October 28, 2009

Winston Churchill and the Anglo-American Relationship
An NEH Summer Institute for School Teachers, July 13 – 31, 2010

Note: Should you decide you wish to apply after reading this section carefully, the application cover sheet must be filled out online at this address: http://www.neh.gov/online/education/participants

Please fill it out online as directed by the prompts.  When you are finished, be sure to click the “submit” button.  Print out the cover sheet and add it to your application package.

Summer Institutes for School Teachers are offered by the National Endowment for the Humanities to provide teachers an opportunity for substantive study of significant humanities ideas and texts. These study opportunities are especially designed for this program and are not intended to duplicate courses normally offered by graduate programs. On completion of the institute, participants will receive a certificate indicating their participation. Prior to completing an application, please review the letter and prospectus from Professor Muller 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.

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For “Winston Churchill and the Anglo-American Relationship,” the following are expected:

• Attendance at all scheduled sessions and site visits.
• Completion of reading requirements and participation in discussions.
• Three-minute oral valediction to My Early Life, Churchill’s autobiography.
• Completion of a research project using primary documents from the Churchill Archives Centre.
• A 10-minute oral report at the end of our Cambridge section, summarizing your research experience.
• A written lesson plan for bringing Churchill into your classroom, or a research paper.

Eligibility

These projects are designed for full time teachers, including home-schooling parents. Other K-12 school personnel, such as librarians and administrators, are also eligible to apply, but they must show in their application essay why the experience will be particularly valuable to them. Substitute teachers or part-time personnel are not eligible. Applications from teachers in public, private, and religiously affiliated schools receive equal consideration.

New this year: Up to two seminar spaces and three institute spaces are available for current full-time graduate students (full-time at the time of application, March 2, 2010) who intend to pursue careers in K-12 teaching.

Teachers at schools in the United States or its territorial possessions or Americans teaching in foreign schools where at least 50 percent of the students are American nationals are eligible for this program. Applicants must be United States citizens, residents of U. S. jurisdictions, or foreign nationals who have been residing in the United States or its territories for at least the three years immediately preceding the application deadline. Foreign nationals teaching abroad at non-U. S.chartered institutions are not eligible to apply.

Applicants must complete the NEH application cover sheet online and provide all the information requested below to be considered eligible. Individuals may not apply to study with a director of a seminar or institute who is a current colleague or a family member. Individuals must not apply to seminars directed by scholars with whom they have previously studied.

New this year: An individual may apply to up to three projects in any one year (seminars, institutes or Landmarks workshops), but may participate in only one.

Selection Criteria

A selection committee reads and evaluates all properly completed applications in order to select the most promising applicants and to identify a number of alternates. (Seminar selection committees typically consist of the seminar director, a school teacher who is usually a participant in a previous NEH seminar, and a colleague of the director.) While recent participants are eligible to apply, project selection committees are directed to give first consideration to applicants who have not participated in an NEH-supported seminar, institute, or Landmarks workshop in the last three years (2007, 2008, 2009).

The most important consideration in the selection of participants is the likelihood that an applicant will benefit professionally and personally. This is determined by committee members from the conjunction of several factors, each of which should be addressed in the application essay. These factors include:

1.  effectiveness and commitment as a teacher/educator;
2.  intellectual interests, both generally and as they relate to the work of the project;
3.  special perspectives, skills, or experiences that would contribute to the seminar or institute;
4.  commitment to participate fully in the formal and informal collegial life of the project; and,
5.  the likelihood that the experience will enhance the applicant’s teaching.

Site visits include transportation by bus, underground or train and extensive walking tours at most locations. Facilities in the UK are often not as oriented to the special requirements of those with physical limitations as Americans are accustomed to here. Along with the general rigors of international travel, there are fewer elevators and an abundance of stairways. Walking is a way of life in Britain. Please inquire further by emailing us if you have concerns in this area.

When choices must be made among equally qualified candidates, several additional factors are considered. Preference is given to applicants who have not previously participated in an NEH seminar, institute, or Landmarks workshop, or who significantly contribute to the diversity of the seminar or institute.

Stipend, Tenure and Conditions of Award

Teachers selected to participate in this three-week project will receive $2,700. Stipends are intended to help cover travel expenses to and from the project location, books and other research expenses, and living expenses for the duration of the period spent in residence. Stipends are taxable. Applicants to all projects, especially those held abroad, should note that supplements will not be given in cases where the stipend is insufficient to cover all expenses.

Seminar participants are required to attend all meetings and to engage fully in the work of the project. During the project’s tenure, you may not undertake teaching assignments or any other professional activities unrelated to your participation in the project. Participants who, for any reason, do not complete the full tenure of the project must refund a pro-rata portion of the stipend.

