The new issue of Daedalus, the journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, explores the loss of trust in experts and institutions: what are the causes and consequences of the loss of confidence and can they be reversed?

A new report provides data and insights about how Americans engage in the humanities and what their views are on the benefits of pursuits such as studying or participating in activities related to art history, languages, literature, history, and philosophy.

One of the most notable developments in American academic life of the past sixty years has been intellectual renewal where it might have been least expected: among evangelical Christians.

In November 2003 the people of the former Soviet state of Georgia forced a revolutionary change in leadership to establish a new government under President Mikhail Saakashvili. “Statehood and Security: Georgia after the Rose Revolution,” a new book from the American Academy, analyzes the security problems that confront this new government and the greater Caucasus region.

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

2020–2021 Academy Governance & Committees

New analysis from the Academy's Humanities Indicators project shows dramatic decreases in open positions for professors. Health professions faculty jobs, once equal in number to those in humanities, now far outnumber them.

The Winter 2022 issue of Daedalus, "Creating a New Moral Political Economy," explores what it would take to develop an economy that promotes more equal footing across the polity, marketplace, and workplace. Daedalus is an open access publication and all 11 essays and 22 responses are online.

The American public holds the humanities in high regard, and most people engage in one or more humanistic activities at work and in their leisure hours, according to a recent national survey by the Academy’s Humanities Indicators project. The survey, conducted with generous funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, asked 5,015 Americans age eighteen and older who participate in NORC at the University of Chicago’s nationally representative AmeriSpeak Panel about their engagement in a variety of humanistic activities, as well as their beliefs about the personal, societal, and economic benefits of the humanities.

Governance & Committees, 2021–2022

Geoffrey R. Stone moderated a conversation with journalist Judith Miller, Judge Richard A. Posner, and author Gabriel Schoenfeld about the balance between freedom of the press and national security. Each panelist offered his or her perspective on bridging legal and ethical issues.

Scientists and the journalists who cover their research approach their roles from very different perspectives, yet they depend on each other to keep the public informed about scientific issues. Science and the Media, a new volume from the American Academy, examines this dynamic though a series of essays by scientists, journalists, and public relations specialists.

Local Program Committees and Representatives bring members together to connect with the Academy and each other in the communities where they live.

Local Program Committees and Representatives bring members together to connect with the Academy and each other in the communities where they live.

The new national dashboard released by the Academy's Commission on Reimagining Our Economy, the CORE Score, is mined for data about Massachusetts in this piece by WGBH. The coverage also connects the wellbeing assessed in the CORE Score to recommendations in the Commission's final report.

The unfortunate events at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in March 2011 have raised serious issues for the world community. For countries with plans to develop nuclear energy programs, this incident highlights the need to determine the scope and adequacy of nuclear liability coverage in the event of a nuclear accident.

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences was founded by visionaries who foresaw that the nascent republic would benefit from the expertise of learned citizens to guide its development, health, and integrity through whatever challenges may arise.

By Poul Erik Christiansen, former Raymond Frankel Nuclear Security Policy Fellow at the Academy