The Humanities, Arts, and Culture
Since 1780, the Academy has advocated for the importance of the humanities, arts, and culture in American society, and has called on both private citizens and the nation’s government to help foster advances in these areas.
Today, the Academy conducts research and develops policy recommendations to advance the humanities in academic scholarship and in the public sector, to display the importance of the arts in society, and to enrich the nation’s cultural life. By bringing together scholars, artists, and leaders from both the public and private sectors, Academy programs in The Humanities, Arts, and Culture put practitioners and scholars in conversation with individuals from other disciplines, ensuring that the arts and humanities are valued in all areas of civic life. Projects in this area demonstrate the value of the arts, humanities, and culture to the nation’s security and prosperity, and call attention to the role played by work in these fields to enriching the health of communities and the daily lives of its citizens.
Program Advisory Committee
CHAIR
Johanna Drucker
University of California, Los Angeles
MEMBERS
Richard Brodhead
Duke University
Colin Dayan
Vanderbilt University
Thomas Gunning
University of Chicago
Maria Hummer-Tuttle
The J. Paul Getty Trust
Jacqueline Jones
University of Texas at Austin
Mary C. Kelley
University of Michigan
Jane Dammen McAuliffe
Library of Congress
Jahan Ramazani
University of Virginia
Oscar Tang
New York, NY
Pauline Yu
American Council of Learned Societies
PROJECT
Commission on the Arts
The Commission on the Arts seeks to reframe the national conversation about what role the arts can play in a diverse twenty-first-century democracy. The national focus of the project is reflected in the composition of its membership, which spans the cultural field and the geography of the United States; its members represent over a dozen states and more than forty organizations, disciplines, and institutions. The Commission is guided by the central premise that the arts are necessary to both individual and civic life and that artists are crucial members of healthy communities. Among other reports and creative elements, the Commission’s final products will include policy recommendations that will help arts advocates, educators, artists, and government officials to refocus the national conversation on the arts around common issues.
Commission Chairs
John Lithgow
Actor and Author
Deborah F. Rutter
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Natasha Trethewey
Northwestern University
COMMISSION MEMBERS
Diane Ackerman
Author, Poet, and Naturalist
Elizabeth Alexander
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Maribel Alvarez
The University of Arizona
Rod Bigelow
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
Terence Blanchard
Jazz Trumpeter and Composer
Mary Bordeaux
First Peoples Fund
Pam Breaux
National Assembly of State Arts Agencies
Jeffrey Brown
PBS NewsHour
Louise H. Bryson
The J. Paul Getty Trust
Francis Collins
National Institutes of Health
James Cuno
The J. Paul Getty Trust
Paul DiMaggio
New York University
Oskar Eustis
The Public Theater
Katherine Farley
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Theaster Gates, Jr.
Rebuild Foundation
Paula Giddings
Smith College
Olivia Gude
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Vijay Gupta
Street Symphony
Vicky Holt Takamine
Pua Ali‘i ‘Ilim
Maria Hummer-Tuttle
The J. Paul Getty Trust
Gish Jen
Novelist
Brian Kisida
University of Missouri
Angela La Porte
University of Arkansas
Tania León
Composer and Conductor
Robert Lynch
Americans for the Arts
Sonia Manzano
Actress and Author
Michael O’Bryan
The Village of Arts and Humanities
Felix Padrón
Arts Management Professional and Artist
Annise Parker
LGBTQ Victory Fund
Mwalim (Morgan James Peters)
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Victoria Rogers
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Jacqueline Stewart
The University of Chicago
Yancey Strickler
Kickstarter
Steven Tepper
Arizona State University
Roberta Uno
Arts in a Changing America
Zannie Voss
Southern Methodist University National Center for Arts Research
Carrie Mae Weems
Photographer
Damian Woetzel
The Juilliard School
Jay Xu
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
Kevin Young
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Laura Zabel
Springboard for the Arts
PROJECT STAFF
Mary Lyons
Allentza Michel
Tania Munz
Funders
Ford Foundation
The Getty Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The Kresge Foundation
The Barr Foundation
Roger and Victoria† Sant
† Deceased
PROJECT MEETINGS
Branches from the Same Tree: Conversations on the Integration of Arts, Humanities, and STEM in Higher Education
October 25, 2019
House of the Academy
Cambridge, MA
The Academy hosted a one-day conference in partnership with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on their recently released report Branches from the Same Tree: The Integration of the Humanities and Arts with Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Higher Education. The conference included interactive and engaging panel presentations, performances, and breakout discussions, each exploring a different element of cross-disciplinary learning.
SPEAKERS
Francisco Alarcon
Boston University
Sari Altschuler
Northeastern University
Sarah Cunningham
Rhode Island School of Design
Bonnie Thornton Dill
University of Maryland
Leila Kinney
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lynn Pasquerella
Association of American Colleges and Universities
Sunil Iyengar
National Endowment for the Humanities
Ilya Vidrin
Harvard University
“Rural Arts and Cultural Development” Webinar
December 4, 2019
Virtual Event
The second webinar sponsored by the Commission examined new developments in arts and culture in rural communities. The featured panelists discussed how rural communities are uniquely leveraging the arts to foster community and economic development. Each panelist brought a unique perspective to the conversation, from producing events and festivals to building support networks of artists to employing art as a catalyst for social conversations.
