Announcing Tacoma, Washington as a new city joining the Our Common Purpose Communities Project, led by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. The city of Tacoma becomes part of a larger effort to advance local approaches to strengthening democracy.

Civil wars continue to be a frequent and debilitating phenomenon in international politics. Of the approximately 200 countries in the world, there are currently 30 civil wars underway, including several in which the U.S. military is directly and deeply enmeshed. In the twelve essays in this issue, the authors explore causative factors of civil war, the connection of intrastate strife and transnational terrorism, the limited successes and failed ambitions of intervening powers in the recent past, and the many direct and indirect consequences associated with weak states and civil wars, including the dangers posed by pandemics, mass migrations of people, and great-power proxy warfare.

In news stories and political commentary, we hear daily about measures of public opinion. But why, exactly, does public opinion matter? How is it shaped, and to what extent does it influence public policy? These questions are explored in the Fall 2012 issue of Dædalus. Guest-edited by Lee Epstein, professor of law and political science at the University of Southern California, the volume features eight essays by political scientists, legal scholars, and public policy experts.

The events of Induction Weekend 2019 feature artists, scholars, activists, and leaders in business, philanthropy, and public service.

This was a year of reemergence and celebration for the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Our building reopened for staff and events. We held a joyous Induction Weekend in September, making up for two years of cancellations due to the pandemic. And we finished a very successful capital campaign through the hard work of President David Oxtoby, campaign cochairs Louise Bryson and David Rubenstein, and Chief Advancement Officer Ginger Saariaho, exceeding our $100 million target. We are deeply grateful to them and to the members and friends who gave generously to support our work.

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Academy Fellow Robert Pinsky, Professor at Boston University and former Poet Laureate of the United States, discussed the Favorite Poem Project at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences on October 14, 2011.

“The bottom line is that despite the profound global threat of pandemics, there remains no global health mechanism to force parties to act in accordance with global health interests,” write Paul Wise and Michele Barry in the Fall 2017 issue of Daedalus.

In October 2023, Academy President David Oxtoby announced his decision to step down as president of the Academy in June 2024, after more than five years of service.

Paul Wise will cochair the latest Academy project on “Rethinking the Humanitarian Health Response to Violent Conflict,” designed to help define new strategies for the provision of essential health services in areas of violent conflict.

The $10 million gift from David M. Rubenstein to the Academy was included in the Chronicle of Philanthropy coverage of recent major grants.

The Officers of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences are deeply saddened by the death of Steve Jobs, who was elected a Fellow of the Academy in 2000. We celebrate his creativity and courage, his extraordinary innovation, and his insight into the importance of making new technology intuitive and easy to use.