Few need to be told that the academic humanities have been beset by challenges over the past fifteen years, but the evidence tends to be scattered. To provide a clearer picture of the state of the field, the Academy’s Humanities Indicators project recently released the results from a new national survey of humanities departments in fourteen humanities and humanities-adjacent disciplines, the fourth such survey since 2008. Drawing on responses from more than two thousand department chairs, the report demonstrates both the challenges the field experiences today and the resilience of many departments in the face of those difficulties.

May R. Berenbaum presented at the fall Stated Meeting of the Midwest Center of the American Academy. The talk was a condensed and popularized version of her paper titled "Animal-Plant Warfare: Molecular Basis for Cytochrome P450-Mediated Natural Adaptation."

Now is the moment to think about the people, places, and practices of democracy, write Hollie Russon Gilman, Darshan Goux, and Elizabeth Youngling in this op-ed.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has unleashed a humanitarian catastrophe, but Ukraine is only the most visible example of contemporary conflicts subjecting populations to systematic violence and depriving them of life-saving humanitarian assistance. In Ethiopia, Sudan, Yemen, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the eroding purchase of international humanitarian law, combined with intensifying geopolitical competition and the rapidly changing character of modern warfare, have put enormous strain on humanitarian actors. An issue of Daedalus explores the conflicts and the implications.

Select Prizes and Awards to Members

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.

This has been an extraordinary year, marked by a historic pandemic, bitter political strife, and unsettling civil unrest, and capped by a presidential election unlike any before. The new administration faces daunting challenges—uniting a deeply divided country, marshaling science and public health expertise to quell the coronavirus pandemic, improving relationships with international allies, striving for racial equity, addressing climate change, and making our economy work for all citizens. Members of the American Academy will play important roles in these efforts, both through public service and through the work of our organization. I believe we are as relevant and important now as at any other mo­ment over the past two hundred and forty years.

At the 302nd Meeting of the Academy on December 7, 1847, an Academy committee submitted its opinions on the proposed plan for the Smithsonian Institution...

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.

Henri was a highly respected business leader and entrepreneur, greatly admired for his energetic engagement in biotechnology, community, service, and philanthropy.

Nearly all of the 190 signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) agree that the 42-year-old treaty is fragile and in need of fundamental reform. But gaining consensus on how to fix the NPT will require reconciling the sharply differing views of nuclear weapons states and non-nuclear weapons states, according to a paper released today by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Strengthening the international rules is increasingly important as dozens of countries, including some with unstable political environments, explore nuclear energy.

The Committee on Studies and Publications supports the Academy’s Council by regularly reviewing and advising on projects, considering topics for future studies, and evaluating publications, including Dædalus. Committee members from a broad range of disciplines and professions share their expertise on projects that explore critical issues, advance discussion on central questions, and offer solutions to both national and international challenges.

Science in America is facing a moment of deep uncertainty. A changing political landscape, reduced federal support, and growing public skepticism are creating serious challenges for the science research community. Alongside long-standing problems such as rampant misinformation and growing tensions with research-conducting institutions, distrust in science has made the role of science in a democratic society even more uncertain. To address these challenges, the Academy is examining what it will take to strengthen public trust in science and support science’s essential role in civic life.

At an event cosponsored by the American Academy and Resources for the Future about lessons learned from the Clean Air Act, former congressman Henry Waxman is realistic about the obstacles presented by congressional Republicans and the Trump administration.

A working group of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences has published a call-to-action featuring nearly 200 endorsements.

Kathryn Palmer examines key findings from the latest Humanities Indicators report, which shows that humanities majors outearn people with no degree, as faculty across the nation make the case for continued funding of the humanities.

The Academy convened leaders from its Affiliates network for a candid, forward-looking discussion about how lessons learned from the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic might inform the future of higher education. The event provided an opportunity for the participants – university presidents and chancellors, provosts, deans, faculty, and other administrators from over forty American colleges and universities – to gather, share ideas, and make sense of a challenging year.

In December 2002, three months before the U.S. invasion, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences published a report speculating on the political, military, and economic consequences of a possible war with Iraq.

Recent surveys administered by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Alliance for Museums, Americans for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts show that U.S. cultural institutions enjoy strong public approval. However, despite that high regard, studies reveal a decline in engagement with many of these institutions, particularly since the pandemic.