The American Academy of Arts & Sciences hosted a distinguished group of judges, attorneys, human rights specialists, and academics to discuss whether an International Anti-Corruption Court (IACC) would contribute to global peace and security and, if so, how it might be established.

While many discussions in America are now focused on accountability versus unity, a concept that belongs in conversations about how America can recover from a divisive election, devastating pandemic, and long history of racial injustice is empathy. At a virtual Stated Meeting, Sherry Turkle (MIT) and Eric Liu (Citizen University) joined Academy President David Oxtoby in a conversation about what empathy looks like in an increasingly digital world, the search for authentic connections at a time of isolation and disunion, and the role authentic connection can play in repairing our civic culture.

Projects in the Education program area inform policy and practice that support high-quality, educational opportunities for all Americans. Building on the Academy’s commitment to the vital role that education and knowledge development play in our nation and world, the program area engages scholars and practitioners from a range of fields and disciplines to examine the conditions that foster the creation, transfer, and preservation of knowledge throughout our society.

An examination of the financial advantage earning a bachelor’s degree, in any major, provides over not attaining the degree.

Since 1780, the Academy has advocated for the importance of the humanities, arts, and culture in American society, and has called on both private citizens and the nation’s government to help foster advances in these areas. Today, the Academy conducts research and develops policy recommendations to advance the humanities in academic scholarship and in the public sector, to display the importance of the arts in society, and to enrich the nation’s cultural life. By bringing together scholars, artists, and leaders from both the public and private sectors, Academy programs in The Humanities, Arts, and Culture put practitioners and scholars in conversation with individuals from other disciplines, ensuring that the arts and humanities are valued in all areas of civic life. Projects in this area demonstrate the value of the arts, humanities, and culture to the nation’s security and prosperity, and call attention to the role played by work in these fields to enriching the health of communities and the daily lives of its citizens.

Authors Stephen B. Heintz and Pete Peterson, coming from different sides of the political aisle, agree that term limits for Supreme Court Justices is a way to depoliticize the process and strengthen faith in democratic institutions.

An event with Professor Akhil Amar, Professor Charles Fried, journalist Kimberly Atkins Stohr, Fix the Court Executive Director Gabe Roth, and Judge Patti Saris focused on the new report from the Academy's bipartisan U.S. Supreme Court Working Group in favor of Supreme Court Term Limits.

Sandy Baum and Michael McPherson, members of the Academy's Commission on the Future of Undergraduate Education, write that the recent college admissions scandal represents a small fraction of college admissions and should not distract from persistent inequalities in higher education access.

Free speech makes no distinction about quality; academic freedom does. Are all opinions equally valid in a university classroom? Joan Wallach Scott speaks about academic freedom after accepting the Talcott Parsons Prize.

An Academy discussion was an opportunity for an interdisciplinary exploration of how artificial intelligence (AI) could change healthcare delivery. Topics included AI's efficacy in healthcare delivery, responsibility for care provided by AI, and challenges and opportunities for the future of caregiving.

A new report on a survey by the American Academy seeks to begin a process of informing academics on how to respond to anti-intellectual trends. Its key finding is that any attempt to lump together the doubters of science on the many important subjects will impair an effective response.

Academy Publications

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

As Board Chair Nancy Andrews notes in her message, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect every aspect of Academy life. Yet despite the challenges of the last eighteen months, by nearly every measure the strength of our community of members has only increased.

A transcript from an interdisciplinary panel discussion on the importance of creativity in science, with participants highlighting how creativity and imagination fuel scientific discovery and how science inspires artistic expression. The conversation followed the presentation of the Rumford Prize to Andrea Ghez by Laurie Patton.

William H. Gates, Sr., Frank Thomson Leighton, Carolyn R. Bertozzi, and Michael Wood Speak at Induction Ceremony Sherrill Milnes Performs

First of five publications examines "Public Research Universities: Why They Matter."