Richard Saller, Elaine Treharne, Franco Moretti, Joshua Cohen, and Michael A. Keller discussed the humanities in the context of rapidly developing new technologies.

While COVID-19 cases and mortality surged in spring and summer 2020, the U.S. government seemed to lack the capacity to respond. Mixed messaging and insufficient testing, ventilators, personal protective equipment, and contact tracing raised disturbing questions about the will of the executive and the health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But were these challenges particular to the pandemic? Or, as one author asks in the newest issue of Dædalus, “is the failed pandemic response a symptom of a diseased administrative state?”

This fall the Academy Archives embarks on a new project to clean, repair, rehouse, and digitize many important documents from the Academy's early years, as well as a unique collection of records to related to the family of Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford.

On March 30, 2025, the Academy’s Chicago Committee hosted an event for members and guests that explored the role of cultural organizations and the communities they serve. The program featured Leah A. Dickerman (The Museum of Modern Art) and Oskar Eustis (The Public Theater) in conversation with Academy President Laurie L. Patton. An edited transcript of the program follows.

Across many dimensions, U.S.-China relations are under strain. Amid ongoing debates about tariffs, rare earth minerals, technology, and Taiwan, one challenge stands out: nuclear risk fueled by increasing nuclear competition and a lack of risk reduction mechanisms. China currently has an estimated six hundred nuclear warheads and that number is expected to reach one thousand by 2030. At the same time, global nuclear risks are rising as the arms control regime weakens, with countries withdrawing from treaties and the last remaining U.S.-Russia treaty set to expire in February 2026. Adding to the tension, in October 2025, President Donald Trump ordered the resumption of nuclear weapons testing prior to a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jingping. Without an arms control agreement or risk reduction measures between the United States and China, experts warn of a potential arms race and the risk that overreaction or crisis escalation could lead to nuclear conflict.

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

Institutions are critical to our personal and societal well-being. They facilitate relationships; they regulate behavior. They develop and disseminate knowledge, enforce the law, keep us healthy, and uphold social and religious norms.

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

Citing Academy report "America's Languages," Kathleen Stein-Smith explores the increasing scarcity of foreign language classes and teachers.

From the Archives

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

Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman, elected to the Academy in 2022, have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2023. They shared insights into their pioneering work on mRNA vaccines in an Academy conversation earlier this year.

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences has named Victor Seow the recipient of its Sarton Prize for the History of Science, recognizing his exceptional promise and distinguished achievements as an emerging scholar in the field.

The Academy hosted a meeting at the University of Chicago on the benefits and risks of nuclear, biological, and information technologies. The speakers included Robert Rosner, James M. Acton, Elisa D. Harris, and Herbert Lin.

The 2011 Induction weekend included a symposium on American Institutions and a Civil Society, which featured two panel discussions: The American Military and American Democracy and The Constitution, the Practice of Democracy, and Unintended Consequences.

Sterling Speirn served on the 35-member Academy commission and talks about his life's work and this initiative of "civic, cultural and political reforms that could inspire a democratic renaissance at this crucial moment."

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.

Essays explore Russia under Vladimir Putin and the prospects for significant political changes today and in a post-Putin era.