Congratulations to Department of History faculty members Bob Davis, Dan Hobbins and Chris Otter, who each secured a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Research Fellowship for 2012-13. This is an impressive accomplishment given the rarity of having three NEH fellows within the same academic department.

NEH awarded $21 million in grants for 215 humanities projects in 43 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The fellowship will support college and university teachers and independent scholars pursuing advanced research. Davis, Hobbins, and Otter will research the following topics respectively: Italian Outlaws: Banditry and Society at the End of the Renaissance, 1550-1650; The Origins of Print in Medieval Culture; and Food, Nutrition, and the Making of Industrial Britain.

"The National Endowment for the Humanities supports projects that document and explore the human endeavor in its many forms," said NEH Chairman Jim Leach. "Whether it is preserving a valuable historical collection, enabling the production of a film or exhibition, or providing support for scholarly exploration of important topics in the humanities, the grants awarded today ensure that the shared stories of our past are available to communities across the nation for generations to come." For a complete state-by-state listing of grant recipients, visit the NEH website.