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The American Council of Learned Societies is pleased to present "How Do We Get There?: Accelerating Diversity in Slow to Change Humanities Fields," on Thursday, December 17, 2020, at 4-5:30 PM EST. 

This virtual roundtable discussion will offer a candid discourse exploring the history, current state, and solutions addressing humanities fields that remain largely homogeneous.

This roundtable will be recorded and posted on the ACLS website.

Sharing their experiences and perspectives in this discussion will be:

• Anita L. Allen, Henry R. Silverman Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania Law School
• Philip Ewell, Associate Professor of Music Theory, Hunter College of the City University of New York
• Cord Whitaker, Associate Professor of English, Wellesley College

The discussion will be moderated by Pauline Saliga, Executive Director of the Society of Architectural Historians, who is leading the SAH Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accountability, and Sustainability (IDEAS) Initiative, which supports diverse voices for discussion, debate, publication, programming, and sharing of cutting-edge scholarship about underrepresented groups and the history of the built environment. 

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This morning, after a long campaign season, we woke up to uncertainty.

While we await the outcome, we at ACLS want to underline our commitment to the scholarly community - from managing our fellowship programs, which support hundreds of scholars around the world, to convening conversations about the future of humanistic study. As our Director of Communication Heather Mangrum commented this morning, we go for the fast updates and the hot takes, but in the distractions of the moment, it's clear that deeper understanding of human values, history, communication, and behavior is more important than ever. 

Understanding is only one part of our work as teachers and scholars. We are also essential in helping people to engage in well-reasoned dialogue across difference and to foster the imaginative capacity for understanding the conditions and perspectives of others that underpins democratic sensibility.  

Whatever the results of this election, those of us who specialize in politics, history, and culture will continue to dive deep into discussions of what our democracy can and should be. I encourage all of us, regardless of field, to challenge ourselves to think about how we, as practiced surveyors and interpreters of humanity, can foster democratic habits of contentious conversation among ourselves, our students, and in the public square. I urge scholars to devote energy to learning how to talk with and listen to those many Americans who have grown deeply skeptical of the value of higher education in general and humanistic research in particular. It is our job to tackle these attitudes, now more than ever, and I hope we find creative ways to do and reward this crucial work - as faculty, graduate students, administrators, scholars employed beyond the university, leaders of learned societies, supporters of study. 

Inspiration is all around us. Let's look to the examples of the dozens who have applied for the second round of our Leading Edge fellowship program, emerging scholars taking the lead in addressing problems beyond the moment of this election: the ethical considerations of COVID-19 vaccine research; housing, health care, and welfare policies to help end cycles of poverty; new models of criminal justice reform; and more.

In a time when our democracy is stressed by inequalities - notably in wealth and access to education - we at ACLS will continue to work for what George Washington called in his farewell address in 1796 the "general diffusion of knowledge": to promote critical thinking and solid research, and to foster justice and equity in all scholarly activities. 

As we turn together to the work ahead, we at ACLS send best wishes. 


Joy Connolly
President
American Council of Learned Societies
 

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Linda K. Kerber to Deliver
"A Life of Learning,"
the 2020 Charles Homer Haskins Prize Lecture

Wednesday, October 28, 2020, at 3 pm ET

Register Now For This Live Virtual Event

The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is pleased to announce that historian Linda K. Kerber, May Brodbeck Professor in the Liberal Arts and Professor of History Emerita, Lecturer in Law at The University of Iowa, will deliver "A Life of Learning," the Charles Homer Haskins Prize Lecture, virtually from the College of Law at The University of Iowa the afternoon of Wednesday, October 28, 2020, at 3 pm ET.  

This talk will be recorded and posted on the ACLS website.

Named for the first chairman of ACLS (1920-26), the Haskins Prize Lecture series, familiarly know as "A Life of Learning," celebrates scholarly careers of distinctive importance. 

Linda Kerber received the AB from Barnard College and the PhD in history from Columbia University in 1968.
 
She is an elected member of the American Philosophical Society and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She served as president of the American Studies Association, the Organization of American Historians, and the American Historical Association. 

In her writing and teaching Kerber has emphasized the history of citizenship, gender, and authority. Her teaching has been recognized by the University of Iowa Graduate College Special Recognition/Outstanding Mentor Award in the Humanities and Fine Arts. She is the author of No Constitutional Right to Be Ladies: Women and the Obligations of Citizenship (1998) for which she was awarded the Littleton-Griswold Prize for the best book in US legal history and the Joan Kelley Prize for the best book in women's history.

"The Stateless as the Citizen's Other: A View from the United States," appeared in the American Historical Review, February 2007 and is the foundation of her current research and writing. She served on the Permanent Committee of the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise History of the Supreme Court of the United States, to which she was appointed by President Barack Obama.

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Dear Members, Fellows, Supporters, and Friends,

In this season of gratitude, as we reach the close of a challenging year, I want to express my deepest thanks for the amazing community that is ACLS. 

Your commitment to humanistic knowledge is essential to our work and the future of our fields. We at ACLS are deeply grateful for all you do as fellows, advisors, reviewers, donors, partners, and champions of the humanities and social sciences. 

We hope that next year brings more gatherings around tables like those celebrated by the celebrated Creek poet Joy Harjo. Until then, with appreciation for all that we have and the great things to come, we wish you and yours a restful and safe Thanksgiving,


Joy Connolly
 

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