Summer 2020 Re Visiting a Past Event

REINVENTING AMERICAN DEMOCRACY FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

THE INTERSECTION OF DEMOCRACY & RELIGION

A Nation in Crisis SUMMER 2020 RE VISITING A PAST EVENT

Policy Perspectives on Police Use of Lethal Force

As America reckons with its relationship to police violence, we are reminded that progress can be slow. It has been more than five years since the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. On February 4, 2015, the Academy convened a discussion at the University of California, Berkeley, led by Andrea Roth (Assistant Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley School of Law) and Franklin Zimring (William G. Simon Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley School of Law) about the hundreds of people who are killed each year by police, the racial disparity among the victims, and the incomplete data that make analyzing the problem so difficult. The conversation also covered the effectiveness of various avenues for police reform.

To read the full transcript of this event (published in the Spring 2015 issue of the Bulletin) and hundreds of other Stated Meetings from the last twenty years, please visit amacad.org/bulletin. A video of this event and many others can be found at youtube.com/americanacad.

For more information about Academy events, please visit www.amacad.org/events. SUMMER 2020 CONTENTS

Features

16 Letters from Members Letters upon election are an Academy tradition. Letters of reflection are something new.

20 Online Discussions A series of virtual programs on topics related to the COVID-19 pandemic. CONTENTS

Our Work

4 Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century

9 New Issue of Dædalus Explores the Intersection of Democracy & Religion

12 A New Profile of Humanities Departments

Members

25 Noteworthy 9

Departments

3 From the President

28 From the Archives

ON THE COVER: Several hundred doctors, nurses, and medical professionals gathered on June 5, 2020, in St. Louis, Missouri, to protest against police brutality. Sparked by the police killing of George Floyd, demonstrations for racial justice continue to be held in cities throughout the country and world. 28 As one of the country’s oldest learned societies, we have a unique obligation to face our history and build a better future. And as a nonpartisan, independent research organization, we are well positioned to find solutions to help move our country forward.

From the President

n my spring message, I discussed how the COVID-19 obligation to face our history and build a better future. pandemic had affected the Academy, with the tran- And as a nonpartisan, independent research organi- I sition of our staff to remote work and the cancel- zation, we are well positioned to find solutions to help ation of Academy events and travel. I wrote with pride move our country forward. about the resilience of the Academy–both members In June, the Academy did just that, releasing Our and staff–in carrying on our work, which includes the Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the launch of a new series of virtual events, detailed in the 21st Century, the final report of the Commission on the pages that follow. Practice of Democratic Citizenship. Over the course of Of course, in the intervening months our world has two years, the bipartisan Commission conducted lis- been transformed yet again. Heartbreaking incidents tening sessions with hundreds of Americans in commu- of police violence inspired millions of Americans to nities across the country, developing a set of thirty-one speak out for racial justice, and mass protests filled the recommendations to strengthen America’s institutions streets of America’s cities. The pain and uncertainty of and civic culture. The online release event on June 11 these times are evident in letters submitted by Acad- drew an audience of more than one thousand viewers emy members for our Archives. Messages received in and was covered by PBS NewsHour, NPR’s All Things May reflect the anxieties of life during the pandemic, Considered, and The Washington Post, among others. while those received in June and July express outrage at We are now quickly turning our attention to implemen- the continuing legacy of racism and issue powerful calls tation, working with Academy members, community to action. A selection of these letters is included in this leaders, and partner organizations to turn the Commis- issue of the Bulletin. I encourage all Academy members sion’s recommendations into action. to consider sharing with us their thoughts, reflections, I encourage you to read more about the Commis- and experiences during this challenging yet galvanizing sion’s report in this issue of the Bulletin and consider time in our history. the role you might play in building a democracy that is These messages not only help us create an important more representative, responsive, and just. historical record for the Academy, but they also remind us of our purpose during this critical time. As one of David W. Oxtoby the country’s oldest learned societies, we have a unique

FROM THE PRESIDENT 3 Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century

n June 11, 2020, the Acad- Our Common Purpose proposes Champions advancing the Com- emy’s Commission on the thirty-one recommendations, mission’s work). The release of Our O Practice of Democratic grouped by six strategic imperatives, Common Purpose was covered on PBS Citizenship celebrated the release to help the nation emerge as a more and All Things Considered, in The of its final report:Our Common Pur- resilient constitutional democracy Washington Post, and in various local pose: Reinventing American Democra- by 2026, its 250th anniversary (see and regional outlets. cy for the 21st Century. Nearly 1,200 page 5 for more information about The report makes the case that people viewed the launch event, the strategic imperatives and recom- a healthy democracy depends on a which featured Commission Chairs mendations). At the launch event, virtuous circle in which responsive Danielle Allen (Harvard Universi- Danielle Allen, Stephen Heintz, and political institutions foster a healthy ty), Stephen Heintz (Rockefeller Eric Liu discussed how the Com- civic culture of participation and Brothers Fund), and Eric Liu (Citi- mission selected its final recom- responsibility, while a healthy civic zen University); Academy President mendations, the process of reach- culture–a combination of values, David Oxtoby; as well as Commis- ing unanimous consensus from a di- norms, and narratives–keeps our sion members Judy Woodruff (PBS verse bipartisan commission, and political institutions responsive and NewsHour) and David Brooks (The next steps to implement the recom- inclusive. The recommendations New York Times). mendations (see page 7 about the entail bold, actionable solutions to

4 Summer 2020 • Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences Academy President David W. Oxtoby with Commission Cochairs Stephen Heintz, Danielle Allen, and Eric Liu. Six Strategies make our republic more responsive and resilient, strengthen our Our Common Purpose proposes six strategic imperatives to reinvent nation’s common purpose, and re- American democracy: store trust in one another and our 1. Achieve Equality of Voice and Representation institutions. The report is rooted 2. Empower Voters in the concerns, hopes, and experi- 3. Ensure the Responsiveness of Government Institutions ences shared by hundreds of Amer- 4. Dramatically Expand Civic Bridging Opportunities icans during listening sessions held 5. Build Civic Information Architecture that Supports Common Purpose around the country, and the voices 6. Inspire a Culture of Commitment to American Constitutional of these Americans are included Democracy and One Another throughout the report. The Commission was established in 2018 with the goal of exploring how best to respond to the vulnerabilities in our political and civic life, vulnerabilities that have be- Proposed Recommendations come especially apparent in recent months amid the COVID-19 pan- A selection of the report’s 31 recommendations: demic and protests for racial justice. 1.1 Enlarge the House of Representatives The Commission is made up of a di- 1.8 Institute 18-Year Term Limits for Supreme Court Justices verse, bipartisan cohort of scholars, 2.2 Move Election Day to Veterans Day business leaders, media members, 3.4 Increase Participatory Governance elected officials, and philanthro- 4.1 Establish a National Trust for Civic Infrastructure pists who agreed unanimously on a 5.3 Develop a Public-Interest Mandate for Social Media set of solutions to reinvent Ameri- 6.1 Create a Universal Expectation of National Service can democracy. 6.5 Invest in Civic Education for All Ages To read the report and to learn more about the Commission on

OUR WORK 5 76% of Americans believe the government is run by “a few big interests looking out for themselves.”

REINVENTING AMERICAN DEMOCRACY FOR THE 21ST CENTURY the Practice of Democratic Citi- zenship, visit www.amacad.org/ of Americans ourcommonpurpose. 77% say there should be limits on

FROM THE INTRODUCTION the amount of money individuals OF OUR COMMON PURPOSE: and organizations can spend “Founded nearly 250 years ago, on campaigns. the United States of America is the world’s oldest constitutional de- Source: Pew Research Center, “The Public, the Political System, and American mocracy. Its infancy, under the Ar- Democracy,” April 26, 2018, http://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/ ticles of Confederation, was tur- sites/5/2018/04/26140617/4-26-2018-Democracy-release.pdf. bulent. Its early prospects, at the Constitutional Convention in Phil- the signing of the Constitution, he environments, we face these con- adelphia, were very much uncer- concluded, the sun was rising. verging trends in a constitution- tain. At the Convention, Benjamin Today, the question of rise or al democracy that feels to many in- Franklin–catalyst of the Revolu- fall is more pertinent than ever. In creasingly unresponsive, nonadap- tion, leading citizen of the republic, this age of globalization, central tive, and even antiquated. enslaver turned abolitionist–won- ized power, economic inequality, Consider the data. The public’s dered as he observed the conflicts, deep demographic shifts, political approval rate for Congress–our compromises, and contradictions polarization, pandemics and cli- national legislature and the first of the process: was the young na- mate change, and radical disrup- branch of government established tion’s sun rising or setting? With tion in the media and information in the Constitution, charged with

AmericanAmerican Approval Approval of of Congress,Congress, 1974–2020 1974-2020

65%

47%

31% 30%

23%

1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020

Approve Disapprove No Opinion

Source: Gallup, “Congress and the Public,” https://news.gallup.com/poll/1600/congress-public.aspx.

