Authors Stephen B. Heintz and Pete Peterson, coming from different sides of the political aisle, agree that term limits for Supreme Court Justices is a way to depoliticize the process and strengthen faith in democratic institutions.

A Belated Inauguration for Daniel Day-Lewis

A survey of Americans showed substantial engagement with the Humanities - especially history programs on television - during the pandemic.

Daedalus essay on "The Face of Battle Without the Rules of War" cited in Teen Vogue slideshow of photographs from the Indigenous Peoples March on Washington.

Arts and sciences faculty sticks with a three-course-sequence foreign language requirement, even as other institutions shrink their language requirements.

While the scientific community understands the benefits of international scientific collaboration, risks of such collaboration to U.S. national security are now at the forefront of debate. Terry Magnuson examines the recommendations offered in “America and the International Future of Science,” a report from the Academy’s initiative to address Challenges for International Scientific Partnerships.

At a meeting sponsored by the American Academy, the Royal Society, and the Carnegie Institution for Science, Wendy Freedman (Crawford H. Greenewalt Chair and Director of Carnegie Observatories at the Carnegie Institution for Science) and Martin Rees (Fellow of Trinity College; Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge; Astronomer Royal; and Visiting Professor at Imperial College London and at Leicester University) discussed what we know and do not know about the universe.

In the latest publication from the Commission on the Future of Undergraduate Education, a team of analysts from Moody's Analytics attempted to lay out the costs and benefits of a sustained investment program aimed at boosting program completion rates, especially for disadvantaged students.

From the Archives

New Data Available on College and University Humanities Departments

July 2020 to June 2021 marked the most successful fundraising year in the Academy’s long history, with more than 1,200 donors contributing over $21 million. Over the course of the year, we celebrated the largest gift to the Academy on record, benefited from the most grant funding received in a single year from foundations, and together achieved a new high-water mark for the Annual Fund with over $2.1 million raised. At the close of the year, the Campaign for the Academy & Its Future had reached over 85 percent of its $100 million goal. On behalf of the Academy’s governance bodies and leadership team, we extend our sincere appreciation to all those who contributed to this remarkable outcome.

The Unstable Biomedical Research Ecosystem: How Can It Be Made More Robust?

Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy hosted a Civic Scientist Lecture on the Academy's recent report.

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.

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.

This profile of Ruth Simmons - a visionary higher education leader and Academy member - emphasizes the role of the humanities in shaping Simmons as a thinker and leader, and explores the significance of the humanities for others. Author Antoinette Burton cites a recent Academy report on career outcomes of humanities majors.