The national endowment for the humanities is an independent егэ

Задание №8846.
Чтение. ЕГЭ по английскому

Прочитайте текст и заполните пропуски A — F частями предложений, обозначенными цифрами 1 — 7. Одна из частей в списке 1—7 лишняя.

Grant-making agency

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent grant-making agency of the United States government. Established in 1965, it is one of the largest sources of grant funds for humanities projects and programs in the U.S. NEH promotes knowledge of the history, thought, and culture, not only of the United States, ___ (A).

NEH grants facilitate research and original scholarship, strengthen teaching and learning in the humanities in American schools and colleges, give opportunities for citizens to engage in lifelong learning, ___ (B).

The Endowment is directed by a chairman, ___ (C) and confirmed by the U.S. Senate for a term of four years. Advising the chairman is the National Council on the Humanities, a board of 26 distinguished private citizens ___ (D) with the advice of the Senate. The National Council members serve six-year terms.

NEH grants are typically awarded to U.S. cultural institutions, such as museums, archives, libraries, colleges, universities, and public television and radio stations, ___ (E). Eligibility is limited to U.S. non-profit institutions and to U.S. citizens and foreigners ___ (F) prior to the time of application. Grants are awarded through a competitive process. The chairman takes into account the advice provided by the review process and, by law, makes all funding decisions.

1. who is appointed by the president
2. but of other countries of the world
3. but in every aspect of social sciences
4. who are also appointed by the president
5. who have been living in the U.S. for three years
6. as well as to individual scholars of the humanities
7. as well as provide access to cultural and educational resources

Решение:
Пропуску A соответствует часть текста под номером 2.
Пропуску B соответствует часть текста под номером 7.
Пропуску C соответствует часть текста под номером 1.
Пропуску D соответствует часть текста под номером 4.
Пропуску E соответствует часть текста под номером 6.
Пропуску F соответствует часть текста под номером 5.

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The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency created in 1965. It is one of the largest funders of humanities programs in the United States.

Because democracy demands wisdom, NEH serves and strengthens our republic by promoting excellence in the humanities and conveying the lessons of history to all Americans. The Endowment accomplishes this mission by awarding grants for top-rated proposals examined by panels of independent, external reviewers.

NEH grants typically go to cultural institutions, such as museums, archives, libraries, colleges, universities, public television, and radio stations, and to individual scholars. The grants:

• strengthen teaching and learning in schools and colleges
• facilitate research and original scholarship
• provide opportunities for lifelong learning
• preserve and provide access to cultural and educational resources
• strengthen the institutional base of the humanities

Learn about notable NEH-funded projects, past and present.

Since 1965, the Endowment has opened new worlds of learning for the American public with noteworthy projects such as:

• Seven thousand books, 16 of which have won Pulitzer Prizes, and 20 of which have received the Bancroft Prize.
• The Civil War, the landmark documentary by Ken Burns viewed by 38 million Americans
• The Library of America editions of novels, essays, and poems celebrating America’s literary heritage
• The United States Newspaper Project, which cataloged and microfilmed 63.3 million pages of historic newspapers, paved the way for the National Digital Newspaper Program and its digital repository, Chronicling America
• Annual support for 56 states and territories to help support some 56,000 lectures, discussions, exhibitions and other programs each year

What are the humanities?

«The term ‘humanities’ includes, but is not limited to, the study and interpretation 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.»
—National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act, 1965, as amended

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Seal
Logo
Agency overview
Formed	September 29, 1965
Jurisdiction	Federal government of the United States
Headquarters	Constitution Center, Washington, D.C.
Employees	500 (2022)
Annual budget	$207 million USD (2023)[1]
Agency executive	Shelly Lowe, Chairman
Website	www.neh.gov

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 (Pub. L. 89–209), dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is housed at 400 7th St SW, Washington, D.C.^[2] From 1979 to 2014, NEH was at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. in the Nancy Hanks Center at the Old Post Office.

