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We are an association of learned societies that work together to promote the interests of the arts and humanities, particularly with respect to higher education and research policies within the UK​.

The AHA Co-Chairs for 2022-2025 are:

Professor Emma Cayley of the

The figure of Chak Mo'ol in the Maya Hall of the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. Ph

About

Mission

The Arts and Humanities Alliance is a UK organisation that represents the broad span of Arts and Humanities subject associations and learned societies. The AHA exists to facilitate the exchange of views between subject associations and provide a coordinated voice with which to articulate the collective values and concerns of our disciplines to policy makers and public bodies. AHA currently represents nearly 50 associations with a combined membership of more than 20,000.

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History

The Alliance was initially formed as the Arts and Humanities User Group (A-HUG) in 2008. It first emerged out of a joint intervention by the Council of University Classical Departments, the British Philosophical Association and the Society of Legal Scholars, when they voiced their collective concerns to the AHRC about the European Science Foundation’s European Research Index in the Humanities (ERIH). In its first years A-HUG’s role was principally to co-ordinate subject association meetings with one another and with the AHRC. Working across a range of subject associations we successfully encouraged the AHRC to withdraw from involvement with ERIH.

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Our Work

Over time, we have addressed concerns such as: changes in RCUK and AHRC funding policies, REF and impact, open access, recruitment trends, graduate funding, and the status of British International Research Institutes. In 2016, the Alliance submitted a response to the Green Paper on Higher Education entitled 'Fulfilling our Potential'. It is currently represented on the UUK Open Access Monographs Subgroup and is centrally involved in the British Academy Flagship Skills Project. In all these areas AHA articulates and defends the specific needs and practices of the arts and humanities.

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Past Chairs

  • Susan Bruce, University English and Martin Halliwell, English Association (2016-2022)

  • Peter Mandler, Royal Historical Society (2012-2016)

  • Robin Osborne, Council of University Classical Departments (2008-2012)

Library, Trinity College Dublin. Photograph by Alex Block (@alexblock - Instagram)

AFFILIATES

African Studies Association of the UK

African Theatre Association

Anglo-Catalan Society

Architectural Humanities Research Association

Association of Adaptation Studies

Association for Art History

Association for German Studies

Association for Publishing Education

Association of Hispanists of Great Britain and Ireland

Association of University Professors and Heads of French

British Association for American Studies

British Association for Applied Linguistics

British Association for Canadian Studies

British Association for Chinese Studies

British Association for Jewish Studies

British Association for Korean Studies

British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies

British Association for the Study of Religions

British Society for the History of Science

British Society for Middle Eastern Studies

British Philosophical Association

Council for British Archaeology

Council of University Classics Departments 

Drama HE

Economic History Society

English Association

Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas

History UK

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Linguistics Association of Great Britain

Music Mark - the UK Association for Music Education

National Association of Writers in Education

Oral History Society

Philological Society of Great Britain

Political Studies Association

Royal Geographical Society

Royal Historical Society

Royal Musical Association

Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies

Society for French Studies

Society for Italian Studies

Society for Latin American Studies

Society for Neo-Latin Studies

Society for Old Testament Study

Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies

Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

Theology and Religious Studies UK

TROPO UK: The Association of Teachers and Researchers of Portuguese Language in the UK

UK Association for Language Testing and Assessment

UK Council of Area Studies Associations

University Archaeology UK 

University Council For Languages

University English

Women in Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies

If you represent a learned society that is not yet a member, please contact t.pitman@leeds.ac.uk to join. Membership is free. We hold one meeting per semester, run events and campaigns, and coordinate action via a jiscmail list and a WhatsApp group. You can also follow us on Bluesky @artsandhums.bsky.social.

Image of an audience in profile facing stage. Taken in Los Angles by Edwin Andrade.

Activities

AHA News

 

  • In Summer 2024, we worked with the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE) to ensure that case studies emphasising the social and economic value of the arts and humanities throughout the UK were included in welcome packs sent to all MPs, new and old, returning to Westminster in early September. In particular, these included a case study on the development of a craft ale based on medieval recipes developed by a colleague in Classics at the University of Leeds (see the welcome pack for the MP for Leeds North East), and work conducted by the School of English at the University of Sheffield on mental health and narrative methodologies (see the welcome pack for the MP for Sheffield Central). All of the case studies we submitted can be found on the CaSE website by searching through the different regional categories. We have 3 case studies in the Yorkshire and Humber section (Classics, English and Philosophy), 2 in the Wales section (Archaeology and English), 1 in the Scotland section (English), and 1 that appears in both the Scotland and the South East sections (English). Thanks to all who managed to submit their case studies at such short notice. 

  • Read our recent response to the REF2029 Open Access consultation. We are pleased to note that plans for radical changes to OA for long-form outputs have been paused and will not come into effect until the next REF cycle.

  • Listen to the BBC Radio 4 Front Row programme with Samira Ahmed on 17 April 2024 for an interview with Professors Jo Fox (Dean of the School of Advanced Study, University of London) and Anna Vignoles (Director of the Leverhulme Trust) discussing the current situation where cuts are being made to arts and humanities courses at 50 institutions in the UK. AHA's Emma Cayley and others fed into the fact-finding work behind the programme.

  • Our most recent affiliates' meeting, specifically focusing on the question of advocacy for arts and humanities, taking the lead from the Arts & Humanities Advocacy workshop organised by the School for Advanced Study at the University of London , was held online, 9-10:30am, 27 September 2024. The date of our next meeting will be in late 2024 (tbc).

