While much of the discussion about the state of the humanities tends to focus on the declining number of students majoring in the humanities, the health of the field relies on a much wider array of practices. The American Academy’s Humanities Indicators project has been exploring this wider frame of humanities activity by compiling data from federal sources and conducting the first national survey about the health of the field.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has unleashed a humanitarian catastrophe, but Ukraine is only the most visible example of contemporary conflicts subjecting populations to systematic violence and depriving them of life-saving humanitarian assistance. In Ethiopia, Sudan, Yemen, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the eroding purchase of international humanitarian law, combined with intensifying geopolitical competition and the rapidly changing character of modern warfare, have put enormous strain on humanitarian actors. An issue of Daedalus explores the conflicts and the implications.

This has been an extraordinary year, marked by a historic pandemic, bitter political strife, and unsettling civil unrest, and capped by a presidential election unlike any before. The new administration faces daunting challenges—uniting a deeply divided country, marshaling science and public health expertise to quell the coronavirus pandemic, improving relationships with international allies, striving for racial equity, addressing climate change, and making our economy work for all citizens. Members of the American Academy will play important roles in these efforts, both through public service and through the work of our organization. I believe we are as relevant and important now as at any other mo­ment over the past two hundred and forty years.

Meeting hosted by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in partnership with Nuclear Law Association and TERI University

The American Academy of Arts & Sciences has received a $1 million grant from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund to advance the recommendations in Our Common Purpose from ideas to implementation.

How might social research contribute to a retreat from mass incarceration, make the world fairer, and promote alternatives to punishment that help communities become safer and healthier? In a presentation at the Academy, Bruce Western explored this topic and the implications of mass incarceration for racial and economic inequality.

Erica Kimmerling, former Hellman Fellow for Science and Technology Policy at the American Academy, explores how to break down silos between science engagement professionals, citing the Academy report on Encountering Science in America.

The American Academy has announced its 2014 class of new members, which includes leaders in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, arts, business, public affairs, and the nonprofit sector.

A new report from the Academy issues recommendations for closing the civil justice gap. Developed with an interdisciplinary approach involving legal professionals, scholars, and community leaders offers an array of approaches for delivering and increasing civil justice in America.

Recent surveys administered by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Alliance for Museums, Americans for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts show that U.S. cultural institutions enjoy strong public approval. However, despite that high regard, studies reveal a decline in engagement with many of these institutions, particularly since the pandemic.

Data from the latest release by the Humanities Indicators project of the American Academy indicate the earnings of older humanities majors never ‘catch up’ to those of their peers in other disciplines.

The overarching recommendation of the Academy's report on America's Languages was to establish “a national strategy to improve access to as many languages as possible for people of every region, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background—to value language education as a persistent national need.”

Danielle Allen featured on BYU Radio about what she learned cochairing the Academy's bipartisan Commission on democratic citizenship and how recommended reforms can help Americans increase trust in one another and their institutions.

Select Prizes and Awards to Members