in the United States or its jurisdictions for at
  least the three years immediately preceding the application deadline.

You are not eligible to apply if you:

• are a foreign national teaching abroad
• are related to the project director(s)
• are affiliated with the applicant institution (employees, currently enrolled students, etc.)
• have been taught or advised in an academic capacity by the project director(s)
• are delinquent in the repayment of federal debt (taxes, student loans, child support payments, and delinquent payroll taxes for household or other employees)
• have been debarred or suspended by any federal department or agency
• have attended a previous NEH professional development project (Seminars, Landmarks, or Institutes) led by the project director(s)

NEH does not require participants to have earned an advanced degree.

In any given year, an individual may attend only one Institute or Landmarks workshop.

J1 and F1 visa holders should confer with their sponsoring institution regarding their eligibility to receive a stipend from another institution.

To be considered for selection, applicants must submit a complete application as indicated on the individual project’s website. Any questions about applications should be directed to the
individual project team.

Participant Expectations

Eligibility and Applying: To be considered, you must submit a complete application as indicated on the individual project’s website. Prospective participants must follow the stated application and acceptance deadlines. In general, application extensions will not be granted. Any questions about applying should be directed to the individual project team. Participant eligibility criteria are determined by NEH. Application review and offer decisions are determined by individual project teams in accordance with NEH eligibility requirements.

Participant Acceptance: In any given year, an individual may attend only one Institute or Landmarks workshop. Participants may not accept an additional offer or withdraw in order to accept a different offer once they have accepted an offer to attend an NEH Institutes or Landmarks program. Endowment programs do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or age.

Principles of Civility: Project teams and program participants must adhere to the Principles of Civility for NEH Professional Development Programs detailed here: https://www.neh.gov/grants/principles-civility 

Participant Stipends and Attendance: Stipends provide compensation to participants for their time commitment and help to defray participation costs, such as travel, program activities, lodging, and meals (for residential programs), and technical support (for virtual programs). For residential programs, participants cover their own costs for travel to/from a program, lodging, and meals. Stipends are taxable as income.

Project teams must not reduce participant stipends for project-related activities, lodging, or meal costs without prior approval. Project teams must not place contingencies (completing a lesson plan, completing a program evaluation, etc.) on the receipt of participant stipends.

Applicants who accept an offer to participate are expected to remain during the entire period of the program and to participate in its work on a full-time basis. If a participant is obliged through special circumstances to arrive after the beginning or depart before the end of the Institutes or Landmarks program, it shall be the recipient institution's responsibility to see that only a pro rata share of the stipend is received or that the appropriate pro rata share of the stipend is returned if the participant has already received the full stipend.

Participant Evaluations: The NEH requires project directors to collect anonymous participant evaluations at the conclusion of their programs. Unedited participant evaluation responses will be included in the project’s final report to the NEH and any future Institutes or Landmarks applications.

Continuing Education, In-Service, and Graduate Credits for K-12 Programs: Project teams may opt to offer continuing education, in-service, or graduate credit. These opportunities sometimes require additional work by participants beyond the program, such as writing a research paper, and participants are responsible for associated costs or fees unless otherwise noted. See individual project websites for additional information.

Principles of Civility for NEH Professional Development Programs

NEH Institutes and Landmarks programs are intended to extend and deepen knowledge and understanding of the humanities by focusing on significant topics, texts, and issues; contribute to the intellectual vitality and professional development of participants; and foster a community of inquiry that provides models of excellence in scholarship and teaching.

NEH expects that project directors will take responsibility for encouraging an ethos of openness and respect, upholding the basic norms of civil discourse.

Institute and Landmarks presentations and discussions should be:

1. firmly grounded in rigorous scholarship, and thoughtful analysis;
2. conducted without partisan advocacy;
3. respectful of divergent views;
4. free of ad hominem commentary; and
5. devoid of ethnic, religious, gender, disability, or racial bias.

NEH welcomes comments, concerns, or suggestions on these principles at questions@neh.gov.

Applicant and Participant FAQs

This document provides an overview of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to assist those applying to attend an NEH-funded Institute or Landmarks of American History and Culture program. All responses are relevant to both Institutes and Landmarks applicants, unless otherwise noted.

View the Full Applicant and Participant FAQ Document

Equal Opportunity Statement

NEH does not condone or tolerate discrimination or harassment based on age, color, disability, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), genetic information, national origin, race, or religion. Nor does NEH condone or tolerate retaliation against those who initiate discrimination complaints (either formally or informally), serve as witnesses, or otherwise participate in the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) process, or oppose discrimination or harassment. For further information, write to the Equal Opportunity Officer, National Endowment for the Humanities, 400 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024. TDD: 202-606-8282 (this is a special telephone device for the Deaf).