Reflections from Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on Receiving the Don M. Randel Award for Humanistic Studies

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

An update on state legislative and regulatory activities concerning independent citizen-redistricting commissions.

Danielle Allen, who cochairs the Academy's bipartisan Commission on democratic citizenship, writes "We need a new social compact." In this column, she writes about why it's time and what it might include - with examples drawn from the Commission's report Our Common Purpose.

"Science & the Legal System," the Fall 2018 issue of Dædalus, Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, features thirteen essays on topics including the state of the forensic sciences, expert testimony in court, the role of science in abortion law, neuroscience and law, and reforms to the U.S. adversarial system.

A protracted debate within the Academy over Darwin’s Origin of Species began with a paper on Japanese flora presented by Asa Gray in 1858, leading to an exchange between Louis Agassiz and William Barton Rogers...

The American Academy of Arts & Sciences presented the Scholar-Patriot Award to acclaimed cellist and humanist Yo-Yo Ma in recognition of his lifetime achievements as a musician, educator, and champion of multicultural understanding.

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Financial Statements

ARISE II cochair Keith Yamamoto argues that knocking down boundaries between scientific disciplines would reveal great new opportunities; indeed, a new game.

Barbara J. Meyer accepts the Francis Amory Prize and gives a brief presentation about the fundamentals of sex and death.

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After 238 years, there are not that many “firsts” left for the American Academy of Arts and Sciences to achieve. Yet on November 29, 2018, the Academy found one, hosting its first jazz performance at its headquarters in Cambridge.

Noteworthy

The American Academy of Arts & Sciences named Toni Morrison as the recipient of the 2016 Emerson-Thoreau Medal for her distinguished achievement in the field of literature. Established in 1958, the medal is awarded to an individual for his or her total literary achievement rather than for a specific work.