Information for Chicago Area Applicants

NEH Summer Institutes serve a broad range of educators from diverse geographic regions and teaching environments. Local candidates are invited and encouraged to apply. However, local candidates should be aware of their responsibility to be full-time, fully active participants in the collegial work of the project.

Like teachers who are coming to Chicago from other parts of the country, local teachers are expected to attend all institute activities and engage in a full and complete intellectual exploration of Gilded Age and Progressive Era topics alongside their colleagues both within formal and informal institute settings. From previous institutes, we have learned that much of the institute's value comes from informal settings— from conversations over breakfast with your fellow Summer Scholars, impromptu trips to the museum with your peers, or individual research outings to area archives or historical institutions during free study hours. Local participants add value to the program dynamic when they fully invest in being a part of the community of Summer Scholars and use their knowledge of local resources to benefit the larger group. Any local teachers who are selected for the program will be asked to serve as "ambassadors" helping their non-local peers navigate the Chicago area and the many resources it has to offer.

Local participants are encouraged to stay in the residence halls alongside their non-local peers. NEH Summer Institutes are a full-time commitment for all participants, so Summer Scholars are not allowed to engage in other employment or activities that may disrupt their full participation in institute activities.

The NEH eligibility guidelines stipulate that individuals may not apply to study with a director of an NEH Summer Institute who is a current colleague or a family member. Individuals should not apply to seminars directed by scholars with whom they have previously studied or who have previously guided that individual’s research. Teachers who have studied closely with Robert Johnston or Charles Tocci, for instance, may not be eligible to apply to this institute. Applicants who have participated in previous institutes or professional development programs (Teaching American History, NEH grant-funded programs, etc.) led by the project directors must disclose the nature and academic content of these programs in their application cover sheet. The selection committee will prioritize placement of candidates with no or little prior exposure to Gilded Age and Progressive Era professional development under “Rethinking the Gilded Age and Progressive Era” faculty leaders.

Please email Robert Johnston (johnsto1@uic.edu), Crystal Johnson (cjohnson@chicagohistory.org), or Charles Tocci (ctocci@luc.edu) if you have questions regarding eligibility.