6 Summer 2020 • Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences Champions Advancing Our Common Purpose

The release of the report is not the end of the Commission’s work. To reinvent American democracy by 2026, more than two dozen organizations and individuals have volunteered to serve as Champions to advance one or more of the Commission’s recommendations. These organizations will be launching new initiatives, building grassroots support, or increasing collab- oration to support significant progress at the local, state, or national level.

After the removal of two Confederate statues from the Cheapside town square in Lexington, Some of the organizations com- KY, in 2018, the Blue Grass Community Foundation, the Knight Foundation, and Take Back mitted to serving as Champions Cheapside organized (Re)Imagining Cheapside Public Storytelling walks to shed light on the full history of the community and promote discussion. include: • American Promise • CAA Foundation articulating the will of the people– of Millennials consider it essen- • Center for Rural Strategies hit a historic low of 9 percent in tial to live in a democracy. Partisan • CivXNow 2013. Now rates hover around a rancor has not reached the intensi- • Congressional Management still-meager 25 percent. Income ty of Civil War–era America–but Foundation and wealth inequality levels have it is nonetheless very high. When • Davenport Institute for Public exceeded those on the eve of the Americans are asked what unites us Engagement at Pepperdine’s Great Depression. Social mobility across our differences, the increas- School of Public Policy has stagnated. Inequities contin- ingly common answer is nothing. • FairVote ue to track lines of race, gender, and Yet this is not the whole story. • Federation of State ethnicity, revealing deep structural It is not even the decisive chap- Humanities Councils unfairness in our society. A surge ter. As we have traveled the United • Service Year Alliance in white nationalism, anti-Semi- States in recent months and listened • Woodrow Wilson National tism, and anti-immigrant vitriol has to Americans from many walks of Fellowship Foundation flooded our politics with sentiments life, we have heard disappointment corrosive to the ethic of a demo- and frustration, but even more, we cratic society, while people of color heard a yearning to believe again in continue to confront barriers to op- the American story, to feel connect- responsibilities. Even as we survey portunity and participation. At all ed to one another. We heard stories the impact of COVID-19, we see in- levels of our system, voter turnout of surging participation and in- credible individual and collective ef- remains low in comparison to other novation, of communities work- forts to sustain civic resilience. That advanced democracies. Trust in in- ing to build new connections across is why we have come to believe a re- stitutions has collapsed while an on- long-standing divides, and of indi- invention of our constitutional line culture of gleeful, nihilistic cyn- vidual citizens suddenly awakening democracy remains entirely within icism thrives. Fewer than one-third to the potential of their democratic reach–and urgently needed. After

OUR WORK 7 REINVENTING AMERICAN DEMOCRACY FOR THE 21ST CENTURY all, a superlative benefit of constitutional democracy, as articulated in both the Declaration of Indepen- From Listening Sessions dence and the Constitution, is that it is adaptable to new circumstances “Some folks feel the voices that count the most are those that have the and unanticipated challenges. This power. And when I am my most negative, I feel the same way. . . . [But] report, Our Common Purpose: Rein- democracy is about all voices counting. . . . How do we get those people to venting American Democracy for the 21st believe that we can make that change?” Century, lays out a case for renewed – Ellsworth, Maine civic faith. It offers a set of recommendations for building a fresh col- “Truth and trust. And there’s so much wrong with that right now in our so- lective commitment to democratic called democratic society. . . . The basis of a democratic society is you have citizenship, to American constitu- to be able to believe the people who are leading you. You have to believe tional democracy, and to one anoth- that you have the opportunity to elect people who are the people you need er. Our theory of action is the idea speaking for you. And you have to trust them, and they have to trust you. that improvement of our civic cul- And I think that’s really broken in our world right now.” ture and of our institutions must – Lexington, Kentucky go hand in hand. Each is necessary; neither on its own is sufficient.” “You get discouraged. You’re like, they didn’t do anything the last time. So, sometimes I do feel like your voice isn’t heard or it doesn’t—your vote don’t count or matter.” – Jackson, Mississippi An electronic version of Our Common Purpose is available at “[It is easy to say that those] people who like to engage, like to be involved www.amacad.org/OurCommonPurpose. in local politics or federal politics or the state level, they’re the ones that will take care of it . . . we don’t have to worry about it because there are others that enjoy this . . . but what is our responsibility living in a democracy? I think it’s a Civic infrastructure, like the Summit great question and I don’t know that I’ve ever been asked that question ever.” Lake Loop Trail in Akron, OH, builds –Bangor, Maine connections between neighborhoods and residents and creates more resilient communities.

8 Summer 2020 • Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences New Issue of Dædalus Explores the Intersection of Democracy & Religion

n June 15, 2020, the U.S. faith-based employers legally enti- convictions and people whose dem- Supreme Court ruled by a tled to religious exemptions to the ocratic values oppose this. Demo- O 6-to-3 majority that “An law? Should they be? cratic societies are in principle open employer who fires an individual Written in the months leading to the free exercise of religion and, merely for being gay or transgender up to this ruling, the Summer 2020 in constitution, they are charac- defies the law.” This ruling is a his- issue of Dædalus on “Religion & De- teristically pluralistic in both cul- toric victory for gay and transgender mocracy” touches on many of these ture and religion. Yet while reli- rights, extending employment pro- questions and tensions. How far gions are highly variable in their tections to millions of LGBT+ work- should religious liberty extend in stance toward government, many ers, and will force many employ- democratic societies? What role of the world’s most populous reli- ers to revisit and change discrimi- should religion play in the conduct gions, including Christianity and natory policies and practices. But of citizens? Much of the world is Islam, are commonly taken to em- what this means for faith-based em- experiencing the conflict inherent body standards of conduct, such ployers, including religious schools in these questions: between people as certain prohibitions, that can- and religious health care providers, whose views permit basing political not be endorsed by democratic gov- will be decided in future cases. Are actions and lawmaking on religious ernments committed to preserving

OUR WORK 9 INTERSECTION OF DEMOCRACY & RELIGION liberty for the religious and the should understand the role of reli- balance respect for both religion nonreligious alike. gious convictions–especially their and democracy, and provide for The most prominent problems own–in civic affairs. their mutual flourishing. This bal- are institutional: the relations “Religion & Democracy,” guest ancing task is difficult and multifar- that do or should exist between edited by Robert Audi, features ious, but the difficulty of the task is “church” and state. But ethics and thirteen essays–by political theo- reduced by an examination of the political theory also extend to stan- rists, moral philosophers, and le- points of tension between certain dards appropriate to the conduct of gal scholars–that take on the chal- religious values and certain demo- individual citizens, and how they lenge of outlining standards that cratic values as well as an explora- tion of alternative frameworks for resolving conflicts between church and state. The essays in this issue The most prominent problems are institutional: of Dædalus–most of them based on contributions to a seminar the relations that do or should exist between “church” and state. But ethics and political theory also extend to standards appropriate to the conduct of individual citizens, and how they should understand the role of religious convictions—especially their own—in civic affairs.

