A Nation - REINVENTING AMERICAN DEMOCRACY FOR THE 21ST CENTURY THE INTERSECTION OF DEMOCRACY & RELIGION
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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
4
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
I
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-
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
O
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
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 respon-
sive 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 vulnera-
bilities 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
looking out for themselves.”
REINVENTING AMERICAN DEMOCRACY FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
the Practice of Democratic Citi-
zenship, visit www.amacad.org/
ourcommonpurpose.
77% of Americans
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/
sites/5/2018/04/26140617/4-26-2018-Democracy-release.pdf.
ticles of Confederation, was tur-
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
American Approval
American Approvalof Congress,
of Congress, 1974-2020
1974–2020
65%
47%
31%
30%
23%
4%
74
76
78
80
82
84
86
88
90
92
94
96
98
00
02
04
06
08
10
12
14
16
18
20
20
20
20
20
20
19
19
19
19
19
20
20
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
20
20
19
20
20
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 organi-
zations 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 consti-
tutional 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 recom-
mendations 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 & SciencesNew Issue of Dædalus Explores the
Intersection of Democracy & Religion
O
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-
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 9INTERSECTION 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 & Sciencessponsored 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,
FDR Presidential Library and Museum. the 20-by-30-foot framed oil-on-canvas
bearing on how individuals, reli- 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”
“Religion & Democracy” is available
Summer 2020 issue of Dædalus
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)
daedalus@amacad.org.
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 11A New Profile of Humanities Departments
S
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
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 & SciencesFigure 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
Average per Department
100
Patterning indicates a statistically significant
decline from the 2011–2012/Fall 2012 level.
80
60
40
20
0
s
y
y
s
y
e
.
s
y
*
n
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e
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LL
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ie
ol
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an
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Sc
H
H
p
ic
ilo
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rS
i
ng
un
R
ro
lis
us
rt
th
an
al
c
Ph
of
de
Li
h
A
i
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ic
M
hn
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ic
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om
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.&
om
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W
La
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 13A 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-
FACULTY
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 & Sciencesperceptions 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 significant in- had participated in community-ser-
crease, and combined language de- vice endeavors involving primary or
OTHER NOTABLE FINDINGS
partments, which experienced a sta- secondary schools, less than a quar-
tistically significant decrease. 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) re- cession. 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 rtownsend@amacad.org.
OUR WORK 15Letters 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
I
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-
Academy 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 sto-
ries 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 & SciencesAND LETTERS UPON REFLECTION
G T
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
chives would offer insights into how mem- 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 cul-
tural 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 17LETTERS 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
O
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
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 & SciencesMichael 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.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
The late historian Stephanie Camp posited that
“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 1920
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.
T
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-
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 gath-
ering. 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 discus-
sions have been a great opportunity to participate in the dynamic conversations
that characterize being a member of this Academy, even when we cannot be to-
gether 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.
21ONLINE 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
F M
or the Academy’s inaugural virtual event, arcelo Suárez-Orozco (University of
science historian Naomi Oreskes (Harvard Massachusetts Boston; formerly, Uni-
University) led a discussion on the root cause 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 observa- tions–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 & SciencesJaime Sepulveda Debora Spar
The Science and Gender, Work, and
Epidemiology of COVID-19 COVID-19
April 30, 2020 May 13, 2020
N F
ancy Andrews (Duke University), chair of rances McCall Rosenbluth (Yale Univer-
the Academy’s Board of Directors, mod- sity) and Debora Spar (Harvard Business
erated a session with renowned virolo- 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 23You can also read
