NEH Grant

In the summer of 2016, I completed and submitted a grant proposal for National Endowment of the Humanities’ Public Humanities Project. This grant was also completed as part of the Grant Writing in Instructional Technology course, Educational Technology 5263, offered through the University of Arkansas’s program in Educational Technology. The proposed grant requested funds for a two-part project. The first aspect of the project was to establish a public conference for scholars and community leaders addressing issues on cultural heritage. The second aspect of the project was to work with these individuals and others to produce a series of short (10-15 minute) videos on cultural heritage, which are to be circulated to high schools and colleges for educational discussions. The overall purpose of the grant is increase knowledge about the importance of cultural heritage in our ever modernizing world.

The grants proposes a conference in San Antonio, TX in which scholars and community leaders present and discuss issues of cultural heritage with invited international scholars, particularly those working in Turkey and Syria. The main questions would be how we preserve the past as it encounters the challenges of tourism, increased urbanization, pollution, and even conflict. Important questions asked would be who owns the past and what past should be preserved. These fundamental questions are ways of addressing issues of culture, shared history, and diverse narratives within a community. The continuing web series produced after the conference would allow the invited scholars to reach a broader audience with their concerns, findings, and proposed solutions. By circulating them to students, the videos would also encourage conversation among the next generation, and ideally foster a sense of investment in the cultural monuments that surround them. Finally, the web series would offer an opportunity to bring in additional scholarly voices.

This grant proposal encouraged to think deeply about issues which I find important, and also which have broader social relevance. The process of writing the grant, however, greatly increased my exposure to the mechanisms of grant sources and institutional budgetary procedure. As part of the proposal process, I was introduced to numerous different sources of educational funding, before ultimately selecting the NEH grant. Additionally, I had to work closely with my new employers to determine institutional contributions toward the proposed budget. Finally, the proposal also put me in touch with a number of new scholars in the central Texas community.

I found this grant writing process incredibly productive as a scholar, a writer, and a community-activist. The project in general introduced me to all the moving parts involved in proposing a grant; most difficult for me was navigating the budget, especially in coordination with my employers and other possible participants. This was an invaluable skill to learn. It was also great practice in writing; although I have done research papers, I had never written a proposal, which I know is a major part of being successful in academia. I have used that knowledge to help write a grant proposal for my summer project in Greece, which successfully received recognition from the Nautical Archaeology Society. Additionally, I will be applying these same skills on a grant proposal for summer research at Parish Episcopal School.