10 Summer 2020 • Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences sponsored by the Australian Cath- Page 9: Eleanor Roosevelt, chair of Pages 10–11: Howard Chandler Christy’s olic University in March 2019–ad- the United Nations Human Rights painting of the signing of the United Commission, holding a copy of the States Constitution was commissioned dress both institutional questions Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1939 as part of the congressional concerning religion and democra- (in English). Lake Success, New York, observance of the Constitution’s cy and the ethics of citizenship as November 1949. Photo courtesy of the sesquicentennial. Completed in 1940, bearing on how individuals, reli- FDR Presidential Library and Museum. the 20-by-30-foot framed oil-on-canvas scene is among the best known images gious or not, may best regard their in the United States Capitol. role in the political system in which they live. “Religion & Democracy” Summer 2020 issue of Dædalus “Religion & Democracy” is available online at www.amacad.org/daedalus/ religion-democracy. For questions Religion & Democracy: Interactions, Tensions, Possibilities and more information, please contact Robert Audi (University of Notre Dame) [email protected]. Democracy & Religion: Some Variations & Hard Questions Kent Greenawalt (Columbia University)

Democracy, Religion & Public Reason Samuel Freeman (University of Pennsylvania)

Liberalism & Deferential Treatment Paul Weithman (University of Notre Dame)

The Ironies of the New Religious Liberty Litigation Cathleen Kaveny (Boston College)

The Perils of Politicized Religion David E. Campbell (University of Notre Dame)

Are Organizations’ Religious Exemptions Democratically Defensible? Stephanie Collins (Australian Catholic University)

Secular Reasons for Confessional Religious Education in Public Schools Winfried Löffler (University of Innsbruck, Austria)

Conscience, Truth & Action Lorenzo Zucca (King’s College London)

Do Human Rights Have a Secular, Individualistic & Anti-Islamic Bias? T. Jeremy Gunn (International University of Rabat, Morocco)

Judaism, Pluralism & Public Reason Jonathan A. Jacobs (City University of New York)

Religion & Transitional Justice Colleen Murphy (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

Patriotism & Moral Theology John E. Hare (Yale Divinity School)

OUR WORK 11 A New Profile of Humanities Departments

ince 2013, when the Amer- ten humanities disciplines (art his- other characteristics of humanities ican Academy’s Human- tory, classical studies, English, folk- departments as well as statistically S ities Commission issued The lore, history, history of science, lan- significant changes. Heart of the Matter report, there has guages and literatures other than been considerable media discussion English, musicology, philosophy, STUDENTS about declining humanities majors, and religion) and six adjacent dis- an anemic academic job market, ciplines (American studies, anthro- As a measure of the scale of the hu- and general perceptions of a field in pology, communication, linguistics, manities enterprise at four-year col- crisis. A new study by the Human- race/ethnic studies, and women/ leges and universities, the study es- ities Indicators, completed on the gender studies). As the third sur- timates that approximately six eve of the COVID-19 crisis, provides vey in a series that started just be- million students were enrolled in a fresh look at these questions. fore the Great Recession in 2007, undergraduate humanities courses The new report (available at the study not only offers bench- in the fall of 2017. (Students enrolled https://bit.ly/HDS3Intro) is based mark data on the numbers of fac- in more than one humanities course on a survey of 1,419 departments in ulty and students, it also explores were counted in each course.)

12 Summer 2020 • Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences Figure 1: Estimated Average Number of Bachelor’s Degrees Granted and Declared Majors per Humanities Department, by Discipline

140

Avg. Bachelor’s Degree Recipients, 2016–2017 120 Avg. Juniors and Seniors with Declared Major, Fall 2017 t

n 100 e Patterning indicates a statistically signiﬁcant m

t decline from the 2011–2012/Fall 2012 level. r a

p 80 e D

r e p 60 e g a r e

v 40 A

History English Folklore Religion Art History LinguisticsMusicologyPhilosophy Anthropology Classical Studies Communication American Studies History of Science Race & Ethnic Studies Combined English/LLE** Women & Gender Studies Lang. & Lit. Other than Engl.

Source: Humanities Department Survey 3 (Spring 2019). **A combined department is one that grants degrees in English and in languages and literatures other than English (LLE).

But the trend among majors of- degrees, there was no statistically the average number of students pur- fers a more troubling sign for the significant change from 2012 to 2017 suing advanced degrees. The only field. The survey (and related data in the average number of students two exceptions were in English and from the U.S. Department of Educa- completing minors in any of the dis- languages and literatures other than tion) reveals that from 2012 to 2017, ciplines. In recent years, a grow- English. (The survey does not parse there were statistically significant ing number of humanities depart- doctoral students from those pursu- declines in the number of under- ments have been introducing new ing master’s degrees.) graduate degree recipients in many minor fields as a way to expand their One of the most cited reasons for of the large humanities disciplines interdisciplinary or topical appeal the decline in humanities majors is (see Figure 1). This led to an over- (with concentrations ranging from the perception that there are few- all decline in the average number of medical humanities to Viking stud- er job opportunities for students in degree recipients across the human- ies). The recent trend indicates that the field (even though an earlier Hu- ities. Moreover, in three disciplines these efforts have had greater suc- manities Indicators report large- (history, philosophy, and religious cess than those used to attract new ly belies that perception by showing studies) a decrease in the average majors in most of the disciplines. the success of most humanities ma- numbers of undergraduate majors At the graduate level, the survey jors in the workforce; that report is signaled further declines to come in results suggest more continuity available at http://bit.ly/HI those departments. than change. Despite recent difficul- Workforce2018). The study finds Despite the troubling evidence ties in the academic job market, the that one potential challenge may among majors and undergraduate survey found very little difference in be the career services programs at

OUR WORK 13 A NEW PROFILE OF HUMANITIES DEPARTMENTS many colleges and universities. Ap- offered any sort of professional career services programs at their proximately a third of humanities program (such as a teacher creden- institutions. departments rated the quality of tialing, public history, or journal- these career services programs at ism program); and while most de- FACULT Y their institutions as “fair,” and an- partments indicated they offered other 10 percent regarded the pro- career orientation opportunities Another subject of interest in recent grams as “poor” or “very poor.” (such as lectures by alumni or in- conversations about the humanities (Curiously, another 4 percent of the ternships), relatively few required focuses on the trends in humanities departments thought their institu- their students to participate in faculty. Following a sharp decline tion lacked any career services pro- them. For example, only 2 percent in the number of tenure-line job gram for their students.) of the departments required an in- openings during the Great Reces- At the same time, most human- ternship in an employment setting. sion, writers in The Chronicle of High- ities departments were not particu- One notable exception is commu- er Education, The New York Times, and larly active in assisting or promot- nication departments, which were elsewhere have speculated about ing career development among the more likely to offer some form of sharp declines in the number of ten- students in their departments. Less professional credential and also ure-track faculty and their replace- than a quarter of the departments had the most positive view of the ment by adjuncts. Contrary to the

Figure 2: Estimated Distribution of Humanities Faculty Members across Tenure Status, by Discipline, Fall 2017

Tenured Faculty Tenure-Track Faculty (Not Yet Tenured) Non-Tenure-Track, Full-Time Non-Tenure-Track, Part-Time

History of Science American Studies History Anthropology Classical Studies Folklore Linguistics Philosophy Art History Religion Race & Ethnic Studies Women & Gender Studies Musicology English Lang. & Lit. Other than Engl. Combined English/LLE** Communication All Disciplines Combined 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Source: Humanities Department Survey 3 (Spring 2019). **A combined department is one that grants degrees in English and in languages and literatures other than English (LLE).