Webinar Chair
Laura Zabel
Springboard for the Arts
SPEAKERS
Kara Schmidt
PaoliFest and Black Vulture Project (Indiana)
Jonny Stax
Consultant and Founder of ArtFarm (Iowa)
Michelle Ramos
Alternate Roots (regional South)
Matthew Fluharty
Art of the Rural (regional Midwest)
Meeting of the Commission
January 16–17, 2020
Los Angeles Athletic Club
Los Angeles, CA
The third Commission meeting focused on project visioning and strategy planning. Four local facilitators with deep experience in the arts and cultural sector as well as project design and implementation worked with each of the working groups to develop focused products and preliminary workplans. As a full group, the Commissioners discussed connections among the working groups, outreach strategies, and potential policy recommendations. In addition to project development, the meeting also included an evening reception celebrating the arts in Los Angeles, featuring Mayor Eric Garcetti and Vijay Gupta.
MEETING CHAIRS
John Lithgow
Actor and Author
Deborah Rutter
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Natasha Trethewey
Northwestern University
SPEAKERS
Eric Garcetti
City of Los Angeles
Vijay Gupta
Street Symphony
PROJECT
The Humanities Indicators
The Humanities Indicators provide information about all aspects of the humanities: ranging from early childhood reading, through undergraduate and graduate education in the humanities, and on to employment and experiences later in life with museums and other humanistic activities. Now in its eleventh year as a publicly available website, the project tracks the condition of the humanities enterprise via its own rigorous survey research and analyses of data gathered by the federal government. Recent work has included national surveys of humanities departments at four-year colleges and universities, as well as a survey of over five thousand Americans about their engagement with and attitudes about a variety of humanities activities. The Humanities Indicators are accessible at www.amacad.org/humanities-indicators.
Project Director
Norman M. Bradburn
NORC at the University of Chicago
Advisory Committee
Edward Ayers
University of Richmond
Jack Buckley
American Institutes for Research
Jonathan R. Cole
Columbia University
John Dichtl
American Association for State and Local History
Michael Hout
New York University
Felice J. Levine
American Educational Research Association
Esther Mackintosh
Federation of State Humanities Councils
Anne Ruggles Gere
University of Michigan
Judith Tanur
Stony Brook University
Steven Wheatley
American Council of Learned Societies, emeritus
Project Staff
Carolyn Fuqua
John Garnett
Tania Munz
Robert B. Townsend
Funder
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Project Meetings
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Community College – Research University Partnerships Meeting
July 31, 2019
Case Western University
Cleveland, OH
Codirector Robert B. Townsend presented a report on “The Role of Honors Programs at Community Colleges.”
Department Survey Consultation
October 21, 2019
American Sociological Association
Washington, D.C.
Following the successful completion of a national survey of humanities departments in four-year colleges and universities, the Indicators staff assembled representatives from each of the scholarly societies represented in the study to preview the findings and discuss possible lines of analysis and presentation.
Participants
Norman M. Bradburn
NORC at the University of Chicago
Helen Cullyer
Society for Classical Studies
Amy Ferrer
American Philosophical Association
Carolyn Fuqua
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Daniel Ginsberg
American Anthropological Association
James Grossman
American Historical Association
Deborah Kimmey
American Studies Association
Deana Lewis
National Women’s Studies Association
Dennis Looney
Modern Language Association
Trevor Parry-Giles
National Communication Association
Anne Marie Porter
American Institute of Physics
David Raizman
College Art Association
Alyson Reed
Linguistic Society of America
James Shulman
American Council of Learned Societies
Camilla Sommers
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Robert B. Townsend
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Susan White
American Institute of Physics
Carla Zecher
American Musicological Society
National Humanities Conference
November 7–9, 2019
The Hilton Hawaiian Village
Honolulu, HI
Codirector Robert B. Townsend participated in a series of conversations about the health of the humanities.
International Humanities Summit
November 11–13, 2019
Queensland University of Technology
Brisbane, Australia
At an international convening hosted by the Australian Academy for the Humanities, Codirector Robert B. Townsend delivered a presentation on “Asking the Public about the Humanities” and participated in a series of conversations about the health of the field in the United States and overseas.
American Historical Association Annual Meeting
January 4, 2020
Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel
New York, NY
At a convening of scholarly societies in the humanities and social sciences, Codirector Robert B. Townsend delivered a presentation on “What We Know about Contingent Faculty” and participated in a discussion about the evolving academic workforce.
National Humanities Alliance Annual Meeting
March 2, 2020
Washington Court Hotel
Washington, D.C.
The staff of the Humanities Indicators project presented preliminary findings from a large national survey of the general public about the humanities and hosted an exhibit booth, where they distributed materials and answered questions.
