On March 6, 2019, Douglas E. Soltis and Pamela S. Soltis spoke at the Academy about a project that harnesses algorithm development, computer power, and DNA sequencing to create a comprehensive visual Tree of Life. The program, which served as the 2079th Stated Meeting of the Academy, included a welcome from President David W. Oxtoby and an introduction from Scott Vernon Edwards.

Ira Katznelson and Samuel Issacharoff discussed the state of security and freedom and the role of fear in a modern democracy.

On May 15, 2014, at the Academy’s 2008th Stated Meeting, five experts discussed how institutions protect against the threat of nuclear terrorism.

The Humanities Indicators, a project of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, is a nationally recognized source of nonpartisan information about the humanities. The Indicators are available to the public. The information provided is used by journalists and decision-makers to understand and convey the state of the humanities for a range of audiences and purposes—including an array of examples compiled here.

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.

On February 13, 2019, Anthony Abraham Jack (Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows, Assistant Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and the Shutzer Assistant Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study) spoke at a gathering of Academy Members and guests about his new book, The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges are Failing Disadvantaged Students. The program, which served as the 2078th Stated Meeting of the Academy, included a welcome from David W. Oxtoby (President of the Academy) and an introduction from Bridget Terry Long (Dean of the Faculty of Education and Saris Professor of Education and Economics at the Harvard Graduate School of Education). Danielle Allen (James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University and Director of Harvard’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics) participated in a conversation with Anthony Jack following his opening remarks. An edited version of his remarks and of his conversation with Danielle Allen appears below.

Jack Fuller reflects on the speeches of Edward H. Levi, who "helped restore the belief that the Department of Justice was committed to the rule of law" and served as President of the American Academy from 1986-1989.

At the National Press Club, members of the Academy's language commission met for a public discussion of their answers. Commission member Rubén Rumbaut, offered the core of the commission’s framing, “Ironically, despite the diversity of American languages, the United States has acquired the dubious designation of being a language graveyard...we have immigrants and children of immigrants not passing on their language skills.”

In a forum essay, the HULA team (Danielle Allen, Maggie Schein, Christopher Pupik Dean, and David Kidd) describes its work, which start in the education sector but are now being extended to public humanities projects.

Public Face of Science project will develop new assessments of public interactions with science, technology, medicine.

From the Archives

As part of the Academy’s 2017 Induction weekend, Kathryn D. Sullivan discussed her experiences as a NASA astronaut and participated in a conversation with David M. Rubenstein.

Caregiving is essential to the health and well-being of society. It is also a fundamental human experience: almost all of us will care for others and be cared for during our lives.

Norm Augustine and Neal Lane, cochairs of Academy project on “New Models for U.S. Science and Technology Policy,” argue for a coherent national roadmap to strengthen U.S. R&D, basic research in particular, and to drive American innovation throughout the 21st century.

Timothy J. Colton and George Breslauer gave a presentation on “Russia Beyond Putin,” the subject of the upcoming Spring 2017 issue of Dædalus.

On October 6, 2012, the American Academy inducted its 232nd class of Fellows and Foreign Honorary Members at a ceremony held in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The ceremony featured historical readings by Daniel Day-Lewis, new member Bonnie Berger, and Tom Leighton. It also included presentations by five new members: Steven H. Strogatz, Margaret J. McFall-Ngai, Maureen E. Mahoney, David Blight, and Penny Pritzker. The ceremony concluded with a memorable performance by Thomas Hampson (baritone).

As global temperatures rise and extreme weather events become more common, nations face unprecedented safety and security challenges. While communities strive to protect themselves from the harmful impacts of climate change, each measure taken to increase perceived safety can have unintended consequences. As we surpass the 1.5°C threshold outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement, the question remains: how can we ensure that our short-term security goals are aligned with climate scientists’ mitigation recommendations?

The conference on local initiatives strengthening democracy convened mayors, city councilors, county executives, and other local government officials - along with scholars and experts – to engage on topics including ranked choice voting in local elections, civic learning and engagement, clean elections programs, mechanisms to expand citizen participation, investment in healthy civic infrastructure, and more.

William G. Thomas III, Anne Cong-Huyen, Angel David Nieves, and Jessica Marie Johnson engaged in a panel discussion on pedagogy in undergraduate digital humanities classrooms. The discussion, which was presented in collaboration with Emory University, was moderated by Erika Farr. Stephen G. Nichols and G. Wayne Clough provided national perspectives as respondents to the panel.

In the early 1800s, the Academy received reports of a sea serpent, described as 60 to 100 feet long, in what is now Maine’s Penobscot Bay. In 1810, upon hearing that the reports had been lost, minister and politician Alden Bradford, with the assistance of Lemuel Weeks, collected and presented to the Academy sworn statements of witnesses. In doing so, Bradford acknowledged, “Accounts of this sort, I am aware, should be received with caution.”