On Tuesday, September 28, 2021, members of the class of 2021 gathered virtually to celebrate their election and gain an introduction to Academy history, culture, and membership opportunities. In the tradition of the Academy, the program included stimulating discussions, interdisciplinary connections, and moments of artistic expression.

A statement from Academy President David Oxtoby on the passing of Stephen D. Bechtel Jr. who was an Academy member of vision and generosity.

The House has passed one bill, and is likely to pass another, that would provide funding for people to enroll in certificate programs, apprenticeships, bootcamps and other technical education programs. But a new study from the American Academy questions the quality of these programs, as well as the evidence that demonstrates their efficacy.

On October 18, Stephen Heintz, President and CEO of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) and one of three cochairs of the Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship, and Dr. Carolyn Lukensmeyer, a member of the Commission, sat down with Renee Shaw for the KET program Connections to talk about the Commission's bipartisan report, Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century.

A new publication, which emerged from the Academy's Our Common Purpose work, proposes alternatives to the “winner-take-all” system used in most U.S. elections. The proposed alternatives have the potential to reduce partisan divides and virtually eliminate gerrymandering.

Across the aisle from one another, but committed to strengthening democracy together, Eric Liu and Pete Peterson discuss the importance of finding shared ways to move with Michel Martin on Amanpour and Company.

While COVID-19 cases and mortality surged in spring and summer 2020, the U.S. government seemed to lack the capacity to respond. Mixed messaging and insufficient testing, ventilators, personal protective equipment, and contact tracing raised disturbing questions about the will of the executive and the health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But were these challenges particular to the pandemic? Or, as one author asks in the newest issue of Dædalus, “is the failed pandemic response a symptom of a diseased administrative state?”

A new photojournal produced by the Academy’s Commission on Reimagining Our Economy is part of their work to put the American people and their well-being at the center of discussions about the nation’s economy.

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

The American Academy delivered its final report on the future of language education to the U.S. Congress yesterday, recommending “a national strategy to improve access to as many languages as possible for people of every region, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background.”

PBS NewsHour reports on the Academy's bipartisan commission on the state of American democracy and its report detailing 31 recommendations for how to strengthen it. Judy Woodruff introduces the report and discusses it with Danielle Allen and Stephen Heintz.

Hear from class speakers for the 2023 Induction Ceremony for new members of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

For the 235th time, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences has inducted its newest class of members. One of the nation’s oldest learned societies and independent research centers, the Academy includes among this year’s 147 inductees prominent scientists, artists, literary figures, and leaders of academic, business, philanthropic, and cultural institutions from across the United States and internationally.

Recent Dædalus Issues

A recent episode of VISION, an online series presented by the Knight Foundation – at kf.org/vision – featured Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century, the final report of the Academy’s Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship.

One of the recommendations for strengthening democracy proposed in Our Common Purpose - the report of a bipartisan Academy commission - is expanding national service. To support that initiative, the Academy partnered with organizational leaders in the national service field to develop a better understanding of why people serve and how to increase engagement. This article shares key findings from that effort.

Norm Augustine and Neal Lane, cochairs of Academy project on “New Models for U.S. Science and Technology Policy,” argue for a coherent national roadmap to strengthen U.S. R&D, basic research in particular, and to drive American innovation throughout the 21st century.

Recent Member Events

Since our nation’s founding, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences has celebrated excellence in every domain of scholarship and cultivated knowledge from many perspectives to advance the public good. The Academy is an independent, nonpartisan institution. Central to our work is a commitment to intellectual freedom–the freedom to teach, to learn, to speak, and to inquire without strictures of ideological or political orthodoxy. Freedom to pursue knowledge, without fear of censorship or discipline, is a bedrock value of our constitutional democracy and a practical condition for crafting the most effective solutions to our society’s toughest challenges.