Reading and Discussion Program Grants

What dialogue would make a difference to your community?

What conversation would you like to catalyze?

 

The New York Council for the Humanities awards Grants for Reading and Discussion (R&D) Programs of up to $1000 to support reading and discussion programs general public adult audiences. Grants for R&D Programs are intended for organizations that have previously hosted Reading Between the Lines. R&D Programs help them continue the success of their RBTL series by involving community members in ongoing discussion books and ideas.

Applicant organizations must have previously hosted the Council's Reading Between the Lines program. Learn more in our Common Questions.

Who is eligible?

R&D Grants are available by application to any New York state tax-exempt organization that has previously hosted and successfully completed at least one of the Council's Reading Between the Lines series.

When should I apply?

The application deadline for 2011-2012 R&D Grants has passed. The next round of applications for 2012-2013 programs will be posted in Spring 2012.

Applicants will be notified within four weeks of the application deadline.

How do I apply?

Read the R&D Grant guidelines in their entirety before beginning your application. The application requires you to submit the resume of your proposed scholar-facilitator, as well as a budget and syllabus for your proposed program. All applicants are encouraged to discuss any questions about these guidelines or application materials with staff at 212.233.1131 ext. 28.

If my application is awarded, when will I receive the grant funds?
Funded programs will receive their award in two payments. The first payment is made on or after November 15, upon receipt of the signed grant agreement, and the submission of your session dates to our calendar of events. The second payment is due upon completion of the grant-awarded program sessions and submission of the required final reporting.

Overview of Reading and Discussion Grant Process

Program Roles:

• Host-Site Coordinator: Representative of the host organization who gathers application materials, schedules session dates and books the venue, recruits and publicizes for the series, ensures that participants have texts, and submits final budgeting to the Council.
• Scholar-Facilitator: A humanities scholar from the community who may collaborate with the host-site coordinator to develop a theme and syllabus for the series. Plans and leads all discussion sessions.
• Participants: Members of the community who agree to attend all the sessions and engage in thoughtful civically engaged discussions. Commit to read all of the texts for the series.
• Fiscal Officer: A representative of the host organization who is not the host-site coordinator. Receives checks for monies awarded by the Council.

Plan a series.

Select a theme, find a scholar-facilitator, collaborate with scholar-facilitator to develop a syllabus, complete budget form, gather scholar-facilitator's resume or CV. During this stage, it may be useful to peruse the Featured Grants. Work out with the scholar-facilitator what, if any, stipend will be awarded to him/her for facilitating the series.

Submit an application.

The application is an online form. At the time of submission, you will need to upload a completed budget and syllabus form, as well as the scholar-facilitator's resume or CV.

Prepare for the series.

After you are awarded the grant, the host-site coordinator and scholar-facilitator will each attend a webinar reviewing their roles and responsibilities, as well as go over best practices for hosting and facilitating a series. Recruit for and publicize the series. Gather or purchase texts and distribute to participants.

The Council awards the first half of the grant at this stage.

Host the series.

Reading & Discussion Grants fund a minimum of four sessions around a central text or set of texts. Each session lasts approximately 90 minutes. The host-site coordinator carefully tracks attendance throughout the series.

Submit final reporting.

After the series has concluded, both the scholar-facilitator and host-site coordinator submit final reporting and evaluation to the Council. The host-site coordinator submits final attendance at this time. After all reporting has been completed, the Council awards the second half of the grant.