History and purpose[edit]

The NEH provides grants for high-quality humanities projects to cultural institutions such as museums, archives, libraries, colleges, universities, public television, and radio stations, and to individual scholars. According to its mission statement:

«Because democracy demands wisdom, NEH serves and strengthens our republic by promoting excellence in the humanities and conveying the lessons of history to all Americans.»^[3]

The NEH was created in 1965 as a sub-agency of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities, which today also includes the National Endowment for the Arts, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.^[4] NEH was based upon recommendation of the National Commission on the Humanities, convened in 1963 with representatives from three US scholarly and educational associations, the Phi Beta Kappa Society, the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), and the Council of Graduate Schools.^[4][5]

The agencies stated purpose is to create incentives for excellent work in the humanities by:

• awarding grants that strengthen teaching and learning in the humanities in schools and colleges
• facilitate research and original scholarship
• provide opportunities for lifelong learning
• preserve and provide access to cultural and educational resources
• strengthen the institutional base of the humanities.^[3]

As part of its mandate to support humanities programs in every US state and territory, the agency supports a network of private, nonprofit affiliates, the 56 humanities councils in the states and territories of the United States.

Jim Leach leadership, 2009–2013[edit]

The ninth NEH chair was Jim Leach. President Obama nominated the former Iowa congressman, a Republican, to chair the NEH on June 3, 2009;^[6] the Senate confirmed his appointment in August 2009.^[7] Leach began his term as the NEH chair on August 12, 2009 and stepped down in May 2013. Between November 2009 and May 2011, Leach conducted the American «Civility Tour» to call attention to the need to restore reason and civility back into politics, a goal that in his words was «central to the humanities.» Leach visited each of the 50 states, speaking at venues ranging from university and museum lecture halls to hospitals for veterans, to support the return of non-emotive, civil exchange and rational consideration of other viewpoints. According to Leach, «Little is more important…than establishing an ethos of thoughtfulness and decency of expression in the public square. Words reflect emotion as well as meaning. They clarify—or cloud—thought and energize action, sometimes bringing out the better angels in our nature, sometimes lesser instincts.»^[8]

William Adams leadership, 2014–2017[edit]

The tenth chair of the NEH was William Adams, who served from 2014 to 2017. President Obama nominated Adams on April 4, 2014;^[9][10][11] Adams was confirmed by the Senate in a voice vote on July 9, 2014.^[12] Adams appointed Margaret (Peggy) Plympton as the deputy NEH chair in January 2015.^[13]

Before Adams’s appointment, the NEH was headed by Acting Chair Carole M. Watson. Adams resigned his appointment on May 23, 2017, when he cited accomplishments under the «Common Good» initiative and the appointment of new administration officials.^[14]

Jon Parish Peede, 2018–2022[edit]

Appointed under Donald Trump, from 2018 to 2022, Jon Parrish Peede served as Chair of the NEH.^[15] On February 10, 2020, the NEH was presented by the Trump administration with a FY2021 budget that included an orderly wind-down of the agency.^[16]

Shelly Lowe[edit]

Plans to close the agency were halted under the Biden Administration and the NEH continues to operate and provides funding for various projects.^[17] In 2022, Shelly Lowe was confirmed as the chairman of the NEH.^[18] She is the first Native American to lead the agency.^[18] Congress appropriated $180 million USD for the NEH in FY2022, and $207 million USD in 2023.^[1]

Offices and initiatives[edit]

The Endowment is directed by the NEH chair. Advising the chair is the National Council on the Humanities, a board of 26 distinguished private citizens who are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.^[19] The National Council members serve staggered six-year terms.

The NEH chair[edit]

The Endowment is directed by a chair, who has legal authority to approve all recommendations and award grants and cooperative agreements. The chair is nominated by the president and confirmed with the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate. The chair’s decisions are informed by recommendations from the National Council on the Humanities, peer-reviewers who are selected to read each project proposal submitted to the Endowment, as well as by the Endowment’s staff.

Major program offices[edit]

The NEH has six grant-making divisions and offices:^[20]

• The Division of Preservation and Access awards grants to preserve, maintain, and improve access to primary sources in the humanities, in both digital and analog form.
• The Division of Public Programs supports projects that bring the humanities to large audiences through libraries and museums, television and radio, historic sites, and digital media.
• The Division of Research makes awards to support the publication of books in and outside the humanities.
• The Division of Education works to support and strengthen teaching of the humanities.
• The Office of Federal/State Partnership collaborates with 56 state and territory humanities councils to strengthen local programs.
• The Office of Digital Humanities advises on use of technology in the humanities and coordinates, and was established in 2008.^[21]

The Office of Challenge Grants, dissolved in 2017, administered grants intended to support capacity building and encourage fundraising in humanities institutions. The Division of Preservation and Access now offers a grant program that is similar to previous programs in the Challenge Grants office.

