President's Fund for the Humanities

The fund supports both traditional and innovative projects in the humanities.   Proposals are evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Potential of the project to reinforce, enrich, or supplement the humanities;
• Extent to which the project will involve members of the university and surrounding communities, especially students;
• Ability of the project to reach a large audience (includes a public component or outreach);
• Interdisciplinary nature of the project;
• Multi-campus involvement; and
• Clarity of program description and use of funds.

Among the types of proposals considered for funding are:

• Visiting scholars, artists, lecturers;
• Exhibits, performances, productions;
• Seminars in humanistic studies;
• Public programs and lecture series in the humanities;
• Projects that emphasize humanistic values in a broad social context; and
• Projects that address specific social problems in a humanistic context.

Examples of projects that have been funded in the past include an exhibit of Southwest Hispanic artists; a traveling photography exhibit of Othello; a distinguished philosophers' lecture and workshop series; an interdisciplinary and interactive colloquium on the humanistic dimensions of pain management and palliative care; and an intermountain seminar in early modern philosophy.

• Proposals funded in the fall are restricted to a maximum award of $3,000.  Mini-grants awarded in the Spring are limited to $2,000.
• Projects must be authored by a full-time faculty member with the rank of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, senior instructor, or instructor.
• PFH will make a maximum of one award per event.
• Proposals will not be considered if submitted by faculty members who have not submitted final reports from previous awards.
• Commitment for funding is given on an annual basis, and such commitment should not be construed as a commitment for funding in a subsequent year.
• Applicants should be aware that the PFH Advisory Board is not inclined to fund events or programs year after year.
• When applicants are seeking other funding in addition to the President's Fund for the Humanities, the sources of such funds and the status of the requests should be clearly stated.
• All expenditures must comply with the university's policies and procedures.

Each proposal must include:

The proposal narrative (abstract, description, value) shall not exceed three typed, double-spaced pages.

• Cover Sheet
• Abstract — An abstract of the proposal should appear at the front of the application and should include the following information: the title of the project, a brief description of the project, the names of faculty or others involved, and the dollar amount requested.
• Description — A description of the project must be included. The first paragraph should contain a clearly stated thesis.
• Value — An argument for the value of the project must be included in the narrative. It should address how the project would reinforce, enrich, or supplement the humanities on the campus/campuses, and how it will involve members of the university and surrounding communities, especially students.
• Resumes of participating faculty and/or invited guests must accompany the proposal. Resumes should be concise and limited to one page.
• Library Acquisitions — Proposals that oblige the library to acquire new books should be accompanied by a statement from the director of libraries affirming that the books will indeed be purchased.
• Budget and Justification — A complete and detailed budget must be provided that includes not only the precise dollar amount requested from PFH and justification for each portion of the requested budget, but also all other budget-related information (expenses not covered by PFH and their justification, other sources of funding, etc.) — i.e., the total budget picture. Please separate the section of the budget for which PFH funding is requested from other sections.
• Previous PFH Awards — The number of all PFH awards (both spring mini-grants and fall awards) received by the faculty member in the previous five-year period must be included.
• Outside Speakers — If outside speakers (i.e., visiting lecturers, scholars, etc.) are invited, documentation of each speaker's commitment to participate must be submitted with the proposal.
• Additional information — May be included in appendices.

  Submit PFH Proposal