The new issue of Dædalus features 18 “emerging voices” – essays on a variety of topics as well as poems by five winners of the Academy’s Poetry Prize in Honor of May Sarton. The essays draw from anthropology, philosophy, political science, and history, and take up both theoretical and practical issues.
On December 4, 2015, at the Georgetown University Law Center, the Academy hosted a panel discussion on “The Crisis in Legal Education” with Louis Michael Seidman, Robert A. Katzmann, Philip G. Schrag, Robin L. West, and Patricia D. White.
Frances McCall Rosenbluth, one of the Academy’s most dedicated members, died in New Haven on November 20, 2021, at age 63. Rosenbluth, the Damon Wells Professor of Political Science at Yale University, had been dealing admirably with glioblastoma for the past year.
Prefatory note from Academy President Jonathan Fanton in the Bulletin inviting members to read about the work of the Academy and hoping they discover that members are engaged in the “positive programs” that Howard Mumford Jones imagined.
Members of the Catalyst Collaborative@MIT performed a staged reading of Paradise, a play by Laura Maria Censabella. The program included a panel discussion featuring Paula T. Hammond, Rebecca Saxe, and Saba Valadkhan.
In my previous message, I discussed how – despite the challenges of the pandemic – our community of members has remained active and engaged in the life of the Academy. During the past year, our virtual events reached more audiences in more places than ever before. Our project work continued unabated, including the release of Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century and the development of new major projects on climate change and inequality. And despite great uncertainty, our members came together to produce a record-breaking fundraising year.
Communities with strong civic infrastructure engender greater civic engagement and a sense of belonging. Stephen Heintz, cochair of the American Academy’s Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship, argues that philanthropy should lead in funding projects across the country that would connect people to their neighbors, communities, and government institutions.
Academy member and Indiana University President Michael McRobbie urges institutions to expand their language offerings and enhance global awareness, citing Academy report on "America's Languages."
Tenured faculty must get vocally involved at every level of governance in the ways that our institutions hire, compensate and retain educators, argues Carolyn Betensky.
It is with profound sadness that I note the death on October 10, 2014, of Robert W. Fri, my cochair on the Academy’s Alternative Energy Future project.
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.
The Summer 2020 issue of Dædalus, “Religion & Democracy,” guest-edited by Robert Audi, takes on the challenge of outlining standards that balance respect for both religion and democracy, and provide for their mutual flourishing. The volume addresses both institutional questions and the ethics of citizenship as bearing on how individuals, religious or not, may best regard their role in the political system in which they live.
A timely Academy briefing about Iran for congressional staff. Topics discussed included Iran's nuclear program, regime protests, and regional instability.
On April 12, 2012, North Korea unsuccessfully launched a long-range missile that was intended to carry an Earth observation satellite into space. North Korea fired the long-range test rocket in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions and an agreement with the United States. On the eve of the launch, the Academy convened leading North Korea experts to discuss the broader geopolitical and nonproliferation implications of North Korea’s nuclear program.
Projects in the Education program area examine the vital role that education plays in our nation and the world. Work in this area seeks to inform policy and practice in support of high-quality educational opportunities for all Americans. From advancing equitable educational outcomes to leveraging new developments in the learning sciences and digital technologies to understanding the vital role that public universities play as engines of economic growth, innovation, social mobility, and citizenship, projects in this area draw on scholars and practitioners from diverse fields to provide guidance and actionable solutions to policymakers, higher education leaders, and philanthropists.
The bipartisan Building Civic Bridges Act was reintroduced for consideration during the 119th Congress. The legislation, which aims to heal political polarization within communities, was initially introduced for consideration during the 117th Congress and was inspired in part by recommendations in the Academy’s Our Common Purpose report.