14 Summer 2020 • Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences perceptions raised in those reports, a fresh round of financially wrench- community organizations. Howev- the survey showed very little change ing challenges as a result of the er, when asked about other forms in the average number of faculty in COVID-19 pandemic, most human- of community outreach (and par- each of the departments from 2012 ities disciplines find themselves in ticularly into spaces that might help to 2017. The only disciplines that a much weaker position–following feed majors into their departments), had a significant change in facul- declines in students and majors that the levels of engagement were low- ty numbers were linguistics, which extend back eight to ten years. er. While 43 percent of departments showed a statistically significantin - had participated in community-ser- crease, and combined language device endeavors involving primary or OTHER NOTABLE FINDINGS partments, which experienced a sta- secondary schools, less than a quar- tistically significantdecrease . As higher education starts to nego- ter of departments had worked with Also contrary to expectations, tiate the challenges of the pandem- community colleges “to attract new the survey found no statistically sig- ic, one of the other striking find- majors into their programs.” nificant changes in the tenure dis- ings from the survey is the small Given the mixed evidence of en- tribution of the faculty members in number of humanities depart- gagement beyond their colleges, it these departments (for the second ments that were already teaching is perhaps unsurprising that only 11 time since the Great Recession). Ap- courses online. As of 2017, less than percent of humanities departments proximately 62 percent of human- one third of humanities depart- considered the public humanities a ities faculty members at four-year ments were teaching even a single significant factor in tenure and pro- institutions are employed in ten- course online, which speaks to the motion decisions (and with so much ure-line positions (either on the ten- challenges many departments (and variation between the responses, ure track or with tenure). The sur- their faculty members) faced in the the finding is noted with a caution vey did find substantial differences rush to provide online instruction about the reliability of the results). in the mix of tenured, tenure-track, this past spring. and non-tenured faculty between Another notable finding is the LOOKING AHEAD the disciplines, but the only disci- relatively small share of depart- pline to report that a majority of ments that has someone who spe- With the exception of the trend ob- their faculty were employed outside cializes in digital humanities. Even served in undergraduate student the tenure stream was communica- though the field has generated sub- majors, the past two surveys (the tion. (Communication is also one of stantial interest in the media, the first comparing 2007 to 2012, and the only disciplines in the study to survey shows that only a minority now comparing 2012 to 2017) have see substantial growth in the num- of humanities departments had a found more continuity than change bers of departments and to report faculty member specializing in that in humanities departments–which no decline in advertised academic work. As of 2017, only 27 percent of was not what most in the field had positions.) Across all the disciplines the departments represented in the predicted following the Great Re- in the survey, approximately 77 per- survey (excluding anthropology) recession. As the field and higher ed- cent of faculty members were em- ported that they had a specialist in ucation as a whole prepare to work ployed full-time. digital humanities. Given the type through the effects of the COVID-19 While there has been little evi- of work that these scholars produce, pandemic on their budgets, their dence of significant changes in hu- it is also notable that a substantial- students, and their faculty, the Hu- manities faculty over the past de- ly smaller share of departments (20 manities Indicators is already pre- cade, there is cause for concern in percent) had formal guidelines for paring the next round of the survey the future. In 2008, just as the previ- evaluating digital publications for to try to measure the effects. ous financial crisis hit colleges and tenure and promotion. universities, the number of under- Finally, given rising concerns graduate majors and students had about the relationship between the been rising in most humanities dis- humanities and the public, the sur- ciplines for more than a decade. vey also explores what departments The Humanities Indicators staff wel- That trend put pressure on colleges are doing to bridge that divide. Un- comes members’ questions and thoughts to maintain continuity in faculty fortunately, the results are mixed. In as well as suggestions for new topics levels and departmental support approximately half of the human- or concerns in the field that should through the financially lean years ities departments, faculty members, be examined. Please contact Robert that followed. Unfortunately, as staff, or students had been involved Townsend, co-director of the Humanities many colleges and universities face with state humanities councils or Indicators, at [email protected].

OUR WORK 15 Letters from Members Since the Academy was established, newly elected members have written letters of acceptance, from George Washington in 1781 to the newest members elected in 2020.

A LETTER UPON ELECTION E. Patrick Johnson, elected to the Academy in 2020, is a scholar and performer whose work incorporates race, class, gender, and sexuality. When he sent this letter, he was the Carlos Montezuma Professor of African American Studies and Performance Studies in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and School of Communication at Northwestern University. On August 1, 2020, he became the Dean of the School of Communication at Northwestern and was named an Annenberg University Professor.

APRIL 30, 2020 Dear Dr. Andrews and Dr. Oxtoby, neither of these women completed high school they were indeed the smartest people I have ever t is with the utmost joy and deep sense of humil- known not only because they “made a way out of ity that I accept membership into the American no way,” to help their families survive, but also be- IAcademy of Arts and Sciences. Given the mag- cause they were philosophers at heart, imparting nitude of this honor, words cannot express how knowledge that came from their life experiences. moved I am to be asked to join such an esteemed Because of their mother wit I have been afforded group of scholars, artists, scientists, thought lead- so many opportunities that they would never have ers, and policymakers. imagined for themselves–except through their I have dedicated my entire scholarly and artis- hopes and dreams for me. tic career to lifting up the voices of those who have Through my contributions to the American not always had a platform from which to validate Academy of Arts and Sciences, I hope to live up to and affirm their lives. Prime among these margin- the standards set by these two brilliant women by alized voices are my maternal grandmother, Mary always doing the work that transforms society for Lewis Adams, and my mother, Sarah M. Johnson, the greater good. both of whom are now deceased, but whose stories live on through the words I’ve written about Sincerely, them and, hopefully, through the life I lead. While E. Patrick Johnson

16 Summer 2020 • Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences AND LETTERS UPON REFLECTION iven the Academy’s founding in 1780, it hen came the murder of George Floyd, which would be reasonable to assume that its Ar- galvanized protests for racial justice across G chives would offer insights into how mem- T the country. Subsequent reflections includ- bers experienced the War of 1812, the Civil War, ed thoughts about pervasive injustice and what it World War I, the 1918 Influenza, and other major means to face and address racism in our country. events that shaped life and death in America. How- ever, the Academy’s Archives offer few records of CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR (CNN) shared that out those defining moments and how they were lived of the catastrophic coronavirus pandemic, she was and understood by Academy members at that time. “imagining and hoping for a total global reset. The The year 2020 will be different. deep losses of life and livelihoods will only be jus- In May, the Academy started asking members tified if we can emerge into a new era of civiliza- to share how they were experiencing the pandem- tion where we create justice, less inequality, care ic. It was an opportunity for individuals to pause for our communities and our planet, a better, more and assess. For the Academy, it was an opportuni- human society. And from this twin pandemic of ty to provide the present and the future with some shocking, inhumane, institutional racism, I hope perspectives from all the different vantage points finally we can, in the words of the Atlanta Rapper that members offer. and activist Killer Mike, ‘Plot, Plan, Strategize, Or- Early replies focused on the pandemic. ganize, Mobilize’ our way to fulfilling the Found- ing Fathers’ sacred belief that all are born equal.” ROBERT LANGER (Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology) wrote that he was working harder than PAULA GIDDINGS (Smith College) conveyed per- ever. His COVID-related projects included design- sonal experience, expertise, and uncertainty about ing face masks, assessing experimental vaccines, what lies ahead. Her reflection is reprinted on the and developing a painless device to draw blood for next pages. antibody tests. He concluded his reflection with “I very much hope that things get better. And I feel Sci- GLENN HUTCHINS (North Island), reflecting ence, of course, is critical to making that happen.” on the inevitability of the protests, wrote: “Our lives will be forever marked–in ways both small SHERRY LANSING (Sherry Lansing Foundation) and large, personal and social, familial and insti- shared a quotation that resonated with her, which tutional–by what we did (and didn’t do) during she hoped would be true of the aftermath of the this time.” coronavirus: “The comeback is always stronger than the setback.” The suggestion of reflection itself gave pause to philosopher SUSAN WOLF (University of North CHERRY MURRAY (University of Arizona) sent a Carolina at Chapel Hill), who began her letter with multi-limerick poem, “COVID-19 Spring and Sum- the following: “For better or for worse, I rarely ask mer,” that included the following stanza: myself how, or even what, I am feeling, and I am dispositionally uncomfortable about making gen- While leaders are boasting and rambling, eral statements about the social or cultural signif- world scientists together are scrambling icance of just about anything. But it seems to me a to develop vaccines good thing for people to reflect, to notice, to attend or find treatments that ease to the way this (as we are constantly told) unprec- the suffering, so life is not gambling. edented situation is affecting us, both individually PAULINE YU (American Council of Learned So- and communally, and so I welcome the assignment cieties) wrote, “I grieve for my city of New York of a task that I would otherwise not have taken on.” and the future of its beloved restaurants and cultural institutions. I weep at performances by quar- To document the present and to provide a resource antined musicians who, though isolated, play per- for the future, the Academy invites and encourages fectly in concert because music means so much to all members to send their reflections, and any them, and to us. I bemoan the longstanding divi- questions about this initiative, to Reflections@ sions and inequities in this country that have in- amacad.org. Emails, letters, drawings, and other flicted disproportionate suffering on the disad- forms of communication are welcome. vantaged and most vulnerable populations.”