At the end of the project’s residential period, you will be asked to submit online evaluations in which your review your work during the summer and assess its value to your personal and professional development. These evaluations will become part of the project’s grant file and may become part of an application to repeat the seminar or institute.

Application Instructions

Applicants should carefully review all the links on the project’s website at this website (http://www.winstonchurchill.org/support/for-educators/neh-teachers-institute), but particular attention should be paid to the “Dear Colleague Letter” from Professor Muller, the project director, containing detailed information about the topic under study; project requirements and expectations of the participants. Other links describe the academic and institutional setting; and specific provisions for lodging, subsistence, and extracurricular activities. All application materials must be sent to the project director at the address listed on the program poster. Application materials sent to the Endowment will not be reviewed.

Checklist of Application Materials

Applications may be submitted in hard copy via US postal system or private delivery service (for example, FedEx or UPS) OR electronically via email.
Hard-copy application: the following collated items constitute a completed application to a summer institute:

1. three copies of the NEH Cover Sheet*,
2. three copies of your resume**,
3. three copies of an application essay as outlined below, PLUS
4. two letters of recommendation emailed by your referee directly to Daniel Myers: [email protected]

Online application: the following documents constitute a completed application to a summer institute:

1. NEH Cover Sheet* – print and scan or turn into a PDF, for emailing
2. your resume**
3. your application essay as outlined below, PLUS
4. two letters of recommendation emailed by your referee directly to Daniel Myers: [email protected]

Online applications (#1-3) should be sent as attachments to a single email to: [email protected]

*The NEH Application Cover Sheet

The application cover sheet must be filled out online at this address: http://www.neh.gov/online/education/participants/

On the cover sheet, please consider providing an email address not encumbered by institutional fire walls. Please fill the cover sheet out online as directed by the prompts. When you are finished, be sure to click the “submit” button. Print out three copies (for hard copy application) or a single copy (for online application) of the cover sheet for “Winston Churchill and the Anglo-American Relationship” and add it to your application package. At this point you will be asked if you want to fill out a cover sheet for another institute or project. If you do, follow the prompts and select another project and then print out the cover sheet for that project as well. Note that filling out a cover sheet is not the same as applying, so there is no penalty for changing your mind and filling out a cover sheet for several projects. A full application consists of the items listed above, sent to Mr. Daniel N. Myers, the project administrator for The Churchill Centre.

**Résumé

Please include a resume summarizing your education, teaching experiences, academic interests, and honors and awards. Your resume should be no longer than two pages.

The Application Essay

Perhaps the most important part of the application is the essay that must be submitted as part of the complete application. This essay should include any personal and academic information that is relevant: your reasons for applying to this institute; your interest, both intellectual and personal, in Winston Churchill and the broader implications of his career and relationship with the United States; your qualifications to do the work of this institute and to make a contribution to it; what you hope to accomplish by participation, including any individual research and writing projects; and the relation of the study to your teaching. The essay should be no longer than 1250 words, or five double-spaced pages.

Reference Letters

Your two referees should be chosen carefully. They should be familiar with your professional accomplishments or promise, interests, and ability to contribute to and benefit from participation in a community of intellectual inquiry. They should specifically address these issues in their recommendations. Letters from colleagues who know your teaching and from those outside your institution who know your habits of mind are often more useful than letters from school administrators. Referees should, if possible, be familiar with the work of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the seminars and institutes program. Applicants who are current graduate students should secure a letter from a professor or advisor. It is helpful for referees to read a copy of the description of the project sent by the director and the application essay. You may direct your referees to this website.

If you have previously participated in an NEH summer seminar or institute, a recommendation from the director or lead scholar of that program would be useful. Please ask each of your referees to email their reference to The Churchill Centre’s administrator, Daniel N. Myers: [email protected].

Submission of Applications and Notification Procedure

Completed hard copy applications should be submitted to the project administrator, Mr. Daniel N. Myers, and should be postmarked no later than March 2, 2010.

Mr. Daniel N. Myers
The Churchill Centre
P. O. Box 945
Downers Grove, IL 60515-0945
(630) 512-9341

Successful applicants will be notified of their selection by March 25, 2010 (the early notification date for overseas programs), and they will have until April 5 to accept or decline the offer. Applicants who will not be home during the notification period should provide an address and phone number where they can be reached. No information concerning the status of an application will be available prior to the official notification period.

Equal Opportunity Statement: Endowment programs do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age. For further information, write to NEH Equal Opportunity Officer, 1100 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20506. TDD: 202/606 8282 (this is a special telephone device for the Deaf).