American Council of Learned Societies

The Future of Doctoral Education: What 70 Voices Told Us About Fixing the PhD Listening for the Future

Our Doctoral Futures initiative asked 70 voices what needs fixing in the humanities PhD.

Six themes surfaced, from advisor quality to funding gaps to career preparation, along with two blind spots: admissions & pedagogical innovation.

Read more in a new piece by Treviene Harris: bit.ly/4qXVq4G

Promotional graphic for ACLS Open Access Book Prize, featuring the ACLS Open Access Book Prize and the Arcadia Open Access Publishing Award logo. It invites publishers to submit works in anthropology, environmental humanities, history, literary/media studies, multimodal, and political science by February 27, 2026.

Deadline approaching! ACLS invites publishers to nominate open access books in the humanities and social sciences now through February 27, 2026 for the $50k ACLS #OpenAccess Book Prizes and Arcadia Open Access Publishing Awards.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/3MCxm9i

We're excited to be participating in this important effort! The MLA committee will be examining past reform efforts, finding out what works and where, and determining how best we can scale successful practices as well as what vital concerns still need to be addressed.

Graduate Programs As part of the Doctoral Futures initiative, the Graduate Programs Committee aims to reimagine ways that humanities graduate education can support a larger range of students and outcomes, to meet new needs and utilize new tools without abandoning core st...

@paulakrebs.bsky.social, Executive Director of @modernlanguage.bsky.social & Chair of the Doctoral Futures Graduate Programs Committee, shares how the committee is working to assess and reimagine advising and mentorship practices, retention strategies, and program design: https://bit.ly/40hyRgs

Photos of 2025 ACLS Leading Edge Fellows with text ACLS Leading Edge Fellowship, apply now. Deadline: March 11, 9:00 PM EDT.

Apply now to the ACLS Leading Edge Fellowship program! These two-year fellowships partner recent humanities & social sciences PhDs with nonprofits working with communities across the US. Deadline: March 11, 9 PM EDT. www.acls.org/LeadingEdge

Rejoice #FeedingTheElephant readers! 100 e-books from university presses flipped from gated to open access last month. Our very own @catherinefte.bsky.social describes how the Path to Open initiative from @acls1919.bsky.social and @jstor.bsky.social works and its impact on scholarly communications.

Promotional graphic for ACLS Open Access Book Prize, featuring the ACLS Open Access Book Prize and the Arcadia Open Access Publishing Award logo. It invites publishers to submit works in anthropology, environmental humanities, history, literary/media studies, multimodal, and political science by February 27, 2026.

The $20k ACLS Open Access Book Prize will be awarded to authors of six #openaccess books published 2019-2024. Their publishers will receive $30k Arcadia Open Access Publishing Award to support upcoming books that wouldn’t otherwise be published #OA.

Submit by Feb 27: https://bit.ly/3MCxm9i

ACLS Leading Edge Fellowships Leading Edge Fellowships place recent humanities PhDs with nonprofit organizations committed to promoting social justice in their communities.

Interested in applying for an ACLS Leading Edge Fellowship? Join us for a webinar on February 24 at 10 AM ET or March 4 at 4 PM ET for information on the program and tips for preparing a successful application: bit.ly/3JXQlI5

Chart titled “Path to Open Early Results: Year-over-Year Item Requests for the First 100 Open Access Titles.” A bar graph compares 2025 (licensed only, shown in gray) with 2026 (open access, shown in red). For January and February, the red bars are dramatically higher—around 9,500–10,000 item requests each month—compared to roughly 1,500–2,000 in 2025. The full-year comparison shows about 20,000 requests in early 2026 already surpassing the roughly 15,000 total requests recorded in all of 2025.

When scholarly books are made freely available, they reach more readers in more places right away.

In just five weeks of #OpenAccess, the first Path to Open books have already been used more than they were during the entire previous year of limited access.

Read the news: https://bit.ly/4rTptM4

Steed Davidson @sblsite.bsky.social chairs the Preparation and Inclusion Committee for Doctoral Futures.

The goal? Reimagine how we recruit scholars to humanities PhD programs and prepare them for impact in & beyond academia.

