The North Carolina Humanities Council (NCHC) is offering grants to non-profit organizations statewide to develop programs that enhance public understanding of the effects of war on American culture and military personnel.

The grant program, Standing Together: The Humanities and the Experience of War, is part of a national effort by the National Endowment for the Humanities called the Standing Together Initiative. This initiative supports humanities scholarship that explores war and its social effects, deepens understanding of the experiences of Americans military personnel, and supports returning veterans and their families.

“Since 2001, more than two million American men and women have been deployed in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, risking everything to serve their country. The humanities can help enhance public understanding of their experiences, in the context of our obligations to one another,” said Paula Watkins, executive director of the North Carolina Humanities Council.

This is the second year that NCHC has offered Standing Together grants. Watkins said past programs funded by grants in North Carolina and across the country have brought veterans, humanities scholars and communities together to discuss fiction or nonfiction writings, films and other media that explore experiences of military service and of returning home; convened educators to study historical, literary and philosophical materials of value and interest to veterans returning to the classroom; and exhibited collections of veterans’ letters, photographs, memorabilia and oral histories.

Each Standing Together project may receive up to $5,000 in NCHC funds. The deadline for 2016 grant applications is July 1, and awards will be announced in September. For more information, go to http://www.nchumanities.org/content/standing-together.