The Humanities Indicators released updates on recent trends in humanities degrees today, demonstrating continued declines in humanities bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in the years before the pandemic. The notable exception was found at two-year colleges.

At an event hosted by Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, CISP Cochairs Arthur Bienenstock and Olufunmilayo Falusi Olopade discussed the essential role of international collaboration in maintaining U.S. leadership in science & technology and put forth recommendations for the Biden administration to implement that would strengthen the U.S. scientific enterprise through international engagement.

The 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding is approaching, and the opportunities are huge for museums to reframe history and engage their communities more deeply.

Scott Russell Sanders discusses writing as discovery for the Bulletin’s new feature, “On the Professions”

Academy member Arthur Kleinman discusses his intellectual journey and personal odyssey for the Bulletin’s new feature, “On the Professions.”

Academy member Geoffrey R. Stone discusses freedom of expression on campus for the Bulletin’s new feature, “On the Professions.”

Academy member Douglas S. Massey discusses Ferguson and the meaning of race in America for the Bulletin’s new feature, “On the Professions.”

Academy member Joel E. Cohen discusses his work as a mathematical population biologist for the Bulletin’s new feature, “On the Professions.”

NAPA and the American Academy’s Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship led a four-part series on public governance and civic engagement, covering topics such as civic culture, media, and trust in government.

Economist and philosopher Amartya Sen discusses the importance of democracy, following an introduction from Thomas Scanlon.

On Wednesday, the 19th of February of 1800 at 11:00 A.M., the Academy met pursuant to adjournment at the Senate Chamber of the Old State House and from there went in procession, at 12 o’clock, to the Meeting House on Brattle Street where a Eulogy on General George Washington was pronounced before the Academy by Dr. John Davis, Recording Secretary.

Alexander Graham Bell’s paper “Researches in Telephony” was presented at a Stated Meeting of the Academy on May 10, 1876. In it, he considers the “three varieties of currents”–intermittent, pulsatory, and undulatory–that produce telephonic effects, and he also describes one of his experiments.

A new lithograph by the U.S. preeminent painter and sculptor Ellsworth Kelly now hangs in the atrium of the House of the Academy. In celebration of the Academy’s 225th anniversary, Kelly donated 25 signed prints of his “Sunflower II” from a limited edition of 60 lithographs. The remaining prints have been designated by Kelly to be used as gifts of appreciation to donors who make lead contributions to the Academy’s endowment and capital funds during the 225th anniversary period.

For a full and up-to-date listing of upcoming events, please visit amacad.org/events.

In my previous message, I discussed how – despite the challenges of the pandemic – our community of members has remained active and engaged in the life of the Academy. During the past year, our virtual events reached more audiences in more places than ever before. Our project work continued unabated, including the release of Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century and the development of new major projects on climate change and inequality. And despite great uncertainty, our members came together to produce a record-breaking fundraising year.

While COVID-19 cases and mortality surged in spring and summer 2020, the U.S. government seemed to lack the capacity to respond. Mixed messaging and insufficient testing, ventilators, personal protective equipment, and contact tracing raised disturbing questions about the will of the executive and the health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But were these challenges particular to the pandemic? Or, as one author asks in the newest issue of Dædalus, “is the failed pandemic response a symptom of a diseased administrative state?”

The Academy convened leaders from its Affiliates network for a candid, forward-looking discussion about how lessons learned from the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic might inform the future of higher education. The event provided an opportunity for the participants – university presidents and chancellors, provosts, deans, faculty, and other administrators from over forty American colleges and universities – to gather, share ideas, and make sense of a challenging year.

As the nation grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic, venues closed, employment plummeted, and uncertainty affected every facet of the cultural field. Simultaneously, the renewed racial justice reckoning that swept the country last summer spurred an assessment of inequities in the arts. Leaders of arts organizations were confronted by difficult decisions and significant opportunities as they navigated these crises and attempted to support both the arts and artists.

Established in 1958 to recognize distinguished achieve­ment in the field of literature, the Emerson-Thoreau Medal is awarded to an individual for their overall literary achievement. The first recipient of the award in 1958 was poet Robert Frost (elected to the Academy in 1931).