Humanities Institute at Stony Brook

National Humanities Center Undergraduate Humanities Innovators Program

Seawolves! Join a team of outstanding undergraduates from across the United States taking on leadership roles on their campuses and in their communities!

NHC Innovators meet with an advisor

National Humanities Center logoAbout the Program

The Humanities Institute at Stony Brook University will select 3–6 outstanding undergraduates to put forth as nominees for the 2026–7 National Humanities Center (NHC) Undergraduate Humanities Innovators Program. Nominee applications will be workshopped by our faculty reviewers to help make them competitive in the national selection process.

If the NHC selects you for the Innovators Program, you will receive professional development and mentorship, participating in discussion sessions with humanities experts and benefiting from skill-based workshops relevant to higher education and a variety of career trajectories. Additionally, you will have the opportunity to pursue specific individual or collective humanities projects and network with professionals who represent a range of fields including academia, nonprofit work, the arts, science communication, museum studies and curation, and activism and advocacy.

Application Process

  1. To apply to be an SBU nominee for the 2026-7 cohort, please fill out this form by 11:59PM on September 30, 2026.
  2. Successful applicants will be notified by October 5. Our faculty reviewers will provide feedback on applications and recommendations for revision.
  3. The SBU nominees will finalize and submit their revised applications to the NHC application portal by 5 PM on Friday, October 16, 2026.
  4. Successful nominees will be notified by the NHC via email in November.

Eligibility

  • Applicants must be currently enrolled as an undergraduate student at Stony Brook University for the full 2026–27 academic year.
  • Applicants must be in residence in the United States for the duration of the program (no plans for study abroad, etc.).
  • Applicants are not required to have declared concentrations or majors in humanities fields.

Questions?

Please contact Adrienne Unger at adrienne.unger@stonybrook.edu.

More information about the program is available on the NHC website.

Previous SBU Humanities Undergraduate Innovators

NHC and HISB logosHISB warmly congratulates previous Stony Brook Humanities Undergraduate Innovators: Angel Prabakar (2024–25), Peiyao Guo (2023–24), Laci Burton (2022–23), Jennifer Mzobe (2022–23), Meghna Vasiraju (2022–23), and Charlotte York (2022–2023).