Special initiatives[edit]

These are special priorities of the endowment that indicate critical areas of the humanities as identified by the NEH chair. They differ from the divisions of the endowment in that they do not sponsor or coordinate specific grant programs.

Bridging Cultures initiative[edit]

Bridging Cultures was an NEH initiative that explored ways the humanities promote understanding and mutual respect for people with diverse histories, cultures, and perspectives. Projects supported through this initiative focused on cultures globally as well as within the United States.^[22]

Standing Together[edit]

This initiative, launched in 2014, marks a priority to make awards that promote understanding of the military experience and to support returning veterans.^[23]

We the People[edit]

We the People was an NEH special funding stream initiated by NEH chair Coles, using dedicated funds available to each chair of the NEH, which was designed to encourage and enhance the teaching, study, and understanding of American history, culture, and democratic principles.^[24] The initiative supports projects and programs that explore significant events and themes in American nation’s history, which advance knowledge of the principles that define America.^[25]

According to NEH, the initiative led a renaissance in knowledge about American history and principles among all US citizens. The initiative was launched on Constitution Day, September 17, 2002 and active through 2009.^[26]

Notable projects[edit]

Since 1965, the NEH has sponsored many projects, including:

• «Treasures of Tutankhamen,» an exhibition seen by more than 1.5 million people.^[27]
• The Civil War, a 1990 documentary by Ken Burns seen by 38 million Americans.^[28]
• Library of America, editions of novels, essays, and poems celebrating America’s literary heritage.^[29]
• United States Newspaper Project, an effort that cataloged and microfilmed 63.3 million pages of newspapers dating from the early United States. The program now digitizes newspapers and makes them available through Chronicling America, a web resource maintained by the Library of Congress.^[30]
• Fifteen Pulitzer Prize–winning books, including those by James M. McPherson, Louis Menand, Joan D. Hedrick, and Bernard Bailyn.^[31]
• EDSITEment, a Web project bringing the «best of the humanities on the web» to teachers and students, started in 1997.^[32]
• Reference archives, in Athens and Boston, of archaeological photographs taken by Eleanor Emlen Myers.^[33]
• The Valley of the Shadow, a digital history project created by Edward L. Ayers and William G. Thomas III on the experience of Confederate Civil War soldiers in the United States.^[34]
• What’s on the Menu, digitization and community-sourced transcription of New York Public Library’s restaurant menu collection.^[35]
• Katherine Anne Porter at 100, a conference at the University of Maryland featuring presentations on Porter and her work, film screenings, and exhibits containing items from Porter’s papers.^[36]

Recent and upcoming council meetings[edit]

Agendas and minutes:

• Agenda for Meeting of the National Council on the Humanities 7 March 2022

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2022)

Awards[edit]

Jefferson Lecture[edit]

Since 1972 the NEH has sponsored the Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities, which it describes as «the highest honor the federal government confers for distinguished intellectual achievement in the humanities.» The Jefferson Lecturer is selected each year by the National Council on the Humanities. The honoree delivers a lecture in Washington, D.C., during the spring, and receives an honorarium of $10,000. The stated purpose of the honor is to recognize «an individual who has made significant scholarly contributions in the humanities and who has the ability to communicate the knowledge and wisdom of the humanities in a broadly appealing way.»^[37]

National Humanities Medal and Charles Frankel Prize[edit]

The National Humanities Medal, inaugurated in 1997, honors individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the humanities, broadened citizens’ engagement with the humanities, or helped preserve and expand Americans’ access to important resources in the humanities. Up to 12 medals can be awarded each year. From 1989 to 1996 the NEH awarded a similar prize known as the Charles Frankel Prize.^[38] The new award, a bronze medallion, was designed by David Macaulay, the 1995 winner of the Frankel Prize. Lists of the winners of the National Humanities Medal^[39] and the Frankel Prize^[40] are available at the NEH website.

