On September 17, 2015, at the Silver Center of Arts and Science at New York University, Matthew S. Santirocco moderated a panel discussion featuring Kevin Guthrie, Daphne Koller, and Nicholas Lemann.

What does it mean to conduct responsible, ethical, and constructive social research within the Middle East and North Africa and around the world? For decades, social scientists who work in and on the Middle East have confronted the ethical complexities of working with research participants, partners, and colleagues who are at risk. Conflict, autocracy, censorship, poverty, inequality, disciplinary imperatives, and institutional interests all shape research opportunities and agendas in ways that may imperil careers, livelihoods, and even lives.

On May 7, 2019, John Palfrey spoke about the intersection between a growing commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and the tradition of free expression on school campuses. Martha Minow participated in a conversation with John Palfrey following his opening remarks.

Members Elected in 2025, by Class & Section

Report urges sustained federal investments in research and offers recommendations on rejuvenating the American dream.

On October 1, 2011, the American Academy inducted its 231st class of Fellows and Foreign Honorary Members at a ceremony held in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The ceremony included presentations by five new members: Frances Hamilton Arnold, David Conrad Page, Sir Adam Roberts, Annette Gordon-Reed, and William I. Miller.

Judith Resnik, Jonathan Lippman, Carol S. Steiker, Susan S. Silbey, Jamal Greene, and Linda Greenhouse participated in a conversation on the function of courts in the United States.

A new interagency partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) will support the American Academy of Arts & Sciences’ Humanities Indicators project to assess the size and health of the nonprofit humanities, arts, and cultural sectors.

What are the lessons learned when community college leaders, researchers, area employers, policymakers and philanthropists get together to discuss how to provide postsecondary students with the skills they need for meaningful employment?

On April 30, 2024, the Academy hosted a virtual event that featured four contributors to the Dædalus volume on “Understanding Implicit Bias: Insights & Innovations”—guest editors Goodwin Liu (California Supreme Court) and Camara Phyllis Jones (King’s College London) and authors Jennifer Eberhardt (Stanford University) and Frank Dobbin (Harvard University)—who discussed some of the strategies and solutions to understand and combat implicit bias. The program included welcoming remarks from Academy President David W. Oxtoby. An edited transcript of the event follows.

Select Prizes and Awards to Members

How might social research contribute to a retreat from mass incarceration, make the world fairer, and promote alternatives to punishment that help communities become safer and healthier? In a presentation at the Academy, Bruce Western explored this topic and the implications of mass incarceration for racial and economic inequality.

On April 13, 2023, the Academy presented its Talcott Parsons Prize for distinguished and original contributions to the social sciences to Robert D. Putnam. First awarded in 1974, the Talcott Parsons Prize was established to honor the noted sociologist and former president of the Academy. Previous recipients of the prize include William David Labov (linguistics), Joan Wallach Scott (history), Daniel Kahneman (psychology), and William Julius Wilson (sociology).

This online data set – the first of its kind – attracted extensive attention in the news media and in the blogosphere and the website received more than 250,000 hits originating from 38 countries. The prototype includes 74 indicators and more than 200 tables and charts.

Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post presents the recommendations in “Our Common Purpose” on social media and disinformation as key to restoring American democracy.

This online data set – the first of its kind – attracted extensive attention in the news media and in the blogosphere and the website received more than 250,000 hits originating from 38 countries. The prototype includes 74 indicators and more than 200 tables and charts.