Watch Steed introduce the committee's work: bit.ly/4tn6x9W

The Experiences of Black Scholars in the US Today ACLS invited community members to share their perspectives on navigating the current climate in higher education today.

Ongoing political attacks & censorship in higher ed have added to the precarity faced by Black scholars.

In a new feature, ACLS community members at various career stages share their perspectives on navigating the current context as researchers, writers, teachers & mentors: https://bit.ly/4aSpJEf

ACLS Celebrates First 100 Path to Open Books Now Available as Open Access Titles Worldwide on JSTOR /PRNewswire/ -- The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) celebrates the successful launch of 100 open access books in the humanities and social...

"This milestone shows how collective action can create a more equitable and durable open access ecosystem for scholarly books."

ACLS celebrates first 100 Path to Open books now available as #openaccess titles on @jstor.bsky.social: https://prn.to/4asDFV1

ACLS Community Message for February 2026 ACLS Buddhist Studies Program Officer Daphne Weber reflects on expanding fellowship programs to support community-engaged research and bridge academic scholarship with public engagement.

In the February 2026 ACLS Community Message, Program Officer Daphne Weber reflects on community-engaged research in Buddhist Studies and how ACLS is building programs and networks shaped by scholars’ needs: https://bit.ly/46nJbr1

February 11, 2026 Advocacy Update Joy Connolly outlines how attacks on tenure, academic freedom, and international exchange threaten the vitality of higher education.

In today's advocacy update, ACLS President Joy Connolly addresses recent attacks on tenure, teaching, and international scholarly exchange, and shares how ACLS is working with partners to defend the humanities and social sciences: https://bit.ly/4ad1EJ8

ACLS Joins PEN America in Letter to Texas A&M Board of Regents The American Council of Learned Societies joins PEN America in sending a letter in defense of academic freedom to the Texas A&M Board of Regents

ACLS and several of our member societies signed on to a @penamerica.bsky.social letter to the Texas A&M Board of Regents defending academic freedom and urging them to rescind censorship policies: bit.ly/4bJ12fo

Book cover of Possessed Landscapes: Experiments in Conservation and Sovereignty in Southeast Myanmar by Tomas Cole, featuring people in rain ponchos near rice paddies in a misty mountain setting.

New in #Anthropology, POSSESSED LANDSCAPES by Tomas Cole is a case study in reimagining sovereignty through ecological stewardship, set in the highlands of the Myanmar-Thai border. Available now in print and #OpenAccess, made possible by @acls1919.bsky.social with generous support from Arcadia.

ACLS Opens Luce/ACLS Collaborative Grant in China Studies Competition Grant of Up to $120,000 Will Support Collaborative Project that Addresses Critical Challenges in the Field of China Studies

ACLS is now accepting letters of intent for the Luce/ACLS Collaborative Grant in China Studies. The grant of up to $120k will support innovative pilot initiatives that address pressing needs within the field of #ChinaStudies: bit.ly/4rzYoxc

Black History, Black Futures Resource List For Black History Month, ACLS highlights scholarly resources on the hidden and lesser known histories of the Black American experience.

ACLS celebrates #BlackHistoryMonth with updates to our Black Histories, Black Futures scholarly resource list: https://bit.ly/49DwBCV

Thanks to all the awardees who contributed new and additional works! #BHM

Doctoral Futures at AHA 2026 Daniel provides a quick recap of his time at this year’s AHA annual meeting in Chicago. In addition, he sat down with Stacy Hartman from ACLS to discuss Doctoral Futures.

On the latest episode of #HistoryinFocus, @danieljstory.bsky.social reflects on his time at #AHA26, where he sat down with Stacy Hartman from @acls1919.bsky.social to discuss Doctoral Futures, a collaborative project seeking to address the multifaceted challenges facing doctoral education today. 🗃️

Resources for Teachers — Emily Wilson

On Feb 27th, 7pm ET, I'll do a public webinar Q and A, designed primarily for high school students and their teachers who may be using my translations of the Odyssey or Iliad in class. You can register here: www.emilyrcwilson.com/resources-fo...