FEATURES 17 LETTERS FROM MEMBERS

REFLECTIONS Paula J. Giddings, a Fellow of the American Academy since 2017 and a member of the Academy’s Council, is Elizabeth A. Woodson 1922 Professor Emerita of Africana Studies at Smith College. She is the author of When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America; In Search of Sisterhood: Delta Sigma Theta and the Challenge of the Black Sorority Movement; and, most recently, the biography of anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells, Ida: A Sword Among Lions, which won The Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle award.

JUNE 25, 2020 ne of the scenes I have written about that University in the sixties, are writers (who wrote left an indelible image in my mind was ill-conceived poems in our Black nationalist O the April 19, 1892, Land Run to settle the phase), and are interested in just about everything. Cheyenne and Arapaho lands. I pictured the thou- However, in temperament, he is all doom and sands of homesteaders lining up in what would dystopia with a light peaking from underneath; I later become Oklahoma to wait for the huge bon- am the light that sees the swamp just below. fire that signaled the official opening of the land at We have been talking of COVID, of course, and 12 noon. the shock of our becoming an unfamiliar category: I remember thinking that if all had been equal– elderly with an underlying condition. (When did that is, if men and women of all races, ethnici- that happen?) In a way, the realization has made us ties, economic standing, age, sexual orientation, pay even more attention to what has been happen- and religion had had the same opportunity to lay ing since the murder of George Floyd. claim to each parcel–the result would have been I say, yes, we have seen protests before, but a settlement of tremendous diversity. A settle- look at the scale of this one! ment, like they say, that looks like America. Prob- lem solved. No handwringing. No moral guilt. No I say, diversity is “in,” not one iota of special favor. No unearned disadvantage. But, of resistance. course, this is not what happened in Oklahoma or I say, there is finally a broad consensus about anywhere else. police violence. Then I thought not only about the lost opportu- I say, statues are coming down. nity and promises unfulfilled but the tremendous effort it took, in its inexorable way, to secure the I say, low-wage workers, many of them final outcome: Native Americans set upon tear- women of color, have become visible. ful trails; dark necks slipped through rough noos- I say, Trump is toast. es; Jews, Catholics, new immigrants, women, and He says, but what will really change? Queers disdained. You get my drift. Lessons have been learned. Gated communi- The question makes my mind leave my own ties, comfortable suburbs, leafy villages, tony city leafy village and travel to where he lives. blocks–all took a tremendous effort to create. The And despite all of the brilliance in the air right same is true for inner cities. now, all of the lofty language, all of the favorable One of my best friends lives on the edges of polls, I see no sign that the inner city and/or outer one in a medium-sized city. We have three-, four-, Black suburbs will change. sometimes five-hour conversations that are kept These places were hard to make, took a lot of percolating by the alchemy of similarities and dif- effort. Take a city like Ferguson, Missouri, just ferences between us. We both attended Howard outside of St. Louis, where the police killing of

18 Summer 2020 • Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager, became the Efforts to escape these landscapes, slave and inflection point for the Black Lives Matter move- free, were also perilous. As part of Ida B. Wells’s ment. It may surprise many that Ferguson was anti-lynching campaign, she suggested that 1 percent Black in 1970, 14 percent Black in 1980, Black Memphians leave a city that could not pro- 25 percent Black in 1990, and 67 percent Black in tect them. Twenty percent eventually left Mem- 2010. Between 2000 and 2010–2012, Ferguson’s phis; many went to Oklahoma to await the bon- poor population doubled: one in four lived below fire that signaled the April 19 opening of the land. the federal poverty line. While Ferguson was be- They were in search of a place without racism. The coming a Black enclave, St. Louis was becoming search was unsustainable. increasingly white: from 36 percent in 2000 to 44 These landscapes will change or we will all be percent in 2010. sucked into their sinkholes again and again. They According to Richard Rothstein, who writes so are the legacy of America’s original sin; the ul- insightfully about this subject, the demograph- timate race relation. The next George Floyd, the ic changes in Ferguson cannot be adequately ex- next Breonna Taylor, is already in the site of some plained by the singular Black presence followed centuries’ old barrel. Despite the everyday resil- by falling property values and white flight. This ience called up by the confined, the corruption, would be crime and prejudice enough. But what the violence, the hardness, the bad health, the no- Rothstein delineates is worse. It is a full-fledged opportunity, the bad education will continue to federal, state, and city conspiracy: take its toll. There will be some reform and reward in this . . . zoning rules that classify white neighbor- moment: new laws, higher-paying jobs, more hoods as residential and black neighborhoods funds for organizations, corporate promotions, as commercial or industrial; segregated pub- book advances, endowed chairs, and media proj- lic housing projects that replaced integrated ects–most of which will be given to deserving re- low-income areas; federal subsidies for sub- cipients. But without a fundamental reckoning urban development that are conditioned on for the inner cities, all of that merely becomes the African American exclusion; federal and lo- measure of “progress” required to maintain the cal requirements for, and enhancement of, status quo. property deeds and neighborhood agree- Where my friend and I differ is that I believe since ments that prohibited resale of white-owned these landscapes are socially–and consciously property . . . to African Americans; tax favor- –constructed, the strictures can be undone, even itism for private institutions that practiced though the swamp, strewn with long-held and segregation; municipal boundary lines de- deep-pocketed interests, is a formidable one. signed to separate black neighborhoods from He thinks that the tentacles are too deep to dis- white ones and to deny necessary services to lodge, that we don’t have the will to be rattled to the former; real estate, insurance, and bank- the core, that the moment to create a clean starting ing regulators who tolerated and sometimes line has passed–though he hopes it hasn’t. required racial segregation and urban renew- We’ll see. al plans whose purpose was to shift black –Paula J. Giddings populations from central cities like St. Louis to inner-ring suburbs like Ferguson. The late historian Stephanie Camp posited that BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES “at heart of the process of enslavement was a geo- Stephanie Camp, “The Pleasures of Resistance: Enslaved graphical impulse to locate bondspeople in a plan- Women and Body Politics in the Plantation South, 1830– tation space.” Camp goes on to quote historian 1861,” The Journal of Southern History 68 (3) (August 2002). Winthrop Jordan, who found that it was confine- Richard Rothstein, “The Making of Ferguson: Public Pol- ment more than any other single quality that dif- icies at the Root of the Troubles,” Report of the Econom- ferentiated slavery from servitude. “Slavehold- ic Policy Institute, October 15, 2014. ers,” Camp continues, “strove to create con- trolling landscapes that would determine the uses to which people put their bodies.” As other histo- rians have noted, the root of many modern-day police forces were slave patrols–created first to A selection of letters from members is on the Acade- confine, and then to punish with public display. my’s website at www.amacad.org/archives/galleries.

FEATURES 19 20 Online Discussions

Throughout the period of social distancing, the Academy has worked to stay connected with members and continue the tradition of convening experts from across disciplines and professions to discuss important issues. As much of the world moved temporarily online, the Academy has leveraged video conferencing technology to hold a series of member events.

he virtual programs have covered a breadth of topics all directly related to or informed by the COVID-19 crisis, such as science skepticism, anti- T immigrant sentiment, epidemiology and virology, gender disparities, and the arts. These programs have harnessed the convening power of the Academy, offering members the opportunity to explore topics with an immediacy that the pandemic demands. Each program included time for participation from the audience and, al- though nothing can replace the camaraderie of gathering in-person, the virtual events have captured much of the spirit and depth of a traditional Academy gathering. Members have the option to make themselves visible to each other and have used the Zoom platform to ask probing questions, share observations, alert colleagues to relevant publications, and send well-wishes. “These online discussions have been a great opportunity to participate in the dynamic conversations that characterize being a member of this Academy, even when we cannot be together in person,” noted Academy President David Oxtoby. The virtual gatherings have even proven to be preferable to in-person events in one respect–by eliminating geographic barriers, Academy members from across the world are able to participate in the same discussions at the same time. As one survey respondent from the Midwest summarized, “I have regretted missing real time access to so many American Academy presentations because of geographic remoteness. The Zoom environment offered a welcome remedy to that.” The conversations are recorded and available on the Academy’s website and YouTube page.