Humanities magazine[edit]

Starting in 1969, the NEH published a periodical called Humanities; that original incarnation was discontinued in 1978. In 1980, Humanities magazine was relaunched (ISSN 0018-7526). It is published six times per year, with one cover article each year dedicated to profiling that year’s Jefferson Lecturer. Most of its articles have some connection to NEH activities. The magazine’s editor since 2007 has been journalist and author David Skinner.^[41] From 1990 until her death in 2007, Humanities was edited by Mary Lou Beatty (who had previously been a high-ranking editor at the Washington Post).^[42][43]

See also[edit]

• Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities
• List of state humanities councils
• Institute of Museum and Library Services
• National Endowment for the Arts
• National Humanities Medal
• National Humanities Medal recipients

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Jensen, Richard. The Culture Wars, 1965-1995: A Historian’s Map» Journal of Social History (Vol. 29, Special Issue: Social History and the American Political Climate: Problems and Strategies (1995)), pp. 17-37 online
• Kammen, Michael. «Culture and the State in America.» Journal of American History 83.3 (1996): 791-814. online
• Koch, Cynthia M. «Postscript: The Endowments at Fifty.» in Funding Challenges and Successes in Arts Education (IGI Global, 2018) pp. 32-48.
• Miller, Stephen. Excellence and Equity: The National Endowment for the Humanities (UP of Kentucky, 2015).
• Redaelli, Eleonora. «Understanding American cultural policy: the multi-level governance of the arts and humanities.» Policy Studies 41.1 (2020): 80-97. online^{[dead link]}
• Topf, Mel A. «The NEH and the Crisis in the Humanities.» College English 37.3 (1975): 229-242. online
• Zainaldin, Jamil. «Public works: NEH, Congress, and the state humanities councils.» Public Historian 35.1 (2013): 28–50. online

External links[edit]

• Official website
• National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities in the Federal Register
• NEH EDSITEment: The Best of the Humanities on the Web
• GrantSocial: NEH Grant Browser 1970-present

National Endowment for the Humanities
Official seal and logo
Agency overview
Formed	September 29, 1965
Jurisdiction	Federal government of the United States
Headquarters	1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.
Employees	159 (2010)
Annual budget	$167,500,000 USD (2010)
Agency executive	Jim Leach, Chairman
Website
www.neh.gov

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the United States established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 (Pub.L. 89-209) dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is located at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. in the Old Post Office.

Overview

The NEH provides grants for high-quality humanities projects to cultural institutions such as museums, archives, libraries, colleges, universities, public television, and radio stations, and to individual scholars. The agency is also a base supporter of a network of private, nonprofit affiliates, the 56 humanities councils in the United States. These grants are given in order to strengthen teaching and learning in the humanities in schools and colleges across the nation, facilitate research and original scholarship, provide opportunities for lifelong learning, preserve and provide access to cultural and educational resources and to strengthen the institutional base of the humanities.

The Endowment is directed by a chairman, who is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, for a term of four years. Advising the chairman is the National Council on the Humanities, a board of 26 distinguished private citizens^[1] who are also appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The National Council members serve staggered six-year terms.

On June 3, 2009, President Obama announced that he intended to nominate former Iowa congressman Jim Leach, a Republican, to be the next chairman of the NEH.^[2] The Senate confirmed his appointment in August 2009.^[3] Leach began his four-year term as the NEH Chairman on August 12, 2009

Chairs

• Barnaby Keeney, 1963-1965, chairman of National Commission on the Humanities
• Henry Allen Moe, 1965–66, interim chairman
• Barnaby Keeney, 1966–1970
• Wallace Edgerton, Acting Chairman, 1970–71
• Ronald Berman, 1971–1977
• Robert Kingston, Acting Chairman, 1977
• Joseph Duffey, 1977–81
• William J. Bennett, 1981–85
• John Agresto, Acting Chairman, 1985
• Lynne Cheney, 1986–1993
• Jerry L. Martin, Acting Chairman, 1993
• Donald Gibson, Acting Chairman, 1993
• Sheldon Hackney, 1993–97
• Bruce A. Lehman, Acting Chairman, 1997
• William R. Ferris, 1997–2001
• Bruce Cole, 2001-2009^{[4][5][6][7][8]}
• Carole M. Watson, Acting Chairman, 2009^[9][10]
• Jim Leach, 2009–Present ^[3]

Grant-Making Divisions and Offices

The NEH has seven grant-making divisions and offices^{[citation needed]}:

The Office of Challenge Grants specializes in matching grants intended to inspire and augment fundraising by humanities institutions for the sake of their long-term stability.

The Office of Digital Humanities promotes the use of technology to ask new questions. It makes grants and sponsors efforts that show how new media and technology are reshaping traditional disciplines in the humanities.

The Division of Education works to support and strengthen teaching of the humanities.

