Since our founding in the wake of World War I, ACLS has devoted itself to the free circulation of knowledge for a secure and peaceful world. At the heart of our mission for the 21st century is our commitment to work toward a more just and inclusive future by supporting a scholarly ethos of curiosity, discovery, understanding, debate, and critique.
We support humanistic knowledge by making resources available to scholars and by strengthening the infrastructure for scholarship at the level of the individual scholar, the department, the institution, the learned society, and the national and international network. We work in collaboration with member societies, institutions of higher education, scholars, students, foundations, and the public. We seek out and support new and emerging organizations that share our mission.
We commit to expanding the forms, content, and flow of scholarly knowledge because we value diversity of identity and experience, the free play of intellectual curiosity, and the spirit of exploration—and above all, because we view humanistic understanding as crucially necessary to prototyping better futures for humanity. It is a public good that should serve the interests of a diverse public.
We see humanistic knowledge in paradoxical circumstances: at once central to human flourishing while also fighting for greater recognition in the public eye and, increasingly, in institutions of higher education. Located at the center of various flows of activity and knowledge among the learned societies and other academic associations, colleges, universities, libraries, and individual scholars, we serve the needs of all these constituencies, strengthen relations among them, and pioneer and amplify collaborative solutions to challenges facing humanistic scholars and scholarship.
We celebrate and support the engagement of scholars with their fellow citizens and with the issues of the world that shape and affect people’s daily lives.
We advance public understanding of the importance of humanistic knowledge to the enrichment of individual lives and to the robust resilience of democratic societies.
We believe that the circulation of knowledge through scholarship and teaching is best supported by just and equitable practices in institutions of higher education, notably the prioritization of full-time employment. We uphold equity, fairness, integrity, scholarly excellence, and care for scholars’ needs and concerns in general and in our own practice.
What We Do
Formed in 1919, the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is a nonprofit federation of 80 scholarly organizations. As the preeminent representative of American scholarship in the humanities and interpretive social sciences, ACLS holds the core belief that knowledge is a public good. As such, ACLS strives to promote the circulation of humanistic knowledge throughout society. In addition to stewarding and representing its member organizations, ACLS employs its $155+ million endowment and a more than $37 million annual operating budget to support scholarship in the humanities and social sciences and to advocate for the centrality of the humanities in the modern world.
The American Council of Learned Societies was founded to support the free circulation of knowledge, on the belief that deep understanding of human thought and action is a key part of creating a just and peaceful world.ACLS PRESIDENT JOY CONNOLLY
Leadership
For more than a century, ACLS has provided the humanities and interpretive social sciences with leadership, opportunities for innovation, and national and international representation. The ACLS president speaks and provides thought leadership in the US and abroad on topics vital to scholarship and the academy today. ACLS also regularly convenes top scholars, educators, administrators, and thought leaders to collaborate on ways to continue the advancement of humanistic scholarship at  the ACLS annual meeting, meetings and seminars for member societies, and commissions and working groups such as the Intention Foundry, made possible by a grant from the Mellon Foundation, and Design Workshop for a New Academy, made possible by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation.
Research
ACLS fellows and grantees are engaged in creating new knowledge that benefits our understanding of the world. ACLS continues to be the leading private institution supporting scholars across a variety of humanistic disciplines and providing a range of opportunities for scholars at all career stages – from graduate students to distinguished professors to independent scholars – in the US and abroad.
Innovation
ACLS has a long history of supporting new methods and subjects of humanistic scholarship. Since 2020, ACLS has launched a host of new programs designed to meet the needs of today’s academy and the PhDs it serves. These include the Leading Edge Fellowships, which demonstrate the potential of humanistic knowledge and methods to solve problems, build capacity, and advance justice and equity in society; Emerging Voices Fellowships, which focuses on the vanguard of scholars whose voices, perspectives, and broad visions will strengthen institutions of higher education and humanistic disciplines in the years to come; Sustaining Public Engagement Grants, which will support programs devoted to the co-creation of knowledge with diverse communities outside academia; and the Buddhism Public Scholars, which will bolster the capacity of museums and publications in Buddhist art and thought across all traditions and regions in which Buddhism is practiced.
Stewardship
The 80 scholarly organizations of the federation each represent distinct fields of study. All are dedicated to producing and promoting knowledge through strong, collaborative efforts as members of the American Council of Learned Societies.
Learn how ACLS supports and strengthens the humanities and interpretive social sciences.
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