Weekend events include panel discussions on the Constitution (with retired Associate Supreme Court Justice David Souter) and the American Military (with Maj. Gen. Gregg Martin, Commandant, U.S. Army War College)

American Academy Journal Dædalus examines race in America today. Twenty-two prominent social scientists examine “Race, Inequality, and Culture,” considering topics ranging from education and family support to racial identity, politics, employment, immigration, and the influence of hip hop.

The humanities, arts, and culture are woven through virtually every Academy program, where artists and humanists add interdisciplinary breadth to projects in science, democracy, and security. However, the Academy also undertakes projects that put humanities, arts, and culture at the forefront, strengthening their practice and highlighting their importance to all aspects of the nation’s thriving intellectual life. These projects call attention to the role the arts and humanities play in enriching the growth and vitality of individuals, communities, and the nation.

In 2015, the American Musicological Society gave the Noah Greenberg Award to musicologist Jessie Ann Owens and the vocal ensemble Blue Heron, directed by Scott Metcalfe, for their project to produce the world premiere recording of Cipriano de Rore’s landmark I madrigali a cinque voci (Venice, 1542). On May 3, 2018, Owens spoke at the Academy about Cipriano’s music; following her presentation, Blue Heron performed a selection of madrigals drawn from his 1542 publication.

The conference on local initiatives strengthening democracy convened mayors, city councilors, county executives, and other local government officials - along with scholars and experts – to engage on topics including ranked choice voting in local elections, civic learning and engagement, clean elections programs, mechanisms to expand citizen participation, investment in healthy civic infrastructure, and more.

Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy hosted a Civic Scientist Lecture on the Academy's recent report.

The closing program of the Academy’s 2024 Induction weekend featured a presentation by new member André Fenton about the science and stimuli of memory, followed by a conversation with incoming Academy President Laurie L. Patton. An edited transcript of the presentation and conversation follows.

In this Washington Post column, Danielle Allen identifies state ballot initiatives that can help Americans rebuild a civic culture of commitment to one another and our democracy.

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.

The Academy’s founders understood well the dangers of concentrated power and authoritarian rule. They recognized that a representative government needs checks and balances, the separation of powers, individual rights, and an independent judiciary–“a government of laws, not of men,” in the words of John Adams, one of the Academy’s founders. They also grasped the essential role of free inquiry in sustaining democracy, as well as the importance of liberty as a precondition for the pursuit of knowledge. That vision is captured in the Academy’s seal and motto, Sub Libertate Florent: the arts and sciences “flourish under freedom.”

Noteworthy section from the Winter 2016 issue of The Bulletin.

A new publication, which emerged from the Academy's Our Common Purpose work, proposes alternatives to the “winner-take-all” system used in most U.S. elections. The proposed alternatives have the potential to reduce partisan divides and virtually eliminate gerrymandering.

The Global Security and International Affairs program area draws on the expertise of policy-makers, practitioners, and scholars to foster knowledge and inform innovative and more substantial policies that address crucial issues affecting the global community. Projects underway in this area engage with pressing strategic, development, and moral questions that underpin relations among people, communities, and states worldwide. Each initiative embraces a broad conception of security as the interaction among human, national, and global security imperatives. Project recommendations move beyond the idea of security as the absence of war toward higher aspirations of collective peace, development, and justice.

On January 29, 2026, the Academy’s San Diego Committee, in partnership with the San Diego Natural History Museum, organized a discussion on the importance of science in our everyday lives and its impact on our future. The program featured Rommie Amaro (University of California, San Diego) and J. Craig Venter (J. Craig Venter Institute) in conversation with Peter Cowhey (University of California, San Diego). Judy Gradwohl (San Diego Natural History Museum) and M. Margaret McKeown (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit) provided welcome remarks. An edited transcript of the program follows.

The connection between humans and creativity can be altered dramatically by the advancement of technology, specifically the power of artificial intelligence to generate art. This Academy discussion explored the implications of art produced using AI as it relates to authenticity, creativity, and joy.

Announcing the six universities awarded $250,000 as part of the inaugural Modernizing Academic Appointment & Advancement (MA3) Challenge. This new cohort of university awardees will implement bold institutional reforms to faculty hiring, evaluation, promotion, and tenure systems. 

An evening program at the Congressional Visitors Center in Washington, D.C., featured Commission Cochairs John W. Rowe and Richard H. Brodhead; Commission members David Brooks, Karl W. Eikenberry, Pauline Yu, and John Lithgow; Senators Lamar Alexander and Mark Warner; and Congressmen Tom Petri and David Price.

Notice received through November 1, 2021

Is jazz a relic of the past, or does it continue to have meaning and influence for today’s artists and audiences? And while it may still be present, does it still matter? The Spring 2019 issue of Dædalus, “Why Jazz Still Matters,” explores that very question.