How to Apply

 

 Application Instructions for Teaching Shakespeare’s Plays through Scholarship & Performance: An NEH Summer Institute for School Teachers | Brooklyn, NY | July 11-22, 2022


WHO CAN APPLY?

Designed primarily for middle and high school teachers (grades 6-12), the Institute welcomes teachers of all grade levels. We encourage applications from teachers working in a wide range of subject areas, including but not limited to ELA, ENL, English literature, theatre and performing arts, government, history, and social studies, as well as educators such as librarians and administrators whose students would benefit from their multidisciplinary engagement with Shakespeare’s texts.

Prior familiarity with Shakespeare or performance is not a requirement for participation in the Institute. We’re looking for educators with a strong curiosity about holistic approaches to text; an enthusiasm for collaborating both intellectually and creatively with colleagues; and a passion for expanding their strategies for student engagement.

The National Endowment for the Humanities sets eligibility criteria for application to their summer institutes, such as Teaching Shakespeare’s Plays through Scholarship and Performance. Please take a moment to review their language:

Summer institutes are designed primarily for full- or part-time K-12 educators who teach in public, charter, independent, and religiously affiliated schools, or as home schooling parents. Recipients may admit a limited number of educators who work outside the K-12 classroom and who can demonstrate that participation will advance project goals and enhance their professional work. Five institute spaces must be reserved for teachers who are new to the profession (those who have been teaching for five years or less).

Participants 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. U.S. citizens teaching abroad at U.S. chartered institutions are also eligible to participate. Foreign nationals teaching abroad are not eligible to participate.

Participants may not be delinquent in the repayment of federal debt (e.g., taxes, student loans, child support payments, and delinquent payroll taxes for household or other employees). Individuals may not apply to participate in a Summer Seminar or Institute whose director is a family member, who is affiliated with the same institution, who has served as an academic advisor to the applicant, or who has led a previous NEH summer program attended by the applicant. Individuals may not apply to participate in a Summer Seminar or Institute if they have been debarred or suspended by any federal department or agency. See Section F2 Administrative and National Policy Requirements.

An additional note from Theatre for a New Audience: All participants will be required to show proof that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. All faculty, staff, and other TFANA personnel are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. We will monitor the evolving public health situation to determine whether faculty, staff, and participants will wear masks when gathering indoors.

HOW DO I APPLY?

Please carefully review the information about the Institute presented on this website, so that you’re prepared to speak in your application materials about your interest in the specific topic, themes, and approaches presented in our 2022 Institute.

The application for Teaching Shakespeare’s Plays through Scholarship and Performance in Summer 2022 is in two parts:

  1. Complete our online application form
  2. Submit to education@tfana.org a current resume/CV and an essay in response to the following prompt. Please email your resume/CV as a PDF titled LASTNAME_FIRSTNAME_RESUME and your essay as a PDF titled LASTNAME_FIRSTNAME_ESSAY.
  • Prompt: In approximately 500 words, tell us about your interest in and/or your experience with teaching Shakespeare’s work. (Prior experience is not required, and we welcome you to share your questions, doubts, or fears about teaching Shakespeare, in addition to your excitement and interest.) We’d like to hear what you hope to accomplish as an Institute member, how you see the experience fitting your professional goals, and how your participation in this Institute would serve your students and/or school community.

Deadline to Submit Applications: Monday, March 1, 2022 (by 11:59 PM PST)

Please Note: Depending on public health guidelines related to COVID-19, plans for a residential offering are subject to change.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER I APPLY?

Participants are selected by a committee, which consists of three or more members, including the project director and at least one K-12 classroom teacher. They will evaluate all complete applications to select a group of participants and to identify alternates.

Applicants Notified on: Friday, March 25, 2022

Deadline for Successful Applicants to Accept or Decline Offer: Friday, April 1, 2022

Please Note: All applicants should be aware that once they have accepted an offer to attend any NEH Summer Program (Seminar, Institute, or Landmark), they may not accept an additional offer or withdraw in order to accept a different offer.

Questions? Contact us at education@tfana.org

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT: Endowment programs do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or age. For further information, write to the Equal Opportunity Officer, National Endowment for the Humanities, 400 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024. TDD: 202-606-8282 (this is a special telephone device for the Deaf).

folio-2016A copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio, which participants get to view and handle on the Columbia University Rare Book & Manuscript Library tour.

Theatre for a New AudiencePolonsky Shakespeare Center, home to the NEH Summer Institute

Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

TFANA’s NEH Summer Institute is made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.

Pictured above: Participants in the 2018 NEH Summer Institute for School Teachers; Polonsky Shakespeare Center, photo ©David Sundberg/Esto.