NEH Puts Out Call For Projects That “Document Or Digitally Re-Create Imperiled Or Destroyed Cultural Materials”

From the National Endowment For the Humanities:

Across the globe, humanity’s cultural legacy is under threat from war, looting, natural disasters, economic development, tourism, or poor management.
In response, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is putting out a call for projects that contribute to the study, documentation, or digital reconstruction of cultural heritage materials that are at risk or have been lost.
“The recent targeted destruction of so many important cultural sites in the Middle East and Africa underscores the urgency of protecting the global cultural heritage to which we all belong,” said NEH Chairman William D. Adams. “Through this special encouragement, NEH is encouraging efforts that will stem the loss of millennia of human history and knowledge.”
[Our emphasis] Through “Protecting our Cultural Heritage” NEH invites applications for projects that undertake virtual and 3D reconstructions of works of art, monuments, sites, or landscapes; training for cultural heritage specialists in risk assessment and preservation approaches; or data-sharing and knowledge exchange about cultural heritage sites.
Further details of the encouragement are available on NEH’s website, here, and in the agency’s grant program guidelines. Interested applicants should consult with program officers in the Divisions of Education, Preservation and Access, Public Programs, Research, and the Office of Digital Humanities to determine which NEH program would be appropriate for their proposed project.
This encouragement is part of the Endowment’s continued focus on safeguarding cultural heritage. On December 11-12, 2015, NEH sponsored a summit that brought representatives of 19 international groups involved in protecting heritage materials in Syria and other zones of conflict to Washington, D.C., to identify ways to collaborate and maximize their efforts.
The two-day conference, titled Seeking Collaboration: A Summit for Projects Collecting Cultural Heritage Data in Syria and Conflict Zones, was co-organized by the American Schools of Oriental Research and the Archaeological Institute of America and held at the headquarters of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Geographic Society.

Read the Complete NEH Announcement
See Also: Video of presentations by the 19 international groups working to preserve historical and archaeological materials in Syria and other conflict zones. The presentations were recorded at the “Protecting Our Shared Heritage in Syria— An International Summit to Promote Collaboration” held in DC last December.
See Also: Wikimedia Sweden Announces Important Cultural Heritage Information Project

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