National Humanities Alliance Update on Government Shutdown

National Humanities Alliance

An update from the National Humanities Alliance concerning the impact of the possible government shutdown:

As the possibility of a partial government shutdown looms, we want to shed some light on which humanities programs will be affected if the government cannot reach a funding agreement by midnight tonight. While FY19 funding for some agencies has already been passed by Congress and signed by the president, those agencies whose funding has not yet been finalized will be shut down, including the NEH and several other humanities programs.

Both the Senate and the House have passed Interior appropriations bills that include funding for the NEH and the NEA at $155 million, a $2 million increase from FY18 levels. The House and Senate conference committee has yet to reconcile their two versions of the bill. As a result, NEH and NEA will be closed during the partial shutdown.

Status of Current NEH Grants

Congress has already appropriated the funds to cover the grants that the NEH has awarded, so grantees will receive those awards. However, our understanding from past shutdowns is that payments will be delayed while the agency is closed and that it may take additional time to clear out a backlog even after the agency reopens. The Grants.gov portal will remain open and grantees with reports due during the shutdown should still meet those reporting deadlines. Given that bills already passed in the House and Senate contain a $2 million increase over FY 2018, we anticipate that once the appropriations impasse is cleared, the NEH will be in a position fund a full year of grants.

Additional Shutdowns

The Woodrow Wilson Center, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Park Service, and the National Archives, which houses the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), will all be closed.

However, earlier this year, two “minibus” appropriations bills were passed and signed by President Trump. They included level funding for Title VI and Fulbright-Hays as well as funding increases for the Institute for Museum and Library Services and the Library of Congress. Therefore, these agencies and programs will remain open during the partial shutdown.

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We will continue to keep you updated and will alert you if your voice has the potential to affect funding for humanities agencies and programs.

NEHC Wraps up its First Semester

News

Alexis Boylan, associate director of NEHC, has written a summary of NEHC’s first semester as an organization:

It has been an amazing first few months for NEHC. The Mellon Foundation allowed us to come out of the gate running with their generous award of $100,000. This funding supported two crucial pilot programs that kicked-off this fall. The first, is a program for schools to share visiting scholars. Our first speaker was Professor Kate Manne, who travelled from Amherst College to UConn, and finally Wellesley College for a week in early October. Her talks and presentations lit a fire across the three schools and proved the value of this kind of progressive intellectual exchange. Our next speaker will be Professor Mark Rifkin, coming the first week in March 2019. We are already working on plans to expand his voice beyond the three schools while he visits New England.

The second pilot program that kicked off this term is the Faculty of Color Working Group. This group will create outreach, mentoring, and support for the diverse faculty at NEHC schools. Organized and coordinated by Professor Melina Pappademos and Cathy Schlund-Vials the executive committee has met and a large conference is being planned for the Spring 2019. Stay-tuned for more on that event.

Finally, NEHC is planning to announce a call for proposals for its first round of seed-funded support grants for cross-NEHC collaborative projects. This is truly exciting for all of us as it marks another tangible move to creating strong and sustainable networks of scholarships across the region.

It has been a big year, and we are just getting started. Stayed tuned to our webpage, twitter, and facebook, for opportunities, news, and general humanities information. We are excited about the strength and voice we have together to promote humanities scholarship and activism.

Advertisement for fellowship at University of Connecticut Humanities Institute

Fellowship Opportunities at University of Connecticut

University of Connecticut

The University of Connecticut Humanities Institute invites applications for residential fellowships. Fellowships offers a stipend, office, and all the benefits of a Research I university. Just as important, we offer community, space, and time for scholars to write, argue, engage, and create.

Year-long fellowships are open to humanities professors, independent scholars, writers, museum and library professionals. Take advantage of the research facilities, archives and special collections, and museums with ideal proximity to Hartford, Boston, and New York City.

Application materials must be received by February 1, 2019.

Take the Humanities Public flyer

Summer Institutes in Public Humanities at UNH

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The Center for the Humanities at the University of New Hampshire has announced a series of Mellon-funded summer institutes in public humanities.

The program will pay a modest stipend, travel, meals, and lodging costs for all participants.  Faculty participants will make three commitments beyond their attendance. They will agree to: a) plan and initiate an engaged project in the following academic year (for which they will be eligible to apply to the institute for a $5,000 start-up award); b) commit to using the summer’s institute as a basis for initiating curricular or institutional change; and c) submit a written report before the following year’s institute.

More information about applications will be available in mid-January.

Time's Up: What Now? flyer

Time’s Up: What Now?

University of Connecticut

In the coming months,  Amherst College, the University of Connecticut, and Wellesley College will be hosting speakers as part of the event series Time's Up: What Now?

The first speaker will be Kate Manne, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Cornell University and author of Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny. Professor Manne will be visiting the three campuses for a variety of events from October 29-November 2.

More information about events and future speakers will be added at a later date.

Two Upcoming Events

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The NEHC would like to highlight two exciting events.

Liberal Arts and the Humanities: Innovation, Engagement, and Cross-disciplinary Opportunities. Case Studies from Humanities Centers at Liberal Arts Colleges and Small Universities

September 28-30, 2018, Colby College, Waterville, ME

Registration for this event is free before September 7th. After that date, it is $75 dollars per individual. Registration is available here.

The twelfth annual Black New England Conference

October 19-20, 2018, University of New Hampshire

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