American Academy of Arts and Sciences

A grant to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences would allow the Academy to continue its project to create and promote integrated policy solutions to the problems facing nuclear security and nuclear energy. Over the past three years the Academy has brought attention to nonproliferation and disarmament worldwide by convening academics and practitioners, gathering their ideas, and publishing several influential Dædalus volumes that generated new ideas for U.S. nuclear policy. Staff at the National Security Council and the Department of State have reported that they have used the Academy’s ideas to encourage other countries to support the nonproliferation treaty. The next phase of the project will develop new thinking and deepen collaboration with emerging nuclear states in Southeast Asia and the Middle East in an effort to ensure that the global increase in the use of nuclear energy does not lead to an increased risk of nuclear weapons use, proliferation, or terrorism.

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is launching a three-year project to improve the quality and accessibility of public colleges and universities in the U.S. American public higher education is facing cutbacks in government support, competition from for-profit education providers and foreign universities, and pressures to respond to emerging technological changes. A grant for this project would support engagement of state and federal policymakers, elected officials, university and business leaders, philanthropists, and ultimately the broader public to improve understanding of the challenges, and to support reforms at the state, federal, and institutional levels.

These funds will support the American Academy of Arts and Sciences to disseminate the report of the Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship and support concrete steps toward implementing its recommendations. The commission will learn from outreach and partners how it can most effectively advance specific recommendations. Additional resources will enable Academy staff and members of the commission to present the report and recommendations to influential audiences around the country and pursue extensive partnership opportunities to advance the commission’s work, with the goal of enabling more Americans to participate as effective citizens in a diverse 21st century democracy.