The Office of Federal/State Partnership collaborates with fifty-six state and jurisdictional humanities councils to support local programs.

The Division of Preservation and Access awards grants to help maintain cultural and historic collections.

The Division of Public Programs supports projects that bring the humanities to large audiences through libraries and museums, television and radio, historic sites, and digital media.

The Division of Research makes awards to support original scholarship in all areas of the humanities, funding individuals as well as teams of researchers and institutions.

Noteworthy Projects

Since 1965, the Endowment has sponsored noteworthy projects such as^{[citation needed]}:

• «Treasures of Tutankhamen,» the blockbuster exhibition seen by more than 1.5 million people
• The Civil War, the landmark 1990 documentary by Ken Burns seen by 38 million Americans.
• Library of America, editions of novels, essays, and poems celebrating America’s literary heritage
• United States Newspaper Project, an effort to catalog and microfilm 63.3 million pages of newspapers dating from the early Republic
• Fifteen Pulitzer-Prize winning books, including those by James M. McPherson, Louis Menand, Joan D. Hedrick, and Bernard Bailyn

The Civility Tour

Between November 2009 and May 2011, Chairman Leach is conducting the American Civility Tour. Leach will visit each of the 50 states, speaking at venues ranging from university and museum lecture halls to hospitals for veterans to call attention to the need for civility in public discourse. The Tour was created because the exchange of ideas and the consideration of other viewpoints are central to the humanities.^{[says who?]} The initiative is calling to bring the spirit of reason back into politics.^{[ambiguous][citation needed]}

The Bridging Cultures Initiative

NEH’s newest initiative , Bridging Cultures, aims to stimulate important humanities efforts in two thematic areas: «Civility and Democracy» and «The Muslim World and the Humanities.» These two themes are of great interest today both as subjects of humanities scholarship and as an issue of public concern, making them especially suitable for demonstrating the role of the humanities in taking thoughtful approaches to issues that matter to a broad American Public.^{[says who?][citation needed]}

«We the People» Initiative

«We the People» is an NEH program designed to encourage and enhance the teaching, study, and understanding of American history, culture, and democratic principles. The initiative supports projects and programs that explore significant events and themes in our nation’s history, which advance knowledge of the principles that define America.^[11]

NEH was founded on the belief that cultivating the best of the humanities has real and tangible benefits for civic life. Through «We the People,» NEH has rededicated itself to this mission, and is leading a renaissance in knowledge about American history and principles among all our citizens. The NEH launched the «We the People» initiative on Constitution Day, September 17, 2002.^{[citation needed]}

Awards

Jefferson Lecture

Main article: Jefferson Lecture

Since 1972 the NEH has sponsored the Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities, which it describes as «the highest honor the federal government confers for distinguished intellectual achievement in the humanities.» The Jefferson Lecturer is selected each year by the National Council on the Humanities. The honoree delivers a lecture in Washington, D.C. during the spring, and receives an honorarium of $10,000. The stated purpose of the honor is to recognize «an individual who has made significant scholarly contributions in the humanities and who has the ability to communicate the knowledge and wisdom of the humanities in a broadly appealing way.»^[12]

National Humanities Medal and Charles Frankel Prize

The National Humanities Medal, inaugurated in 1997, honors individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the humanities, broadened citizens’ engagement with the humanities, or helped preserve and expand Americans’ access to important resources in the humanities. Up to 12 medals can be awarded each year. From 1989 to 1996 the NEH awarded a similar prize known as the Charles Frankel Prize.^[13] The new award, a bronze medallion was designed by 1995 Frankel Prize winner David Macaulay. Lists of the winners of the National Humanities Medal^[14] and Frankel Prize^[15] are available at the NEH website.

See also

• Institute of Museum and Library Services
• National Endowment for the Arts
• National Gallery of Art
• National Science Foundation
• Smithsonian Institution

References

External links

• Official website
• NEH EDSITEment: The Best of the Humanities on the Web
• GrantSocial: NEH Grant Browser 1970-present

From Academic Kids

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency created in 1965. NEH is located at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. in the Old Post Office.

According to their website, they are «the largest funder of humanities programs in the United States.»[1] (http://www.neh.gov/)
The endowment accomplishes this mission by providing grants for high-quality humanities projects in four funding areas: preserving and providing access to cultural resources, education, research, and public programs.

