Civil wars continue to be a frequent and debilitating phenomenon in international politics. Of the approximately 200 countries in the world, there are currently 30 civil wars underway, including several in which the U.S. military is directly and deeply enmeshed. In the twelve essays in this issue, the authors explore causative factors of civil war, the connection of intrastate strife and transnational terrorism, the limited successes and failed ambitions of intervening powers in the recent past, and the many direct and indirect consequences associated with weak states and civil wars, including the dangers posed by pandemics, mass migrations of people, and great-power proxy warfare.

Arts and sciences faculty sticks with a three-course-sequence foreign language requirement, even as other institutions shrink their language requirements.

Select Prizes and Awards to Members

When President Donald Trump signed the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in December 2019, the World Language Advancement and Readiness Act became the first piece of federal legislation in a generation that addressed the language needs of the nation.

We know what a novel is, but can we say the same about the novel? The Winter 2021 issue of Dædalus “On the Novel,” guest-edited by Michael Wood, features fourteen essays that, rather than surveying or summarizing the fate of the novel, offer remarkable insights into the behavior of this versatile literary form, glimpses of where and what it has been and where it may go in the future.

Representatives of the Initiative for Humanities and Culture's two major components—the Research Program and the Humanities Indicators Program—came together to refine and elaborate on their future plans and to learn about each other's progress.

There is a surge of outbreaks in vaccine-preventable diseases in the United States. What research is needed to reverse this trend?

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.

Academy member Denis Feeney has spent the last few years trying to understand why the Romans developed a literature in their Latin language, when the balance of historical probability was against this happening.

Librarian of the Congress James H. Billington, historian and scholar John Hope Franklin, and former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor will receive the Public Good Award from the two organizations in recognition of their significant contributions to the advancement of learning and knowledge.

The 2015 Induction Ceremony included presentations by five new members: Phil S. Baran, Patricia Smith Churchland, Roland G. Fryer, Jr., Sally Haslanger, and Darren Walker.

This essay by Chris Mooney cogently distills off-the-record workshops for experts from the scientific community and representatives of the public to explore how scientists currently understand their obligation to the broader social and cultural contexts in which their work is received, and to examine ways to improve engagement between the scientific and public communities.

The Academy holds virtual events as well as in-person events around the country and the world that bring members, representatives of the Affiliates, and others together to explore topics of national and global concern.

Noteworthy

A challenge facing the United States is how to combine the good and bad of our history into shared narratives. Telling Our Nation’s Story, one of the recommendations of the Academy’s Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship, calls for communities to work toward a common narrative by engaging in honest conversations about the past in order to reckon with what divides us while uncovering what unites us. Participants in this virtual program brought a regional approach to a conversation across the Research Triangle.

By Poul Erik Christiansen, former Raymond Frankel Nuclear Security Policy Fellow at the Academy

The Academy's report on strengthening democracy for 21st century America can be used as a playbook for "how we might regain our footing as citizens to renew the world’s oldest democracy," writes Daniel Stid.

Google Senior Fellow Jeffrey Dean; Installation artist Theaster Gates; Irish author Eavan Boland; philanthropist Edythe Broad; Aspen Institute's Walter Isaacson among new members