Hofstra University's BA/BS in Human Factors and Usability Studies Hofstra University's BA and BS in Human Factors launched in 2025 with a straightforward mission: Technology should work for people.

"Technology should work for people, not the other way around."

Learn how Hofstra University’s new Human Factors and Usability Studies program brings humanities and social sciences into engineering education: https://bit.ly/4rCIimB

A new ACLS report brings together perspectives from community college faculty on research landscapes, student engagement, community partnerships, and equitable practices in the humanities and social sciences. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4oDnA3P

Photos of past ACLS Leading Edge Fellows with text ACLS Leading Edge Fellowship, Apply by March 11, 2026, 9:00 PM EDT.

Are you a recent humanities PhD interested in a career advancing the public good? Apply by March 11, 9 PM ET to be an ACLS Leading Edge Fellow and put your humanities skills to work: www.acls.org/LeadingEdge 

Sara Ann Swenson, "Near Light We Shine: Buddhist Charity in Urban Vietnam" (Oxford UP, 2025) New Books Network · Episode

On the New Books Network podcast, Sara Ann Swenson F'17, F'23 discusses her new book, "Near Light We Shine: Buddhist Charity in Urban Vietnam." https://bit.ly/4rnNWc0

ACLS Joins Buddhism Public Scholar Tierney B. Brown at the American Museum of Natural History ACLS staff met Tierney B. Brown F'25 at the American Museum of Natural History to learn project updates, meet with Brown's advisor, and receive a museum tour.

How can museums better present Buddhism as lived practice? ACLS joined 2025 Buddhism Public Scholar Tierney B. Brown @amnh.org to learn more about her work: https://bit.ly/45ApWKg

Promotional graphic for ACLS Open Access Book Prize, featuring the ACLS Open Access Book Prize and the Arcadia Open Access Publishing Award logo. It invites publishers to submit works in anthropology, environmental humanities, history, literary/media studies, multimodal, and political science by February 27, 2026.

Calling publishers of open access books in the humanities! Submit books now through February 27 for the $20k ACLS Open Access Book Prize and $30k Arcadia Open Access Publishing Award: www.acls.org/openaccessprize

#OA #openaccess #bookprize

Joy Connolly Discusses the New Academy On EdUp with Elvin Freytes and Dr. LaNitra M. Berger Joy Connolly Discusses the New Academy On The EdUp Experience Podcast with Elvin Freytes and Dr. LaNitra M. Berger

Joy Connolly joined The EdUp Experience Podcast to discuss the ACLS vision for a New Academy through creativity and experimentation: https://bit.ly/4qNgLyK

ACLS Hosts Regional Gathering at Duke University in North Carolina ACLS hosted a Regional Gathering at Duke University’s Nasher Museum of Art in North Carolina coordinated by Paul Jaskot, ACLS Delegate and member of the Executive Committee of the Delegates, and Leo C...

ACLS recently hosted a Regional Gathering at Duke University, bringing together 40+ scholars, fellows, and deans to strengthen community and affirm the value of the humanities & social sciences.

See photos from the event: https://bit.ly/4sTdn6R

Image for a webinar titled "Beyond the Ivory Tower: The Real-World Importance of Open Access Today," scheduled for January 29, 10.30am Pacific Time | 1.30pm Eastern Time 6.30pm GMT | 7.30pm CET. Features headshots of four speakers. Hosted by OASPA, the Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association.

Why does #openaccess matter and what’s at stake if scholarship isn’t publicly available? This Thursday, 1/29, ACLS President Joy Connolly will participate in an @oaspa.bsky.social webinar to discuss the importance of #OA beyond academia.

Register: bit.ly/4benLQe

Full info & bios: bit.ly/4aBRXnU

Photos of 2025 ACLS Leading Edge Fellows with text ACLS Leading Edge Fellowship, Apply now. Deadline: March 11, 9:00 PM EDT.

Looking to explore a career outside academia? Recent PhDs: apply by March 11 to be an ACLS Leading Edge Fellow! Put your humanities PhD skills to work at mission-driven nonprofits across the country. Learn more: www.acls.org/LeadingEdge