The Summer 2013 issue of Dædalus examines the origins and characteristics of new immigrants and considers their reception in the United States, with regard to both public policies and private behavior.

During a pandemic, science policy leaders researching international collaboration urge support for international partnerships. They say science is inherently global and, when it comes to our biggest problems, the solutions are global too.

On November 22, 1788, the General Court of Massachusetts approved the Academy’s petition to hold a public lottery. Proceeds would go toward the purchase of a unique, grand model of the solar system for Harvard College.

Despite America’s history and reputation as a “melting pot,” immigration continues to polarize policy-makers. The Summer 2013 issue of Dædalus examines the origins and characteristics of new immigrants and considers their reception in the United States, with regard to both public policies and private behavior. The issue is guest edited by Academy Fellow Douglas S. Massey (Princeton University), a leading expert in the sociology of immigration.

Like many other organizations, the Academy has been reviewing its policies related to members accused of crimes or other inappropriate actions (e.g., sexual harassment, falsification of research results, intentional plagiarism, and other breaches in professional ethics or academic misconduct). While the Academy’s 1780 charter and the current bylaws provide for expelling or disenfranchising members for cause, there is no record that the Academy has taken any action related to expelling a member nor any policy to guide the practice.

The Super Bowl has inspired a wager between Robert Hauser, the executive officer of the American Philosophical Society (APS), based in Philadelphia and founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin, and Jonathan Fanton, the president of the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based American Academy of Arts & Sciences founded in 1780 by John Adams and others.

Learn more about individuals and organizations working to support language instruction in America.

Stem cell biologist Haifan Lin to receive Francis Amory Prize - awarded in recognition of outstanding scientific achievements in reproductive biology and medical care - from the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

In early February, the Academy welcomed Americans from around the nation for a day-long convening on the practice of democratic citizenship. The event was a culmination of the extensive grassroots outreach and listening sessions that have been a hallmark of the work of the Academy’s Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship.

The best way we can transcend ideology is to teach our students, regardless of their majors, to think like scientists.

Paul Wise will cochair the latest Academy project on “Rethinking the Humanitarian Health Response to Violent Conflict,” designed to help define new strategies for the provision of essential health services in areas of violent conflict.

Alexander Graham Bell visited the Academy and demonstrated his invention of the telephone before members twice during 1876 in May and October...

Leon Panetta, former Secretary of Defense, echoes the recommendations of Academy report on language learning, saying "we are constrained by our inadequate understanding of other nations and peoples, and by our inability to communicate effectively with them."

Suddenly trying to teach humanities courses online? Mind your presence, ask good questions and manage expectations, experts say, citing data from the American Academy’s Humanities Indicators project.

Historian Bernard Bailyn opened the celebration of the 220th annual meeting of the Academy with a commentary on the personal characteristics of John Adams as revealed in his diary and his autobiography.

Commission cochair Michael S. McPherson and education program director Francesca B. Purcell provide an overview of work by the Academy’s Commission on the Future of Undergraduate Education, which offers a national strategy to improve the college student experience.

Benjamin Dearborn, an educator and inventor who was elected to the Academy in 1794, wrote to Academy president John Adams in August 1794, describing his design for a “Music Board” for the benefit of persons who are visually impaired...