Direct Link to NHA Website: National Humanities Alliance (NHA).

About the National Humanities Alliance

The National Humanities Alliance (NHA) is a nationwide coalition of organizations advocating for the humanities on campuses, in communities, and on Capitol Hill. Founded in 1981 (with the LSA being a founding member), NHA is supported by over 200 member organizations, including colleges, universities, libraries, museums, cultural organizations, state humanities councils, and scholarly, professional, and higher education associations. It is the only organization that brings together the U.S. humanities community as a whole.

The NHA and Linguistics: Working across the humanities, the Alliance advocates for robust financial support of various federal agenceies that fund language and linguistics research, including the NEH, the Department of Education (Office of International Education), the National Archives, the Smithsonian, and the Administration for Native Americans (HHS). 

What the NHA does:

  • Cultivate support for federal funding for the humanities

  • Promote the public value of the humanities

  • Promote the value of studying the humanities

  • Convene the humanities community to explore best practices for advocating for the humanities on campuses, in communities, and on Capitol Hill

AHA advocates for the increase of federal funding streams that support scholars affiliated with the AHA. One of the key ways it does so is through its membership in the National Humanities Alliance, a coalition of organizations that advocates for federal funding for humanities research, teaching, programming, and preservation and access.

NHA monitors and cultivates support for the following agencies and programs:

The NHA also provides data analysis of humanities funding trends over time: Overall Funding Trajectory.

LSA Members Can Sign Up to Join the Campaign for Humanities Funding

  You can join the NHA’s Campaign for Humanities Funding by signing up to receive alerts. By adding your name, NHA will make sure that you receive all action alerts and breaking news pertaining to humanities funding.

Promoting the humanities on Capitol Hill

NHA advocates for federal funding for the humanities and policies that promote engagement with the humanities. It hosts Humanities Advocacy Day each March, during which state delegations travel to Capitol Hill, and supports year-round advocacy in congressional districts. When a high volume of constituent letters promises to sway congressional opinions on a legislative issue, NHA issues action alerts to its members, to its large mailing list of advocates, and on social media. To ensure that their advocacy is effective as possible, NHA supports advocates’ efforts by researching the impact of federal funding for the humanities and creating resources that communicate the value of the humanities.  

Promoting the humanities on campuses

NHA supports faculty, administrators, and scholarly societies in making the case for the value of the humanities in a higher ed context. Through our Study the Humanities initiative, we have developed a toolkit that compiles quantitative and qualitative data on the benefits of studying the humanities as an undergraduate. We are also surveying the field for on-campus strategies that have successfully reversed declining enrollments in the humanities and will share these effective strategies with the higher ed community over the coming year. Through our Humanities for All initiative, we have collected over 1,500 examples of publicly engaged work at higher ed institutions. This collection of examples allow us to support scholars in deepening their publicly engaged practice and showcasing the value of their work. 

Promoting the humanities in communities 

NHA promotes public engagement with the humanities with the logic that the more people engage with the humanities, the more supportive of the humanities they will become. Through our NEH for All initiative, we are documenting the impact of humanities research, preservation, teaching, and programming in communities across the country. We harness the results of this impact research to make the case for the broad public value of the humanities and the need for public and private investment in the humanities ecosystem. 

Action Alerts

When a high volume of constituent letters promises to sway Congressional opinions on a pressing legislative issue, NHA issues action alerts to its members, to its large mailing list of advocates, and on social media. Action alerts make it very simple to write emails to, tweet at, or post on the Facebook walls of Members of Congress. NHA ensures that the Members receive a well-reasoned letter that makes the case for humanities programs and funding.

Year-Round Advocacy:

NHA facilitates year round advocacy, offering its members tips on how and when to engage district offices. NHA also schedules Hill meetings for its members year round—whenever they visit D.C.—and provides resources to maximize the efficacy of those meetings.

 

More information on NHA’s activities and benefits to members can be found here.