21 ONLINE DISCUSSIONS

IN APRIL AND MAY, THE ACADEMY HOSTED FIVE ONLINE DISCUSSIONS

Naomi Oreskes Marcelo Suárez-Orozco

How to Talk to Coronavirus Immigration’s “Malaise” in Skeptics the Age of COVID-19 April 9, 2020 April 21, 2020

or the Academy’s inaugural virtual event, arcelo Suárez-Orozco (University of science historian Naomi Oreskes (Harvard Massachusetts Boston; formerly, Uni- F University) led a discussion on the root cause M versity of California, Los Angeles) led a of science skepticism and what experts should do conversation on how currents of nativism and xe- to communicate effectively with the public during nophobia are historically weaponized against im- crises. Professor Oreskes’s opening remarks drew migrants in frightful times. With his work on the parallels between the mistrust of authority during Academy’s Commission on the Practice of Dem- COVID-19 and climate denialism, the anti-vacci- ocratic Citizenship and a recent Pontifical Acad- nation movements, rejection of evolution, and emy statement on protecting the vulnerable as a other instances of the public’s skepticism of sci- backdrop, Professor Suárez-Orozco discussed the ence. She explained that when people reject sci- centrality of immigrants–forced and voluntary– ence it is not because the data are unconvincing, to our culture. His remarks explored the current but rather that the “perceived implications” of discourse surrounding migration, placing today’s the science are threatening or unpleasant. Profes- anti-immigrant sentiment in a historical context sor Oreskes cautioned that in order to communi- in which contamination, pollution, and conta- cate effectively, the science community must em- gion have repeatedly been used as a metaphor in pathetically and directly address the fears that anti-immigration rhetoric. He also discussed the lead to denialism rather than attempting to con- moral and institutional obligation to find oneself vince skeptics with “more science.” Following her “in another” during the COVID-19 crisis. Profes- remarks, Academy President David Oxtoby mod- sor Suárez-Orozco elaborated on the role institu- erated a lively discussion that included observations–particularly universities–can play in pro- tions from Richard Meserve, chair of the Acade- tecting the most vulnerable. He called on his col- my’s Public Face of Science project, on how group leagues across academia to work to “lower the affiliation and tribalism contribute to skepticism. temperature” on the damaging incendiary rhetoric surrounding immigration and “convert the dread of the unfamiliar other into a sense of solidarity, fraternity, and . . . a desire for cultural difference.”

22 Summer 2020 • Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences Jaime Sepulveda Debora Spar

The Science and Gender, Work, and Epidemiology of COVID-19 COVID-19 April 30, 2020 May 13, 2020

ancy Andrews (Duke University), chair of rances McCall Rosenbluth (Yale Univer- the Academy’s Board of Directors, mod- sity) and Debora Spar (Harvard Business N erated a session with renowned virolo- F School) led a conversation on how the mas- gist Lawrence Corey (Fred Hutchinson Cancer sive social disruption of COVID-19 is impacting Research Center) and global health leader Jaime gender and work, drawing on their essays pub- Sepulveda (University of California, San Fran- lished in the Winter 2020 issue of Dædalus on cisco). Dr. Sepulveda discussed the origins of the “Women and Equality,” coedited by Rosenbluth pandemic, the timeline of its spread, and the racial and Nannerl Keohane (Princeton University). disparities in contraction and mortality that have Professor Keohane began the program with an become apparent in America. He also described overview of the Dædalus issue. Professor Rosen- some conditions that must be met before we can bluth, coauthor of the essay “The Dilemma of return to a version of normalcy: such as low trans- Gender Equity: How Labor Market Regulation Di- mission, on-demand testing, and organized con- vides Women by Class,” summarized the problems tact tracing. Dr. Corey focused on the biology and facing women in this crisis. She also polled the au- physiology of the disease, potential therapies, and dience about the potential for lasting flexibility in his work with Anthony Fauci and the National In- the workplace that could contribute to equality. stitutes of Health on the rapid assessment of po- Professor Spar, author of “Good Fellows: Men’s tential vaccines. Dr. Corey expressed some opti- Role and Reason in the Fight for Gender Equality,” mism that the genetic makeup of the disease would echoed a similarly cautious optimism that this pe- lend itself to the development of an effective vac- riod could help remake the workplace for the bet- cine. The discussion that followed was similarly il- ter and shared some historical perspective on a luminating, prompting one attendee to remark, “I pre-industrial time when gender roles were much learned more about this pandemic in that 60 min- blurrier. The ensuing discussion included probing utes than I have in 6 weeks of news consumption.” questions on the state of the institution of mar- riage and an extended conversation on the way the COVID-19 crisis exacerbates existing economic in- equalities among working women.

FEATURES 23 ONLINE DISCUSSIONS

Clockwise from top left: Robert Lynch; Michael O’Bryan; David W. Oxtoby; and Tania Munz

How the Arts are Surviving the COVID-19 Pandemic May 27, 2020

wo members of the Academy’s Commission on the Arts joined the Acad- emy’s Chief Program OfficerTania Munz in a conversation on the chal- T lenges and opportunities the COVID-19 crisis creates for arts organizations and arts practitioners. Robert Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, shared initial survey data on the financial realities facing the arts as a whole and illustrated that the arts are a crucial sector of the U.S. economy. Mr. Lynch also provided thoughts on what the period of recovery and reinvention could look like post-crisis. Michael O’Bryan, director of learning at the Village of Arts and Humanities in North Philadelphia, discussed the role of the arts in closing empathy gaps and made a passionate case for why arts funding must be preserved despite municipal revenue crises. The panelists answered questions from the audience, including one from John Lithgow, cochair of the Commis- sion on the Arts, about empathy, economics, and toxicity in American culture.

Please visit www.amacad.org/events to see a full list of available programming. If you have suggestions about future topics or speakers, please contact Laurie Mc- Donough, Morton L. Mandel Director of Membership Engagement, at [email protected].

