Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post presents the recommendations in “Our Common Purpose” on social media and disinformation as key to restoring American democracy.

After the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, and the nationwide unrest that followed, Academy President David Oxtoby shared some thoughts with staff about the Academy's responsibility to do more to recognize and address racism in America.

On November 22, 1788, the General Court of Massachusetts approved the Academy’s petition to hold a public lottery. Proceeds would go toward the purchase of a unique, grand model of the solar system for Harvard College.

Commentary in the Berkshire Eagle by Binyamin Appelbaum, a member of the New York Times's editorial board, considers ways to address the power possessed by the owners of social media sites. Options presented include a recommendation for a public-interest mandate from the Academy's Our Common Purpose report.

In a single year, 55 million Americans might face 260 million legal problems, such as fighting eviction threats from landlords, dealing with overwhelming medical bills from an unexpected illness that could lead to bankruptcy, or seeking assistance to escape abusive domestic situations. Yet only some Americans recognize that these problems are matters of civil justice. And even fewer have access to available, afford­able, and quality legal support needed to resolve these problems. This is the civil justice gap: the disparity between the legal needs of Americans and the resources available to meet those needs.

Patricia Meyer Spacks reflects on the life and work of Mary Maples Dunn, co-director of the Visiting Scholars Program at the American Academy.

Select Prizes and Awards to Members

Jotwell examines Aaron Nielson’s Dædalus essay, “Deconstruction (Not Destruction),” which reinterprets deconstruction in the “more technical sense of examining the administrative state to identify where theory and reality diverge and what can be done to fix it.”

Language immersion is needed to help address global challenges, yet U.S. citizens are falling behind. Nicholas B. Dirks, member of the Academy's Commission on Language Learning, offers his commentary.

When Daniel Barron (Brigham and Women's Hospital) delivered a keynote address at an event with the National Association of Social Workers, he proposed ways to approach the use of AI to help social workers advance innovation without compromising compassion.

One of the most important and defining features of the Academy’s modern era is the journal Dædalus. In its first issue as a quarterly publication in Winter 1958, Editor Gerald Holton stated that the journal would be “a medium through which leading scholars in all fields can address one another.” Each issue would focus on a single theme or subject, encompassing over the long run the full range of scholarly interests: the humanities, the sciences, the social sciences, and public affairs. The rationale for Dædalus was to fill a void created by the success of specialization that made communication between members of different disciplines and fields increasingly difficult.

Clear and precise communication is more crucial than ever before to the health and security of every nation. Four academies have joined together with the American Academy to sign a document in support of language education.

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences was founded in 1780, during the American Revolution, to provide guidance to a young nation. Throughout its 241-year history, the Academy’s leadership has seldom issued organizational statements, preferring to have its projects, studies, publications, and convenings present the best available thinking about the topics in question. However, when a situation arises – like climate change – that profoundly threatens the world, a call to action from the Academy’s Board of Directors is appropriate.

Nuclear intelligence isn’t just for government agencies anymore. A motley crew of outside watchdogs has found creative ways to deter proliferation. Amy Zegart addresses the rise of "nuclear sleuths" in this preview of her essay that will appear in the first publication of Meeting the Challenges of the New Nuclear Age: Deterrence and New Nuclear States.

It is with deep sadness that the Academy notes the passing of business leader, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and dedicated public servant Morton L. Mandel on October 16, 2019, at the age of 98.

New digital technologies are exacerbating inequality. Citing authors and essays from the Academy’s latest issue of Dædalus on AI & Society, David Rotman examines how scientists creating AI can make better choices.

On November 7, esteemed panelists Samuel Kortum, Paul Kennedy, Ian Shapiro, Jing Tsu, and Arne Westad were tasked with answering two monumental questions: can we fix the broken global order, and if so, how? Frances McCall Rosenbluth moderated the event, organized by the Academy's New Haven Program Committee.