New Joint NEH & Mellon Foundation Fellowship Encourages Digital Research in the Humanities

 

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the two largest funders of humanities research in the United States, today announced a new joint fellowship opportunity to support high-quality “born digital” research in the humanities.

 

NEH-Mellon Fellowships for Digital Publication seek to encourage scholars engaged in humanities research that requires digital formats and digital publication. Eligible projects must be conceived as digital because the nature of the research and the topics addressed demand presentation beyond traditional print publication. For example, for scholarship in fields like art history, musicology, or media studies, an interactive digital publication may allow the author to use multimedia to make arguments or illustrate critical points that would be otherwise difficult or impossible in traditional print formats. 

 

Over the past five decades NEH and the Mellon Foundation have supported some of the most important books in the humanities through our respective fellowship programs, “Over the past five decades NEH and the Mellon Foundation have supported some of the most important books in the humanities through our respective fellowship programs,” said NEH Chairman William D. Adams. “Today we are pleased to join together to help foster new forms of scholarship that take advantage of the unique possibilities afforded by digital tools, formats, and methods. Our hope is to spur innovation and experimentation that will take humanities research beyond the printed page.”

 

“Research in the humanities is increasingly exploring the richness of human expression in digital form and in audio and visual materials, which can be represented digitally but not so easily in print,” said Earl Lewis, Mellon Foundation president. “Scholars are also recognizing the need to reach audiences using new digital media. These digital publication fellowships are designed to help scholars in the humanities both convey the results of their research on new media and reach new audiences.”

 

NEH-Mellon Fellowships for Digital Publication are designed for individual researchers and scholars and support continuous full-time work for a period of six to twelve months. Successful applicants receive a stipend of $4,200 per month, with a maximum stipend of $50,400 for a twelve-month period.

 

Application guidelines for NEH-Mellon Fellowships for Digital Publication are available at neh.gov. The application deadline for the initial cycle of NEH-Mellon Fellowships for Digital Publication is April 28.

 

The NEH-Mellon Fellowships for Digital Publication special opportunity is part of the National Endowment for the Humanities’ agency-wide initiative The Common Good: The Humanities in the Public Square, which seeks to demonstrate and enhance the role of the humanities and humanities scholarship in public life.