By Kathryn Moffat, Senior Program Officer for Global Security and International Affairs at the Academy

The Academy holds events virtually as well as in person around the country and the world that bring members, representatives of the Affiliates, and others together to explore topics of national and global concern. Academy President David W. Oxtoby provided opening remarks for most of the meetings listed below.

Recent Dædalus Issues Explore Mental Health as well as Language & Social Justice in the United States

National commission to undertake data-driven examination of opportunities and challenges in U.S. higher education. Initiative receives $2.2 million in funding from Carnegie Corporation of New York.

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.

Rice University, in collaboration with the Houston Program Committee of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, hosted a panel discussion on climate action featuring academy members and guests March 18 at the Ralph S. O'Connor Building for Engineering and Science.

Miranda Restovic and Sarah DeBacher of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities describes their organization’s efforts to bring rich, humanities-focused educational experiences to preschoolers, thereby expanding the traditional understanding of what a humanities organization does—and for whom.

On February 4, 2015, Andrea Roth and Franklin Zimring participated in a conversation at the University of California, Berkeley, on police use of lethal force against civilians.

The coronavirus pandemic is nothing less than an “existential crisis” that will reshape American society, says Danielle Allen, cochair of Academy Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship. What needs to happen for America’s civic life to be reborn?

Although declarations and prophesies of doom for the humanities abound, they provide no consistent facts about the current or past situation of the collection of academic interests loosely defined as the humanities. The Academy is trying to provide a body of information and of ideas that will support intellectual community and intellectual action.

On Wednesday, the 19th of February of 1800 at 11:00 A.M., the Academy met pursuant to adjournment at the Senate Chamber of the Old State House and from there went in procession, at 12 o’clock, to the Meeting House on Brattle Street where a Eulogy on General George Washington was pronounced before the Academy by Dr. John Davis, Recording Secretary.

The Academy partnered with iCivics to host a virtual panel event featuring General Jim Mattis, Louise Dube, and Danielle Allen on the link between civics education and national security.

John Kaag describes his time as a Visiting Scholar at the Academy (2007-2008).

Guest edited by Archie Brown, the Summer 2016 issue of Dædalus offers insight into the character and quality of effective political leadership.

Select Prizes and Awards to Members

For the third time in our long history as an independent republic – the Civil War, the Civil Rights movement, and now this movement of civil unrest – we see the possibility of real progress in escaping the long shadow of White Supremacy in our country that dates back to its beginnings. The Academy was founded, as was our nation, during the Enlightenment, a moment in which prominent thinkers and philosophers – including Thomas Jefferson – codified notions of racial difference and hierarchy, the bedrock of White Supremacy and racism. These ideas, intrinsic in our national story, are embedded in our institutional history as well, and we certainly cannot advance if we refuse to have frank conversations about the past and the present of racism in our country.

As part of its Making Justice Accessible project, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences hosted a summit in March 2024 to bring together a diverse group of participants to address the civil justice gap.

Expanding national service to more young people is one tangible investment we can make in strengthening our republic and the ties that bind us together as a people. This op-ed looks at one of the recommendations from the Our Common Purpose report: to create a universal expectation of national service.

A new report from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences challenges preconceptions about the public face of science.

The gap between the richest and poorest communities in the United States has grown significantly, as have differences in population growth, business development, and economic insecurity. The Academy explored this issue with in a conversation with entrepreneur Reid G. Hoffman, sociologist Katherine S. Newman, and founder of End Poverty in California Michael D. Tubbs. The event was inspired by the work of the Academy’s Commission on Reimagining Our Economy and its recommendations to build a people-first economy that ensures no Americans and no communities are left behind.