Martha Nussbaum accepts the Don M. Randel Award for Humanistic Studies and speaks about a philosophical approach to anger and fear.

On October 11, 2014, the American Academy inducted its 234th class of Fellows and Foreign Honorary Members. The ceremony included presentations by new Fellows Ramamurti Shankar, Diana H. Wall, Sherry Turkle, Mary Kelley, and John W. Rogers, Jr.

Projects in Science, Engineering, and Technology seek to strengthen the capacity of science and engineering to improve the human condition. This goal has never been more important. Global challenges increasingly require collaboration across disciplinary, professional, and national boundaries, while advances in information processing and transmission raise issues for both the management of scientific and technical information and for the ability of individuals and institutions to assimilate and act on new discoveries.

Robert Ballard tells the story of his passionate career in ocean exploration and discusses the educational initiatives he has created to engage a new generation of scientists.

In collaboration with the Ash Center at the Harvard Kennedy School, the Academy hosted a discussion on “Redistricting and Representation,” which included presentations by Gary King, Jamal Greene, and Moon Duchin. Chief Judge Patti Saris moderated the program.

A big boost to college completion would pay off for students and the economy, a new paper finds, but would substantially increase the federal deficit. Academy report cited in coverage.

As part of the Academy’s 2018 Induction weekend, Sonia Sotomayor (Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court) participated in a conversation with David M. Rubenstein. The program, which served as the Academy’s 2072nd Stated Meeting, was the second Annual David M. Rubenstein Lecture.

The collection explores new developments in the classics that are reshaping our understanding of the ancient world – and its relevance to today.

Recent Dædalus Issues Explore Mental Health as well as Language & Social Justice in the United States

In a Young Voices opinion piece, Alexandra Hudson cites recommendations in the Academy's report and calls for a “fourth founding” to help Americans renew love of country and one another.

2110th Stated Meeting | January 18, 2023 | Virtual Event | Morton L. Mandel Conversation

On April 18, 2024, Kwame Anthony Appiah received the Academy’s Don M. Randel Award for Humanistic Studies. Established in 1975 as the Award for Humanistic Studies and renamed in 2017 in honor of musicologist Don M. Randel, the award recognizes outstanding contributions to humanistic scholarship. The award ceremony included opening remarks from Academy President David W. Oxtoby, a reading of the prize citation by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., acceptance remarks from Professor Appiah, and a conversation between Professor Appiah and journalist Margaret Sullivan. An edited transcript of the program follows.

The report calls attention to the United States’ comparative decline in research investments over the past decade and offers recommendations for sustaining long-term thinking in science and technology policy, and for strengthening the partnership among government, universities, and industry.

The Academy, in conjunction with a consortium of national humanities organizations, will create a prototype set of indicators – statistical data about the people who work in the humanities and about the work they do – to provide a comprehensive picture of the state of the humanities in the United States, from primary to higher education to public humanities activities.

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.