Noah Heringman, Curators’ Professor of English in the College of Arts and Science at Mizzou, has been awarded a highly prestigious fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to support a year of full-time research and writing. 

The NEH Fellowship will fund Heringman’s scholarly edition and English translation of a selection of letters by Johann Joachim Winckelmann, the German art historian often called a founder of modern art history and archaeology. While Winckelmann’s major works on classical Greek art and culture have long been available in English, most of his personal correspondence has never been translated. 

The NEH Fellowship program is very competitive, with fewer than 10% of applicants selected for funding. 

“By selecting my proposal for funding, the NEH reviewers agreed that Winckelmann’s letters are unique and that readers deserve access to them in English,” said Heringman, whose work will offer a vivid, accessible view into Winckelmann’s life, ideas, and influence. The artist’s letters illuminate the intellectual foundations of neoclassicism and shed light on the history of art, culture, and sexuality in the eighteenth century. 

For the first time, Heringman, who grew up speaking German, will work on a project that combines his scholarly expertise in the eighteenth century and lifelong connection to the language. 

This is Heringman’s third highly prestigious award, having previously been awarded funding from the NEH Fellowship Programs at Independent Research Institutions in 2001 and National Humanities Center in 2014. He was elected as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 2025. 

NEH fellowships are among the most prestigious honors in the humanities, supporting scholars whose work advances knowledge and broadens public understanding of history, literature, and culture.