An examination of the financial advantage earning a bachelor’s degree, in any major, provides over not attaining the degree.

Institutions are critical to our personal and societal well-being. They facilitate relationships; they regulate behavior. They develop and disseminate knowledge, enforce the law, keep us healthy, and uphold social and religious norms.

A protracted debate within the Academy over Darwin’s Origin of Species began with a paper on Japanese flora presented by Asa Gray in 1858, leading to an exchange between Louis Agassiz and William Barton Rogers...

From the Archives

Financial Statements

A list of all active Members, arranged by Class and Section, Affiliation, or Year of Election, is available on the Academy’s website at www.amacad.org/directory.

How to improve Congress? An opinion feature in the New York Times highlights bold ideas to make Congress better, including a link to the Academy's report, "The Case for Enlarging the House of Representatives.” The opinion piece and the report explain how expanding Congress would make it more representative, better serve voters, and keep the institution in line with the Founders’ vision.

Martha Nussbaum Will Receive Randel Award and Deliver Remarks at April Event

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The crafters of the Constitution expected the size of the House to grow as the U.S. population increased. Citing the American Academy report on “The Case for Expanding the House of Representatives,” Kevin Kosar calls for Capitol Hill to consider the proposition.

Sterling Speirn served on the 35-member Academy commission and talks about his life's work and this initiative of "civic, cultural and political reforms that could inspire a democratic renaissance at this crucial moment."

A new study from the American Academy's Humanities Indicators project reveals trends among U.S. residents, and the impact of respondents’ political leanings, socioeconomic status, gender, and race.

Academy member Douglas S. Massey discusses Ferguson and the meaning of race in America for the Bulletin’s new feature, “On the Professions.”

At an Academy event held in Seattle, Washington, author Annie Proulx described some surprising places her research has led: from accusations of plagiarism against Alfred, Lord Tennyson to obsessive lepidopterists and images of long-lost swamplands. Following her opening remarks, she joined Shawn Wong, professor of English, in conversation.

When forced to decide between a career in biochemistry or psychology in the spring of 1950, Jerome Kagan chose the latter because of a gnawing puzzlement provoked by the observation that apparently sane people living in the same community held different beliefs about love, honesty, and whom was entitled to respect and whom to scorn.

There is no resource more central to life on Earth than water, and it is impossible to overstate its role in shaping human history. Humanity’s need for water is inextricably linked to its need for security, energy, food, and community. The Summer 2015 issue of Dædalus moves beyond the problems and failures.