24 NOTE WORTHY

Caroline Bruzelius (Duke Elaine Fuchs (Rockefeller Carla Hayden (Library of Select Prizes University) was elected to University) is the recipient Congress) was elected to the American Philosophical of a 2020 Canada Gairdner the American Philosophical and Awards to Society. International Award. Society. Members Louise H. Bryson (J. Paul Catherine Gallagher (Uni- Martha P. Haynes (Cornell Elizabeth Alexander Getty Trust) was elected to versity of California, Berke- University) was awarded (Andrew W. Mellon Foun- the American Philosophical ley) was elected to the the 2020 Karl G. Jansky dation) was elected to the Society. American Philosophical Lectureship by Associated American Philosophical Society. Universities, Inc. and the Society. Lonnie Bunch III (National National Radio Astronomy Museum of African Amer- David Ginsburg (University Observatory. Paul Alivisatos (University ican History and Culture, of Michigan) was elected to of California, Berkeley; Smithsonian Institution) was the American Philosophical Susan Hubbard (Lawrence Lawrence Berkeley National elected to the American Society. Berkeley National Labora Laboratory) was awarded the Philosophical Society. tory) was elected to the 2021 Priestley Medal, given Andrea Goldsmith (Stanford National Academy of by the American Chemical Joyce Chaplin (Harvard University) was awarded the Engineering. Society. University) was elected to 2020 Marconi Prize. the American Philosophical David Julius (University of Danielle Allen (Harvard Society. Robert Gooding-Williams California, San Francisco) University) was awarded the (Columbia University) was was awarded the 2020 2020 John W. Kluge Prize for Cathy J. Cohen (University named a 2020 Guggenheim Kavli Prize in Neuroscience. Achievement in the Study of of Chicago) was named Fellow. He shares the prize with Humanity. a 2020 Andrew Carnegie Ardem Patapoutian (Scripps Fellow. Corey Goodman (venBio) Research Institute). Marin Alsop (Baltimore was awarded the 2020 Gru- Symphony Orchestra) was Francis Collins (National ber Neuroscience Prize. He Carl H. June (University elected to the American Institutes of Health) was shares the prize with Marc of Pennsylvania Perelman Philosophical Society. awarded the 2020 Temple- Tessier-Lavigne (Stanford School of Medicine) was ton Prize. University) and Friedrich elected to the American Jeanne Altmann (Prince- Bonhoeffer (Max Planck Philosophical Society. ton University) was elected Jennifer Doudna (University Institute for Developmental to the American Philosophi- of California, Berkeley) was Biology). Peter J. Katzenstein (Cornell cal Society. named a 2020 Guggenheim University) was awarded the Fellow. Alison Gopnik (University Johan Skytte Prize in Politi- Mahzarin Banaji (Harvard of California, Berkeley) was cal Science. University) was elected to James R. Downing (St. Jude named a 2020 Guggenheim the American Philosophical Children’s Research Hos- Fellow. David Kazhdan (Hebrew Uni- Society. pital) is the recipient of the versity of Jerusalem) was inaugural AACR-St. Baldrick’s Greg Grandin (Yale Univer- awarded the 2020 Shaw Alexander Beilinson (Uni- Foundation Award for Out- sity) was awarded the 2020 Prize in Mathematical Sci- versity of Chicago) was standing Achievement in Pulitzer Prize in General Non- ences. He shares the award awarded the 2020 Shaw Pediatric Cancer Research. fiction forThe End of the with Alexander Beilinson Prize in Mathematical Sci- Myth: From the Frontier to (University of Chicago). ences. He shares the award Cynthia Dwork (Harvard Uni- the Border Wall in the Mind with David Kazhdan (Hebrew versity) was awarded the of America. Daphne Koller (Stanford University of Jerusalem). 2020 Knuth Prize. University; Insitro) is the Jonathan Gruber (Massa- recipient of the ACM–AAAI Mina J. Bissell (Lawrence Scott Vernon Edwards (Har- chusetts Institute of Tech- Allen Newell Award. She Berkeley National Labora- vard University) was elected nology) was named a 2020 shares the prize with Lydia E. tory) is the recipient of a to the American Philosophi- Guggenheim Fellow. Kavraki (Rice University). 2020 Canada Gairdner cal Society. International Award. Anna Grzymala-Busse (Stan- Goodwin Liu (California Hal Foster (Princeton Univer- ford University) was named a Supreme Court) was elected Roger D. Blandford (Stanford sity) received the Howard T. 2020 Guggenheim Fellow. to the American Philosophi- University) was awarded the Behrman Award for Distin- cal Society. 2020 Shaw Prize in Astronomy. guished Achievement in the Jacob S. Hacker (Yale Uni- Humanities, given by Prince- versity) received the 2020 ton University. Robert M. Ball Award for Outstanding Achievements in Social Insurance.

MEMBERS 25 NOTEWORTHY

E.W. “Bert” Meijer (Eindhoven Ardem Patapoutian (Scripps Alan Taylor (University of France Córdova (formerly, University of Technology) Research Institute) was Virginia) was elected to the National Science Founda- was honored as Commander awarded the 2020 Kavli Prize American Philosophical tion) was named Senior Sci- in the Order of the Nether- in Neuroscience. He shares Society. ence Advisor for the Science lands Lion by the King of the the prize with David Julius Philanthropy Alliance. Netherlands. (University of California, San Marc Tessier-Lavigne (Stan- Francisco). ford University) was awarded Scott Cowen (Tulane Univer- Danesh Moazed (Harvard the 2020 Gruber Neurosci- sity) was appointed Interim Medical School) received Nathaniel Persily (Stanford ence Prize. He shares the President of Case Western a UC Santa Cruz Distin- Law School) was named a prize with Friedrich Bonhoef- Reserve University. guished Graduate Student 2020 Guggenheim Fellow. fer (Max Planck Institute for Alumni Award. Developmental Biology) and Michael V. Drake (Ohio State Jennifer Anne Richeson Corey Goodman (venBio). University) was named Presi- Ernest J. Moniz (Massachu- (Yale University) was named dent of the University of Cal- setts Institute of Technol- a 2020 Andrew Carnegie Tatiana Toro (University of ifornia system. ogy; Energy Futures Initia- Fellow. Washington) was awarded tive; Nuclear Threat Initiative) the 2020 Blackwell-Tapia Drew Faust (Harvard Univer- was elected to the American James C. Scott (Yale Uni- Prize, given by the Statistical sity) was elected a member Philosophical Society. versity) is the recipient of the and Applied Mathematical of the MIT Corporation. 2020 Albert O. Hirschman Sciences Institute. James M. Moran (Smithso- Prize, given by the Social Kenneth Frazier (Merck & nian Astrophysical Obser- Science Research Coun- David Tracy (University of Company) was named to vatory; Harvard University) cil. He was also elected to Chicago Divinity School) President Trump’s Great was elected to the American the American Philosophical was elected to the American American Economic Revival Philosophical Society. Society. Philosophical Society. Industry Group.

Sidney Nagel (University Amita Sehgal (University Ewine van Dishoeck (Leiden Jacob Frenkel (Group of of Chicago) was elected to of Pennsylvania Perelman Observatory, University of Thirty) was appointed Chair- the American Philosophical School of Medicine) was Leiden) was elected to the man of the Board of Direc- Society. awarded the 2020 Switzer American Philosophical tors of BrainStorm Cell Ther- Prize. Society. apeutics Inc. Alondra Nelson (Social Science Research Coun- Sonia Sotomayor (Supreme Wang Gungwu (National Andrea Goldsmith (Stanford cil; Institute for Advanced Court of the United States) University of Singapore) was University) was appointed Study) was elected to the was named the 2020 recipi- awarded the 2020 Tang Prize Dean of the School of Engi- American Philosophical ent of the Thomas Jefferson in Sinology. neering and Applied Sci- Society. Foundation Medal in Law. ence at Princeton University. André Watts (Indiana Uni- Sigrid Nunez (New York, NY) Bruce Stillman (Cold versity) was elected to the Marillyn Hewson (Lockheed was named a 2020 Guggen- Spring Harbor Labora- American Philosophical Martin Corporation) was heim Fellow. tory) was awarded the Dr. Society. named to President Trump’s H.P. Heineken Prize for Bio- Great American Economic Roeland Nusse (Stanford chemistry and Biophysics, David Wellbery (University Revival Industry Group. University) is the recipient given by the Royal Nether- of Chicago) was elected to of a 2020 Canada Gairdner lands Academy of Arts and the American Philosophical Abigail Johnson (Fidelity International Award. Sciences. Society. Investments) was named to President Trump’s Great Teri Odom (Northwestern Andrew Strominger (Harvard American Economic Revival University) was awarded University) was named a Industry Group. the 2020 Centenary Prize 2020 Guggenheim Fellow. New Appointments from the Royal Society of E. Patrick Johnson (North- Chemistry. Masatoshi Takeichi (RIKEN western University) was Center for Biosystems Marc Benioff (Salesforce) named Dean of the School Monica Olvera de la Cruz Dynamics Research) is the was named to President of Communication at North- (Northwestern University) recipient of a 2020 Can- Trump’s Great American western University. was elected to the American ada Gairdner International Economic Revival Industry Philosophical Society. Award. Group. Carl June (University of Pennsylvania Perelman David W. Oxtoby (Ameri- Eva Tardos (Cornell Uni- Jeffrey Bezos (Amazon) was School of Medicine) was can Academy of Arts and versity) was elected to the named to President Trump’s appointed Chairman of the Sciences) was elected to American Philosophical Great American Economic Scientific Advisory Board of the American Philosophical Society. Revival Industry Group. Ziopharm Oncology, Inc. Society.

