How to Get Grant Money in the Humanities and Social Sciences

by Raphael Brewster Folsom

Overview

A valuable and engaging guide to applying for—and getting—grants in the humanities and social sciences

Scholars in the humanities and social sciences need money to do research. This book shows them how to get it. In this accessible volume, Raphael Folsom shares proven strategies in a series of short, witty chapters. It features tips on how graduate students, postdocs, and young faculty members can present themselves and their work in the best possible light. The book covers the basics of the grant-writing process, including finding a mentor, organizing a writing workshop, conceptualizing the project on a larger scale, and tailoring an application for specific submissions. The book includes interviews with nine of the most respected scholars in the country, each of whom has evaluated thousands of grant applications. The first authoritative book on the subject, Folsom's indispensable work will become a must-have resource for years to come.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300217438
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	01/08/2019
Pages:	184
Sales rank:	1,240,987
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.48(d)

About the Author

Raphael B. Folsom is associate professor of history at the University of Oklahoma and author of The Yaquis and the Empire, which won numerous prizes including the Latin American Studies Association Social Science Book Award. He lives in Norman, OK.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1

Part I Principles

1 Prepare for a Competitive Process 9

2 Be Ambitious 13

3 Assemble a Team 18

Part II Ingredients

4 Craft a Compelling Question 33

5 Brainstorm within Your Subject 39

6 Dive into the Scholarship 45

7 Know Your Theory 51

8 Identify Grant Makers 58

9 Lock Down Those Criteria 60

Part III Process

10 Preparation Strategies: An Overview 67

11 Generate an Outline 68

12 Create a First Draft 72

13 Solicit Honest, Helpful Feedback 86

Part IV Interviews with Experts

14 James F. Brooks 91

15 Lizabeth Cohen 99

16 Thomas B. F. Cummins 106

17 Anthony Grafton 114

18 Stephen Greenblatt 123

19 Michèle Lamont 127

20 Michael C. Munger 135

21 Sherry Smith 146

22 Pauline Yu 152

Notes 159

Index 165

Editorial Reviews

"Hilariously self-deprecating and elegantly written, this 'manual' on How to Get Grant Money in the Humanities and Social Sciences is strangely powerful. It draws on painful personal experience and the advice and expertise of nine senior scholars. Yet, it is also a cunning reflection on the virtues of self-awareness, stubbornness, and community." - Jorge Cañizares-Esguerra, author of How to Write the History of the New World

"This uniquely valuable book helps make it possible for students and scholars to transform their love for their subject from something essentially inward and passive into something that puts their love into effect in the real world." - Edward Mendelson, Columbia University

“With its jeweled prose, sparkling wit, concision, and panache, this is a masterpiece of practical wisdom. It stands with Georges Perec’s Life: A User’s Manual and Strunk and White’s Elements of Style among the very best works of its kind. How to Get Grant Money in the Humanities and Social Sciences renews our faith in the humanities: it is essential reading for one and all.”—Tom Conley, Harvard University
 

From the Publisher