Scottish Arts and Humanities Alliance

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 & Humanities. It was established to give a public and collective voice to the Arts and Humanities in the context of Higher Education. This new Alliance is designed to widely promote the contribution of our disciplines to positive change in society, to economic progress and to cultural understanding.

Learn more about the Alliance at saha.scot

Pictured: Meili Li at Dunedin Consort 2024 | SAHA

Mission statement

SAHA was established in 2019 to give a public and collective voice to the arts and humanities in the context of Higher Education.

Scotland has a rich arts and humanities heritage and an impressive history of arts and humanities education. We believe that the arts and humanities are a public good with a central role to play in meeting the challenges of contemporary society. They help individuals and society by shaping our cultural, political and inner lives, equipping us with the critical skills to engage with a changing social and geopolitical landscape, helping us to identify and learn from the patterns of the past and to imagine new ways forward. The arts and humanities are, therefore, a necessary part of 21st-century debates on issues such as climate change, wellbeing, diversity and shaping a post-Covid-19 future. SAHA is uniquely positioned to give voice to the value and diversity of Arts and Humanities education in Scotland and to foster further collaboration across and beyond institutions in order to provide a coherent perspective on the challenges facing Scottish society.

SAHA works in the context of SHAPE, STEAM and internationally with partners in the Irish, European and North American Humanities alliances.

The Alliance aims to enhance public and governmental understanding of the intellectual, creative and social, as well as economic, contribution of the arts and humanities to the well-being and advancement of Scottish society. It provides a forum for debating and collaborating on current and future challenges, for influence government education policy, and for public advocacy of the arts and humanities in a specifically Scottish context. It engages with stakeholders within the educational, cultural and civil sectors and delivers a coordinated arts and humanities standpoint on issues relating to education and research in Scotland and beyond.

Alliance goals

The Alliance has the following remit:

To be a united, public voice on matters relating to the arts and humanities in Scotland;
To advocate for the arts and humanities, enhancing understanding of their intellectual, creative, and social as well as economic, contribution to the wellbeing and advancement of Scottish society;
To influence government policy on current higher education issues relating to the arts and humanities, giving a Scottish perspective, but also speaking to wider debates;
To create, foster and enhance links and partnerships between scholars and local communities and communities of practice;
To disseminate its work in the media, in government and within the education sector.

Membership

Co-Chairs of the Scottish Arts and Humanities Alliance

Professor Murray Pittock – University of Glasgow

Professor Catherine O’Leary – University of St Andrews

Member institutions

Contact

For further information about the work of the Scottish Arts and Humanities Alliance, please get in touch with the SAHA Policy and Communications Officer, Federica R. Simone.

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Listen to the SAHA Conversations Podcasts.