The World History Association (WHA) is a professional association of scholars, teachers, and students organized to promote world history by encouraging teaching, research, publications, and personal interactions. It was founded in 1982 by a group of university faculty and secondary-school teachers determined to address the needs of a newly emerging historical sub-discipline. As described in its constitution, its mission is to "promote activities which will increase historical awareness, understanding among and between peoples, and global consciousness."The WHA brings together university professors, college and community college instructors, secondary school teachers, graduate students, and independent scholars in a collegial camaraderie rarely found in more narrowly focused academic and professional societies. Its mission remains the advancement of scholarship and teaching within transnational, transregional, and transcultural perspectives, designed to prepare students and the public for an increasingly interdependent world.