26 Summer 2020 • Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences We invite all Fellows and International Honorary Members to send notices about their recent and forthcoming publications, new appointments, exhibitions and Pamela Karlan (Stanford Jerry Speyer (Tishman performances, films and documentaries, and honors and Law School) was named Speyer) was named to Pres- prizes to [email protected]. to the Oversight Board of ident Trump’s Great Ameri- Facebook. can Economic Revival Indus- try Group. Victoria de Grazia (Colum- Robert D. Putnam (Harvard Robert Kraft (The Kraft bia University). The Perfect University) and Shaylyn Group) was named to Pres- Darren Walker (Ford Foun- Fascist: A Story of Love, Romney (New York Times). ident Trump’s Great Ameri- dation) was appointed to the Power, and Morality in Mus- The Upswing: How Amer- can Economic Revival Indus- Board of Directors of Square, solini’s Italy. Belknap Press ica Came Together a Cen- try Group. Inc. of Harvard University Press, tury Ago and How We Can August 2020 Do It Again. Simon & Schus- Renu Malhotra (University of David R. Williams (Harvard ter, October 2020 Arizona) was elected Chair T.H. Chan School of Pub- Robert M. Gates (College of the Council of Institutions lic Health) was elected to of William & Mary). Exercise Robert I. Rotberg (World of the Universities Space the Board of Trustees of of Power: American Failures, Peace Foundation; Harvard Research Association. the Robert Wood Johnson Successes, and a New Path Kennedy School). Anticor- Foundation. Forward in the Post–Cold ruption. MIT Press, July 2020 Mitchell McConnell (Stan- War World. Knopf, June 2020 ford Law School) was named Teresa K. Woodruff (North- Michael J. Sandel (Harvard Cochair of the Oversight western University) was F.M. Kamm (Rutgers, The University). The Tyranny of Board of Facebook. named Provost and Execu- State University of New Jer- Merit: What’s Become of tive Vice President for Aca- sey). Almost Over: Aging, the Common Good? Farrar, Pedro Noguera (University demic Affairs of Michigan Dying, Dead. Oxford Univer- Straus and Giroux, Septem- of California, Los Angeles) State University. sity Press, May 2020 ber 2020 was named Dean of the Rossier School of Education Mark S. Wrighton (Washing- Charles Larmore (Brown Scott Russell Sanders (Indi- at the University of Southern ton University in St. Louis) University). What is Political ana University). The Way of California. was elected a member of the Philosophy? Princeton Uni- Imagination: Essays. Coun- MIT Corporation. versity Press, May 2020 terpoint, August 2020 Indra Nooyi (PreeTara LLC) was elected a member of the Jill Lepore (Harvard Uni- David Simpson (University MIT Corporation. versity; The New Yorker). If of California, Davis). States of Select Publications Then: How the Simulmat- Terror: History, Theory, Liter- Gilbert S. Omenn (Univer- ics Corporation Invented the ature. University of Chicago sity of Michigan) was named Future. Liveright, Septem- Press, March 2019 to the Board of Directors of POETRY ber 2020 Angion Biomedica Corp. Debora L. Spar (Harvard Susan Howe (Guilford, CT). Daniel Mendelsohn (New Business School). Work Mate Condoleezza Rice (Hoover Concordance. New Direc- York Review of Books). Three Marry Love: How Machines Institution, Stanford Univer- tions, May 2020 Rings: A Tale of Exile, Narra- Shape Our Human Destiny. sity) was named Director of tive, and Fate. University of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, the Hoover Institution. She Virginia Press, August 2020 August 2020 was also named to President FICTION Trump’s Great American Eco- Suzanne Mettler (Cornell Cass R. Sunstein (Harvard nomic Revival Industry Group. Sigrid Nunez (New York, University) and Robert C. Law School). Too Much NY). What Are You Going Lieberman (Johns Hopkins Information: Understand- Charles Robbins (Cisco Sys- Through. Riverhead Books, University). Four Threats: The ing What You Don’t Want to tems) was named to Presi- September 2020 Recurring Crises of Ameri- Know. MIT Press, Septem- dent Trump’s Great Ameri- can Democracy. St. Martin’s ber 2020 can Economic Revival Indus- Press, August 2020 try Group. NONFICTION Clifford M. Will (University Eric A. Posner (University of of Florida) and Nicoláa Yunes Gene Robinson (University of Peter Brooks (Yale Univer- Chicago Law School). The (University of Illinois at Urbana- Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) sity). Balzac’s Lives. New York Demagogue’s Playbook: The Champaign). Is Einstein Still was appointed Interim Review Books, September Battle for American Democ- Right? Black Holes, Gravita- Dean of the College of Lib- 2020 racy from the Founders to tional Waves, and the Quest to eral Arts and Sciences at Trump. All Points Books, Verify Einstein’s Greatest Cre- the University of Illinois at Nancy F. Cott (Harvard Uni- June 2020 ation. Oxford University Press, Urbana-Champaign. versity). Fighting Words: October 2020 The Bold American Journal- Donna Shalala (U.S. House ists Who Brought the World Edward O. Wilson (Harvard of Representatives) was Home Between the Wars. University). Tales from the appointed to the Congres- Basic Books, March 2020 Ant World. Liveright, August sional Oversight Commis- 2020 sion of the CARES Act.

MEMBERS 27 FROM THE ARCHIVES

n February 26, 1781, the Academy published Portsm[outh] June 7 1789 in the Independent Ledger a call for communi- “My Dear and Rev’d Sir, O cations: “in promoting the Cause of useful Knowledge, they request the Assistance of the Ingenious I have made some further enquiry concerning the colour- in every profession.” Many individuals responded, con- ing corn I spake [sic] to you about. I wish I could have obtained some sooner – but it was out of my power – and even now tho’ tributing to discussions within the Academy on such I have sent you only seven kernels, they are half I could obtain, matters as manufacturing, agriculture, and medicine. so high are they in demand. I have likewise sent you some small Reverend Samuel Haven (1727–1806) of Portsmouth, shreds as patterns of the Colours said corn will dye. I wish they New Hampshire, was one such contributor. With his had been larger, but they are the largest I could get – the kernels of sd corn, the leaves, & the stalk & cobb are all service- working knowledge of chemistry, he manufactured salt- able in dying [sic] – but the stalk is the best. The Colours may peter during the Revolutionary War and experiment- be altered by adding a greater quantity of what is to set the ed with dyeing techniques. In June 1789, he renewed an dye–I presume you will plant the few kernels I have sent you for [experiment] & in rich ground – exchange with Academy Fellow Manasseh Cutler re- garding his experiments that produced the “Federal I think this discovery may be of public utility to us in the Infancy Colours,” which Cutler later forwarded to the Acade- of our Manufacturies [sic] – should any others come to my knowledge, I shall do my self the honour to communicate them my. The sample swatches, likely originally blue in color, to you – and if you think this worth the attention of that Honor- were boiled in both iron and copper kettles and set with able Society of which you are an important member be so kind four different fixatives: vinegar, soap, allum, and cop- as to mention it in my Name & with high Esteem & respect, to peras [hydrated ferrous sulfate]. that patriotic Society. . . .”

28 Summer 2020 • Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences Bulletin ONLINE of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences 136 Irving Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 A recent episode of VISION, an online 617-576-5000 • [email protected] • www.amacad.org series presented by the Knight Foundation Bulletin Summer 2020 • Volume LXXIV, No. 4 © 2020 by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences – at kf.org/vision – featured Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century, the final EDITORIAL STAFF report of the Academy’s Commission on Phyllis S. Bendell Director of Publications Peter Walton Associate Editor the Practice of Democratic Citizenship. Heather Struntz Assistant Editor Scott Raymond Creative Lead

ACADEMY BOARD OF DIRECTORS Nancy C. Andrews Chair David W. Oxtoby President Alan M. Dachs Vice Chair Diane P. Wood Vice Chair Carl H. Pforzheimer III Treasurer Geraldine L. Richmond Secretary Kwame Anthony Appiah Louise H. Bryson John Mark Hansen Nannerl O. Keohane The episode on “Democracy, Citizenship, Cherry A. Murray and Community,” hosted by Sam Gill Venkatesh Narayanamurti David M. Rubenstein (senior vice president and chief program Deborah F. Rutter officer at Knight and a member of the Larry J. Shapiro Commission), featured Stephen Heintz Shirley M. Tilghman Natasha Trethewey (Commission cochair) and Antonia Pauline Yu Hernández (Commission member) sharing which recommendations were their PHOTO CREDITS favorites and how the bipartisan group Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images: outside cover; iStock.com/ LeoPatriz: inside front cover; Peter Walton: pages 1, 16; Martha Stewart reached consensus. Photography: pages 3, 5; iStock.com/ad_krikorian: page 4; Vanessa Grossl: page 7; Garrick Black: page 8; iStock.com/frimages: page 12; iStock.com/Gladiathor: pages 20–21, 24

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