The Academy convened a workshop in Chicago to discuss how a regional working group of state, local, and university leaders from the plains states could help implement the recommendations from the Academy’s recent report.

There is no resource more central to life on Earth than water. It is essential to the survival of people, organisms, and economies; its availability is inextricably linked to humanity’s need for security, energy, food, and community. The Summer 2015 issue of Dædalus moves beyond the failures of our tried approaches to water management.

Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy hosted a Civic Scientist Lecture on the Academy's recent report.

Ellen T. Harris spoke at the Academy about Handel’s life and his inner circle of friends.

Peter Grant and B. Rosemary Grant present their research studying evolutionary processes in the Galápagos finches, followed by a conversation with Zackory Burns (Hellman Fellow in Science and Technology Policy).

William G. Thomas III, Anne Cong-Huyen, Angel David Nieves, and Jessica Marie Johnson engaged in a panel discussion on pedagogy in undergraduate digital humanities classrooms. The discussion, which was presented in collaboration with Emory University, was moderated by Erika Farr. Stephen G. Nichols and G. Wayne Clough provided national perspectives as respondents to the panel.

John G. Levi discusses access to justice, and how many low-income Americans have significant difficulty navigating our country’s legal system on their own.

Janne E. Nolan reflects on John David Steinbruner's life, work, and immeasurable contributions to the Academy.

Elizabeth J. Perry explains the means by which the Chinese Communist party-state maintains campus calm, despite the many unpopular and potentially unsettling higher education reforms.

Sheldon Pollock explores the fate of philology amid far-reaching social and technological developments.

Helen Hardacre describes Shinto festivals and a return to darkness.

In recognition of his philanthropy and dedication to public service, business leader and entrepreneur Morton L. Mandel is presented with the Academy’s Scholar-Patriot Award.

Higher education continues to be one of the most important avenues of opportunity in American society. But the education landscape is changing rapidly: there are more options for how and when Americans receive some form of higher education.

On December 15, 2015, the Language Commission convened its first meeting at the Academy’s headquarters in Cambridge, MA, under the leadership of Paul LeClerc.

On November 11 and 12, 2015, over 50 Judges and Justices, Chief Justices, legal scholars, and lawyers gathered at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Brought together by John Levi, Chairman of the Legal Services Corporation; Martha Minow, Dean of the Harvard Law School; and Lance Liebman, former Dean of the Columbia Law School, the group discussed the nation’s failure to provide legal services for low-income Americans.