NEH grants typically go to cultural institutions, such as museums, archives, libraries, colleges, universities, public television, and radio stations, and to individual scholars.

Every summer, NEH hosts undergraduate students from across the country as interns in various departments from the Division of Education to the Office of the Chairman. Each intern is mentored by an NEH staffperson and receives a stipend for ten weeks of full-time work. The application process is competitive.

External links

• http://www.neh.gov/

Template:Org-stub

Official logo
Agency overview
Formed	September 29, 1965
Jurisdiction	Federal government of the United States
Headquarters	400 7th Street SW, Washington, D.C.
Employees	159 (2010)
Annual budget	$167,500,000 USD (2010)
Agency executives	William ‘Bro’ Adams, Chair Margaret (Peggy) Plympton, Deputy Chair
Website	www.neh.gov

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 (Pub.L. 89–209), dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is housed at 400 7th St SW, Washington, D.C.;^[1] From 1979 to 2014, NEH was located at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. in the Nancy Hanks Center at the Old Post Office.

History and Overview

The NEH provides grants for high-quality humanities projects to cultural institutions such as museums, archives, libraries, colleges, universities, public television, and radio stations, and to individual scholars. NEH was created in 1965 under the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities, which also included the National Endowment for the Arts and later the Institute for Museum Services, as a move to provide greater investment in culture by the federal government.^[2] NEH was based upon recommendation of the National Commission on the Humanities, convened in 1963 with representatives from three US scholarly and educational associations.^[2] The agency creates incentives for excellent work in the humanities by awarding grants that strengthen teaching and learning in the humanities in schools and colleges across the nation, facilitate research and original scholarship, provide opportunities for lifelong learning, preserve and provide access to cultural and educational resources and to strengthen the institutional base of the humanities. As part of its mandate to support humanities programs in every US state and territory, the agency supports a network of private, nonprofit affiliates, the 56 humanities councils in the states and territories of the United States.

The tenth Chair of the NEH is William ‘Bro’ Adams, formerly president of Colby College in Maine. President Obama nominated Adams on April 4, 2014;^[3][4][5] Adams was confirmed by the Senate in a voice vote on July 9, 2014.^[6] Adams appointed Margaret (Peggy) Plympton as the Deputy NEH Chair in January 2015.^[7] Prior to Adams’s appointment, the NEH was headed by Acting Chair Carole M. Watson.

The ninth NEH Chair was Jim Leach. President Obama nominated the former Iowa congressman, a Republican, to chair the NEH on June 3, 2009;^[8] the Senate confirmed his appointment in August 2009.^[9] Leach began his term as the NEH Chair on August 12, 2009 and stepped down in May 2013. Between November 2009 and May 2011, Leach conducted the American «Civility Tour» to call attention to the need to restore reason and civility back into politics, a goal that in his words was «central to the humanities.» Leach visited each of the 50 states, speaking at venues ranging from university and museum lecture halls to hospitals for veterans, to support the return of non-emotive, civil exchange and rational consideration of other viewpoints. According to Leach, «Little is more important…than establishing an ethos of thoughtfulness and decency of expression in the public square. Words reflect emotion as well as meaning. They clarify—or cloud—thought and energize action, sometimes bringing out the better angels in our nature, sometimes lesser instincts.»^[10] Since the completion of Leach’s Civility Tour, rallies for reasoning politics like Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity, and grassroots initiatives for pluralistic rationalism in public discourse, have reflected Leach’s call for civil, non-emotive and reasoning language between those with disparate religious or political ideologies.^[11]

Structure

The Endowment is directed by the NEH Chair. Advising the Chair is the National Council on the Humanities, a board of 26 distinguished private citizens who are also appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.^[12] The National Council members serve staggered six-year terms.

The NEH Chair

The Endowment is directed by a presidentially appointed Chair, who approves all recommendations and awards grants. All of the Chair’s recommendations are informed by the National Council on the Humanities and peer-reviewers who are selected to read each project proposal submitted to the Endowment.

Grant-making divisions and offices

The NEH has seven grant-making divisions and offices:^[13]

• The Division of Preservation and Access awards grants to preserve, maintain, and improve access to primary sources in the humanities, in both digital and analog form.
• The Division of Public Programs supports projects that bring the humanities to large audiences through libraries and museums, television and radio, historic sites, and digital media.
• The Division of Research makes awards to support original scholarship in all areas of the humanities, funding individuals as well as teams of researchers and institutions.
• The Division of Education works to support and strengthen teaching of the humanities.
• The Office of Federal/State Partnership collaborates with 56 state and territory humanities councils to strengthen local programs.
• The Office of Challenge Grants administers grants intended to support centers and endowments through fundraising by humanities institutions to further long-term stability.
• The Office of Digital Humanities advises on use of technology in the humanities and coordinates.

