April 02, 2020

Hillyer Awarded NEH Summer Stipend

The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded Associate Professor of History Reiko Hillyer an NEH Summer Stipend.

On the heels of receiving a Franklin Research Grant from the American Philosophical Society, the National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded Associate Professor of History Reiko Hillyer an NEH Summer Stipend. This stipend will provide support for Dr. Hillyer this summer as she continues work on her book project, “Windows in the Walls: The Permeability of the Prison and the Rise of Mass Incarceration.” As noted in the Franklin grant announcement, this manuscript will examine the “thickening” of prison walls in the post-war period and demonstrate that the U.S. prison was much more permeable in the era prior to mass incarceration.

With just a 9% funding rate, NEH Summer Stipends are very competitive. Further, tenure-line faculty must be nominated by their college or university, and each institution can only put forth two nominations each year. This stipend program provides $6,000 for two months of research and writing; recipients are expected to produce output that is of value to humanities scholars and of interest to general audiences—such as a book, article, or other scholarly resource.

It is worth noting that this is Dr. Hillyer’s fourth successful external grant application in recent years. In addition to the Franklin grant and this NEH award, she received support from the Proteus Fund and a Whiting Public Engagement planning grant in 2018.