AHA Statements & Correspondence

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Excavation of Çatalhöyük - a large Neolithic proto-city settlement in southern Anatolia. P

Resources

Advocacy 

CAMPAIGNS AND REPORTS BY AHA AND AFFILIATES

  • NEW: The British Philosophical Association is organising the first British Philosophy Fortnight from 17-30 March 2025, designed to promote philosophy in the UK. They will hold a launch event in Parliament and also launch the social media hashtag #PhilosophyMatters to gather and display all the brilliant UK philosophical activity and show how philosophy inspires people and shapes society. 

  • NEW: The University Council For Languages, the Institute for Languages, Cultures and Societies at the School of Advanced Study, University of London and the British Academy have most recently released a 'Plan for Concerted Collective Action' to defend the place of Modern Languages in Higher Education (November 2024).

  • The Royal Historical Society has recently released a report entitled 'The Value of History in UK Higher Education and Society' (October 2024) to underscore the popularity of history in society as a whole and defend its place in Higher Education.

  • The Arts and Humanities Alliance successfully lobbied for the inclusion of seven arts and humanities case studies were featured in the Welcome Packs developed by the Campaign for Science and Engineering for MPs, old and new, returning to Westminster in September 2024.

  • The Association for Art History runs an annual Art History Festival for the public which celebrates and explores the histories of art, design and architecture showing how these subjects help us to better understand the world around us. See their report of the hugely successful 2023 event for more details. They are also currently running the Art History Now campaign to celebrate their 50th anniversary. This includes a growing series of videos of art history graduates talking about their various careers in and outside of the art field.

  • The Advocating Classics Education website, led by Edith Hall and funded by the AHRC, provides a hub for discussion, sharing and dissemination of news, information, ideas and resources in relation to the study of Classics. 

  • University English runs the #Englishcreates campaign to champion, defend and expand access to the study of literature in English (in all its forms, regionalities and nationalities), particularly for year 12 and 13 students wanting to study English at university. It is particularly attuned to reaching its target audience via social media.

  • The English Association runs the 'Skills for the Future of English' project to provide information that teachers of English at all levels can use to articulate the value of the study of English to their students and create programmes of study that embed skills that help students thrive in the age of AI. And they also run a series of lunchtime public talks on collaboration called Thinking Forwards.

  • The Council of University Classical Departments has produced a set of statistics relating to the study of Classics at UK universities (2023-24).

Toolkits

HELPING A&H DISCIPLINES TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Resources

​​USEFUL MATERIALS PRODUCED BY OTHER ORGANISATIONS​

  • The British Academy has recently launched a really useful new tool to map 'cold spots' in SHAPE provision across the UK. 

  • The School of Advanced Study, University of London, in partnership with the British Academy and the Arts and Humanities Research Council, runs the Being Human Festival every November to engage the general public with arts and humanities research around the country. 

  • The Campaign for the Arts in conjunction with the University of Warwick has recently produced a report called The State of the Arts (2024) which provides excellent data on the under-investment in the arts, including in HE, in the UK today. 

  • The House of Lords Library also has a similar report on the 'Contribution of the Arts to Society and the Economy' (2024) on its website.

  • The British Academy alongside partners at the University of Oxford has recently launched a platform called 'The SHAPE of Research Impact' which allows users to explore the stories, successes and cumulative societal benefits of UK research in arts, humanities and social sciences. It also includes a great amount of quantitative data. A narrative report, also called The SHAPE of Research Impact (2024), provides a more interpretative approach to the same data, while their SHAPE Observatory hosts a wealth of data relating to the health and development of arts, humanities and social science disciplines in the UK.

  • The British Academy also runs Connected Knowledge, a communications campaign dedicated to celebrating how interdisciplinary research and learning, especially linking SHAPE and STEM, shapes the world.

  • Historic England has a section on its website focusing on The Economic Value of the Heritage Sector with links to extensive data. The related annual report is entitled The Heritage Sector in England and Its Impact on the Economy (2024).

  • Higher Education Policy Institute report: The Humanities in the UK Today: What's Going On? (2023), by Marion Thain, with Susan Fitzmaurice, Jo Gill, Jeremy Gregory, Nigel Harkness, Gail Marshall, Murray Pittock and Andrew Thorpe. 

  • Mapping UK Arts & Humanities Research Infrastructure (2023), AHRC-sponsored project led by the School of Advanced Study, University of London. 

Other Institutions

  • The Wales Arts and Humanities Alliance (WAHA) was set up in July 2023, bringing together Wales's nine universities to drive collaboration and advance arts and humanities research and innovation in the country. 

  • The Scottish Arts and Humanities Alliance (SAHA) is a joint initiative of Scottish Higher Education institutions, the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities. Established in 2019, it aims to give a public and collective voice to the Arts and Humanities in the context of Higher Education in Scotland,  promoting more widely the contribution of arts and humanities disciplines to positive change in society, to economic progress and to cultural understanding. ​​

  • The Irish Humanities Alliance / Comhaontas Daonnachtaí na hÉireann (IHA) is a joint initiative of humanities researchers within higher education and research institutions across the island of Ireland and the Royal Irish Academy / Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann to champion humanities research and scholarship in Ireland and Northern Ireland. 

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Contact

The co-chairs of the AHA for 2022-25 are

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Professor Emma Cayley
(University Council For Languages)
e.cayley@leeds.ac.uk

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Professor Thea Pitman
(Standing Conference of Latin American Studies)
t.pitman@leeds.ac.uk

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Follow us on Bluesky @artsandhums.bsky.social

And on X @ArtsandHums

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Slate It. Photograph by Jakob Owen (@jakobowens - Instagram)
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