Special Initiatives

These are special priorities of the Endowment that indicate critical areas of the humanities as identified by the NEH Chair. They differ from the divisions of the Endowment in that they do not sponsor or coordinate specific grant programs.

Bridging Cultures Initiative

Bridging Cultures is an NEH initiative that explores ways in which the humanities promote understanding and mutual respect for people with diverse histories, cultures, and perspectives. Projects supported through this initiative focus on cultures globally as well as within the United States.^[14] International projects might seek to enlarge Americans’ understanding of other places and times, as well as other perspectives and intellectual traditions. American projects might explore the great variety of cultural influences on, and myriad subcultures within, American society. These projects might also investigate how Americans have approached and attempted to surmount seemingly unbridgeable cultural divides, or examine the ideals of civility and civic discourse. In connection with a focus on civic discourse, projects might explore the role of women in America’s civic life as well as the civic role of women in other cultures and regions of the world.^{[citation needed]}

Standing Together

This initiative, launched in 2014, marks a priority to make awards that promote understanding of the military experience and to support returning veterans.^[15]

«We the People» Initiative

«We the People» is an NEH program designed to encourage and enhance the teaching, study, and understanding of American history, culture, and democratic principles.^[16] The initiative supports projects and programs that explore significant events and themes in American nation’s history, which advance knowledge of the principles that define America.^[17]

NEH was founded on the belief that cultivating the best of the humanities has real and tangible benefits for civic life. Through «We the People,» NEH has rededicated itself to this mission, and is leading a renaissance in knowledge about American history and principles among all our citizens. The NEH launched the «We the People» initiative on Constitution Day, September 17, 2002.^[18]

Noteworthy projects

Since 1965, the Endowment has sponsored many projects, including:

• «Treasures of Tutankhamen,» the blockbuster exhibition seen by more than 1.5 million people
• The Civil War, the landmark 1990 documentary by Ken Burns seen by 38 million Americans.
• Library of America, editions of novels, essays, and poems celebrating America’s literary heritage
• United States Newspaper Project, an effort to catalog and microfilm 63.3 million pages of newspapers dating from the early Republic
• Fifteen Pulitzer Prize–winning books, including those by James M. McPherson, Louis Menand, Joan D. Hedrick, and Bernard Bailyn
• EDSITEment, a Web project bringing the «best of the humanities on the web» to teachers and students, started in 1997^{[citation needed]}
• Reference archives, in Athens and Boston, of archaeological photographs taken by Eleanor Emlen Myers^[19]

Awards

Jefferson Lecture

Since 1972 the NEH has sponsored the Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities, which it describes as «the highest honor the federal government confers for distinguished intellectual achievement in the humanities». The Jefferson Lecturer is selected each year by the National Council on the Humanities. The honoree delivers a lecture in Washington, D.C., during the spring, and receives an honorarium of $10,000. The stated purpose of the honor is to recognize «an individual who has made significant scholarly contributions in the humanities and who has the ability to communicate the knowledge and wisdom of the humanities in a broadly appealing way».^[20]

National Humanities Medal and Charles Frankel Prize

The National Humanities Medal, inaugurated in 1997, honors individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the humanities, broadened citizens’ engagement with the humanities, or helped preserve and expand Americans’ access to important resources in the humanities. Up to 12 medals can be awarded each year. From 1989 to 1996 the NEH awarded a similar prize known as the Charles Frankel Prize.^[21] The new award, a bronze medallion was designed by David Macaulay, the 1995 winner of the Frankel Prize. Lists of the winners of the National Humanities Medal^[22] and the Frankel Prize^[23] are available at the NEH website.

See also

• List of state humanities councils
• Institute of Museum and Library Services
• National Endowment for the Arts
• National Science Foundation
• Smithsonian Institution
• National Gallery of Art

References

External links

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• Official website
• National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities in the Federal Register
• NEH EDSITEment: The Best of the Humanities on the Web
• GrantSocial: NEH Grant Browser 1970-present