What We Do
We work with our members and humanities advocates around the country to bolster undergraduate humanities enrollments, promote public engagement with the humanities, and increase funding for the humanities.
We conduct research to learn about the challenges that humanities faculty, institutions, and organizations are facing and to highlight creative strategies for overcoming those challenges.
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Our resources empower advocates to make the case for the value of the humanities on campuses, in their communities, and on Capitol Hill.
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Our events bring together higher ed faculty and administrators with representatives from scholarly societies, community organizations, and state humanities councils to advocate together and learn about new and creative ways to revitalize the humanities.
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We offer tailored consultations on strengthening the humanities on campuses, engaging with communities through the humanities, and documenting the impact of the humanities.
See Consultation PageWho We Are
We are an alliance of colleges, universities, libraries, museums, cultural organizations, state humanities councils, and scholarly, professional, and higher education associations committed to ensuring that the humanities remain central to American life. NHA is the only organization that unites the entire U.S. humanities community.
Our History
NHA was founded in 1981 by humanities organizations that came together to fight against the Reagan administration’s effort to defund the National Endowment for the Humanities. Since meeting that first challenge, NHA has continued to advocate for humanities funding on Capitol Hill, focusing on the NEH, the Department of Education’s international education programs (Title VI and Fulbright-Hays), the Institute for Museum and Library Services, and the National Archives. In 2017, NHA rallied the humanities community to oppose the Trump administration’s attempt to eliminate the NEH, successfully winning increases for the agency over the four years of the Trump administration. We also consistently won increases for our other funding priorities over these years.
In 2014, NHA established the National Humanities Alliance Foundation to research and communicate the value of the humanities to a range of audiences. Over the past decade, NHA has expanded its membership and capacity to take on the fundamental challenge of declining undergraduate enrollments in the humanities and promoting the public value of the humanities more broadly.
Become a member.
Join a nationwide alliance of colleges, universities, scholarly societies, museums, libraries, and state humanities councils dedicated to making the case for the value of the humanities.