UW-L DORM FACILITIES
UW-L is a residential
campus with dormitories, classrooms, and support for over 9,500 students.
The project staff is encouraging Institute participants to stay in the UW-L
dorms for a number of reasons, including easy access, opportunity for
informal interactions, and fostering a sense of community. Arrangements have
been made for participants to stay in Reuter Hall, a new residence hall that
opened in September 2006 and has a convenient campus location. Reuter Hall
provides comfortable suites that meet the demands of students. Each suite
has four private bedrooms, a semi-private bathroom, a kitchen area, and a
living room. General-use spaces in Reuter Hall include a group kitchen
facility, a lounge/game room area, a small-group study area, a mailroom, a
recycling room, and multipurpose areas. This new hall provides ADA-compliant
living accommodations.
Reuter Hall rates:
Motel style (includes once
each week: 2 sheets, pillowcase, blanket, towel, washcloth, pillow): $30
per day or $180 per week (7 overnights).
OFF-CAMPUS HOUSING
OPTIONS
We realize that some
participants may decide to stay elsewhere. Numerous off-campus housing
opportunities are available in the La Crosse area.
MEAL OPTIONS
A variety of meal options
are available. For those staying in Reuter Hall, the kitchens in the
individual suites allow convenient meal preparation in the dorm. Campus Food
Services and area restaurants are also available.
PARTICIPANT SELECTION
In alignment with the
selection criteria outlined by NEH, the selection committee will be looking
for evidence of the following qualities as they select the 25 Institute
participants:
1.
More important than the subject or grade level the applicant teaches
is that the applicant is a lifelong learner who is enthusiastic about
learning and eager to experience new things.
2.
We will be looking for a personal interest or a passion for the topic
because this translates to excitement and motivation in the classroom.
3.
Applicants do not need to teach lessons on the process of archaeology
or the region’s earliest people; however, they do need to show creativity in
adapting the Institute’s content to their unique teaching situations. The
process of archaeology and the results of archaeological research can be an
effective vehicle for hands-on activities that employ an interdisciplinary
(science, social studies, language arts, math, visual arts, etc.) approach
that engages students in higher-level thinking.
APPLICATION INFORMATION
In addition to this
document, you must also read the NEH Application and Instructions
document included with this letter. A checklist for application materials is
included in that document. Your completed application packet should be
postmarked no later than March 2, 2010, and should be addressed as
follows: Bonnie Jancik, MVAC UW-L, 1725 State St., La Crosse, WI 54601.
Successful applicants will be notified of their selection on April 1 and
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.
Perhaps the most
important part of the application is the essay. This essay should include
your reasons for applying to the specific project; your relevant personal
and academic information; your qualifications to do the work of the project
and make a contribution to it; what you hope to accomplish; and the relationship
of the study to your teaching.
NEH Summer Seminars & Institutes for School
Teachers
Application Information and Instructions
Summer Seminars and 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 a seminar or institute, participants will
receive a certificate indicating their participation. Prior to completing
an application, please review the letter/prospectus from the project
director (available on the project’s website, or as an attachment) 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.
A seminar for school teachers enables 16
participants to explore a topic or set of readings with a scholar having
special interest and expertise in the field. The core material of the
seminar need not relate directly to the school curriculum; the principal
goal of the seminar is to engage teachers in the scholarly enterprise and to
expand and deepen their understanding of the humanities through reading,
discussion, writing, and reflection. An institute for school
teachers, typically led by a team of core faculty and visiting scholars, is
designed to present the best available scholarship on important humanities
issues and works taught in the nation's schools. The 25 to 30 participants
compare and synthesize the various perspectives offered by the faculty, make
connections between the institute content and classroom applications, and
often develop improved teaching materials for their classrooms. Please
note: The use of the words “seminar” or “institute” in this document is
precise and is intended to convey differences between the two project
types.
ELIGIBILITY
These projects are designed for full time teachers
including home-schooling parents, but other K-12 school personnel, such as
librarians and administrators, may also be eligible to apply, depending on
the specific seminar or institute. 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
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 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. Institute selection committees are advised that only
under the most compelling and exceptional circumstances may an individual
participate in an institute with a director or a lead faculty member who has
previously guided that individual’s research or in whose previous institute
or seminar he or she has participated.
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. Please note that
eligibility criteria differ significantly between the Seminars and
Institutes and the Landmarks Workshops Programs.
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.
Institute selection committees typically consist of three to five members,
usually all drawn from the institute faculty and staff members.) 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.
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 six-week long
projects will receive a stipend of $4,500; those in five-week projects will
receive $3,900; those in four-week projects will receive $3,300; those in
three-week projects will receive $2,700; and those in two-week projects will
receive $2,100. 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 and institute participants are required to
attend all meetings and to engage fully in the work of the project. During
the project's tenure, they may not undertake teaching assignments or any
other professional activities unrelated to their 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,
participants will be asked to submit online evaluations in which they review
their work during the summer and assess its value to their 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
These general application instructions from the NEH
should be accompanied by a “Dear Colleague Letter” from the project director
that contains detailed information about the topic under study; project
requirements and expectations of the participants; the academic and
institutional setting; and specific provisions for lodging, subsistence, and
extracurricular activities. If you do not have such a letter/prospectus,
please request one from the director of the project(s) in which you are
interested before you attempt to complete and submit an application. In
many cases, directors have websites for their projects and the “Dear
Colleague” letter may be downloaded. 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.
APPLICATION CHECKLIST
A completed application consists of three copies of the
following collated items:
• the completed application cover sheet,
• a résumé, or brief biography, and
• an application essay as outlined
below.
In addition, it must include two letters of
recommendation as described below.
The Application Cover Sheet
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. At this point you will be
asked if you want to fill out a cover sheet for another 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, as sent to the project director.
Résumé
Please include a résumé or brief biography detailing your
educational qualifications and professional experience.
The Application Essay
The application essay should be no more than four double spaced
pages. It should address reasons for applying; the applicant's interest,
both academic and personal, in the subject to be studied; qualifications and
experiences that equip the applicant to do the work of the seminar or
institute and to make a contribution to a learning community; a statement of
what the applicant wants to accomplish by participating; and the relation of
the project to the applicant's professional responsibilities.
Reference Letters
The two referees may be from inside or outside the applicant’s home
institution. They should be familiar with the applicant's professional
accomplishments or promise, teaching and/or research interests, and ability
to contribute to and benefit from participation in the seminar or
institute. Referees should be provided with the director's description of
the seminar or institute and the applicant's essay. Applicants who are
current graduate students should secure a letter from a professor or
advisor. Please ask each of your referees to sign their name across the
seal on the back of the envelope containing their letter, and enclose the
letters with your application.
SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS AND NOTIFICATION
PROCEDURE
Completed applications should be submitted to the
project director and should be postmarked no later than March 2, 2010.
Successful applicants will be notified of their
selection on April 1, 2010, 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).
Left: Bad Axe Valley.
Right: Amish farm.
For Additional Information Contact:
Bonnie Jancik
Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
1725 State St.
La Crosse, WI 54601
608/785-6473
jancik.bonn@uwlax.edu
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This Summer Institute is funded by a grant from the National Endowment
for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or
recommendations expressed in this Institute do not necessarily represent
those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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