Advisory Committee Meeting
March 6, 2020
Virtual Meeting
At the annual meeting of the Humanities Indicators Advisory Committee the participants reviewed the results of the two national surveys conducted by the project and assessed plans for future publications and research.
Participants
Norman M. Bradburn
NORC at the University of Chicago
Edward Ayers
University of Richmond
Jonathan R. Cole
Columbia University
John Dichtl
American Association for State and Local History
Carolyn Fuqua
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Michael Hout
New York University
Felice J. Levine
American Educational Research Association
Esther Mackintosh
Federation of State Humanities Councils
Tania Munz
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Judith Tanur
Stony Brook University
Robert B. Townsend
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Steven Wheatley
American Council of Learned Societies
Public Survey Consultation I
March 24, 2020
Virtual Meeting
Working with NORC at the University of Chicago, in fall 2019 the Humanities Indicators conducted a nationally representative survey of five thousand American adults about public attitudes about the humanities and their engagement with a variety of humanistic practices. In spring 2020, the project staff conducted a series of consultations with stakeholders to assess which findings seemed of significance, and how the results might be reported to maximize their utility for every constituency.
Participants
Carin Berkowitz
New Jersey Humanities Council
Norman M. Bradburn
NORC at the University of Chicago
Alison Chang
College Art Association
Carolyn Fuqua
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
John Garnett
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Michael Hout
New York University
Paula Krebs
Modern Language Association
Dennis Looney
Modern Language Association
Tania Munz
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Susan Ogger
New York Humanities
Valerie Paley
New York Historical Society
James Pawelski
University of Pennsylvania
Jason Rhody
Social Science Research Council
Camilla Somers
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Elizabeth Spenst
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Judith Tanur
Stony Brook University
Robert B. Townsend
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Public Survey Consultation II
April 6, 2020 (morning)
Virtual Meeting
Participants
Catherine Allgor
Massachusetts Historical Society
Norman Bradburn
NORC at the University of Chicago
Christina Chia
John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute
Sarah Dreller
Society for Architectural Historians
Carolyn Fuqua
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
John Garnett
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
James Grossman
American Historical Association
Christine Henseler
Union College
Steven Kidd
National Humanities Alliance
James Kitterman
Maryland Humanities
Gavin Kleespies
Massachusetts Historical Society
Modupe Labode
Smithsonian Institution
Lori Lefkowitz
Northeastern University
Esther Mackintosh
Federation of State Humanities Councils
David Oxtoby
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Lynn Pasquarella
Association of American Colleges and Universities
Robert B. Townsend
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Public Survey Consultation III
April 6, 2020 (afternoon)
Virtual Meeting
Participants
Norman Bradburn
NORC at the University of Chicago
Nicholas Allen
University of Georgia
Yota Batsaki
Dumbarton Oaks
John Dichtl
American Association of State and Local History
Jessica Feldman
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Amy Ferrer
American Philosophical Association
Carolyn Fuqua
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
John Garnett
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Dianne Harris
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Cecily Hill
National Humanities Alliance
Barbara Mennel
University of Florida
Tania Munz
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Bill Rivers
Joint National Committee for Languages; National Council for Languages and International Studies
Dana Schaffer
American Historical Association
Robert B. Townsend
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Eric Waggoner
West Virginia Humanities Council
Ann Wise
Phi Beta Kappa
Public Survey Consultation IV
April 13, 2020 (morning)
Virtual Meeting
Participants
Norman Bradburn
NORC at the University of Chicago
Vyta Baselice
Federation of State Humanities Councils
Kristen Boudreau
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Brian Boyles
Massachusetts Humanities
Kim Gilmore
History Channel
Carolyn Fuqua
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
John Garnett
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Bea Gurwitz
National Humanities Alliance
David Kidd
Democratic Knowledge Project
Jess Miner
Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, Harvard University
Scott Muir
National Humanities Alliance
Melissa Nobles
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Koby Oppenheim
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
David Oxtoby
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Daniel Reid
Whiting Foundation
Miranda Restovic
Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities
Peter Robinson
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Susan Smulyan
Brown Center for Public Humanities
Robert B. Townsend
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Public Survey Consultation V
April 13, 2020 (afternoon)
Virtual Meeting
Participants
Norman Bradburn
NORC at the University of Chicago
Ellen Dunlap
American Antiquarian Society
Daniel Fisher
National Humanities Alliance
Maryrose Flanigan
a2ru
Carolyn Fuqua
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
John Garnett
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Matthew Gibson
Virginia Federation for the Humanities
Sara Guyer
University of Wisconsin
Sunil Iyengar
National Endowment for the Arts
Heather Kim
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Teresa Mangum
Obermann Center, University of Iowa
Allentza Michel
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Tania Munz
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Diane O’Donoghue
Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life
Younger Oliver
National Humanities Alliance
Shannon Smith
Wyoming Humanities Council
Robert B. Townsend
American Academy of Arts and Sciences