Dialogues on the Experiences of War

Overview

This notice solicits applications for the Dialogues on the Experience of War program, which supports in-person, virtual, and hybrid-format projects that build a community (or communities) of inquiry to enhance veterans’ and nonveterans’ understanding of diverse experiences of military service and war, through professional development and guided group discussions of humanities sources.

Veterans currently comprise close to six percent of the adult population of the United States. Additionally, there are just over two million people currently serving in the military on active duty or as reservists, another .4% of the wider adult population. Their experiences, activities, and influences remain understudied and not widely understood. While the forms and technologies of war and military engagement may change over time, deeper questions and connections persist and often find expression through the humanities. Dialogues projects enable veterans and civilians to consider their own experiences in light of these questions and within the broader context and perspectives such humanities methods and resources provide.

Dialogues projects create communities of inquiry by building and training a cohort of discussion leaders who will engage participants in recurring, in-depth group discussions of meaningful themes, sources, and issues. Dialogues projects thus offer especially transformative learning experiences for all who participate.

Awards of up to $100,000 support two required components:

• Discussion programs: The convening of at least two sustained discussion series focused on humanities resources and themes that address the experiences of military service and war. Each group should comprise approximately fifteen participants who will attend all sessions. Sessions may vary in length and number, but the groups must convene for enough time to foster in-depth dialogue and for enough sessions to build community among the participants.
• Preparatory programs and planning: The creation of an in-person or virtual preparatory program to recruit, train, select, and mentor individuals to serve as discussion leaders, with a suggested minimum of one facilitator per fifteen discussion participants. Project teams may recruit these individuals in the course of the project’s period of performance or they may select a group prior to the start of that term. Projects may prepare a larger cohort of discussion leaders if they wish to have them serve as co-facilitators or as alternates. The program supports the inclusion of consultative and collaborative activities that strengthen the project team’s planning and guidance of their preparatory program.

Preparatory and Discussion programs may convene in person, virtually, or in a hybrid format.

Discussion programs must:

• treat at least two different conflicts comparatively
• focus on the close study of humanities sources with a diverse range of perspectives (drawn from genres such as oral histories, visual art, memoirs, military biographies, speeches and letters, philosophical writings, documentary films, and fiction)
• engage participants in deep discussion of the selected humanities sources and the issues that they raise
• convene participants in person, virtually, or in hybrid formats for three or more linked, sequential sessions, providing enough time in the sessions

You may submit multiple applications for separate and distinct projects under this notice. An individual may not serve as project director for multiple proposed projects under this notice.

Award amounts
You may request up to $100,000. This includes the sum of direct and indirect costs.
NEH anticipates awarding approximately $1,000,000 among an estimated 10 recipients.

Period of performance
You may request a period of performance of 12 to 24 months with a start date between May 1, 2025, and September 1, 2025.