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Send to friendGuidelines, Instructions, & Applications
The Humanities
The humanities convey and help us understand what it means to be human. They document and interpret human struggle, achievement and community life through history, literature, and other fields of knowledge. The humanities provide tools with which to examine and make sense of the human experience in general and our individual experiences in particular, asking fundamental questions of value, purpose and meaning, and making connections to the lives of those around us, to those who have gone before, and to those who will come after.
All projects funded by Colorado Humanities must be rooted in the humanities and incorporate critical reflection, interpretation, and open discussion. In developing program content, the humanities disciplines should be substantive. In the case of contemporary public issues, applicants should employ the humanities disciplines to understand and interpret the specific political, social, cultural, or economic issue under consideration. Drawing on the Congressional legislation, which established the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Colorado Humanities defines the humanities as literature, history, philosophy, ethics, languages, linguistics, jurisprudence, archaeology, comparative religion, the history, theory and criticism of the arts, and those aspects of the social sciences that employ historical or philosophical approaches. The humanities are much more than a collection of academic disciplines; they offer ways to communicate and evaluate the human experience.
Resource Allocation
Colorado Humanities devotes its resources to two key areas: developing humanities education programs for all Coloradans, and awarding grants that enable other not-for-profit organizations to develop programs for their communities. Affiliated with the National Endowment for the Humanities, Colorado Humanities works in partnership with Colorado citizens to develop its programs and provides staff assistance for grant applicants. In all cases, Colorado Humanities funds are used to leverage other funds toward humanities programs. Colorado Humanities seeks to distribute funding statewide and will consider the location of the proposed program when reviewing applications. Programs by and about diverse ethnic, cultural and other groups are strongly encouraged.
Application Process
The first step in the application process is to email a brief description of your project and contact information for the project director and sponsoring organization to Josephine Jones, Director of Programs at jones@coloradohumanities.org. Please type the word "grant" in the subject line of your email. All applicants are strongly encouraged to contact Colorado Humanities at least 8 weeks prior to applying for a grant. Applicants should note that generally grant applications are reviewed at board meetings following the deadline. Applicants will be notified within 90 days. Colorado Humanities funds cannot be committed prior to the date of the award.
Deadline
We are not able to offer a grant deadline at this time. Please check back in March of 2012.
Grant Categories (please click the links below for more information)