REPORT OF THE DELEGATE TO THE AMERICAN COUNCIL OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

This article presents a report of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). The annual meeting this year was marked by a very interesting innovation of four round- table discussions. The topics were the nature of the Humanities, their function in the society, and plans for furthering the work of the ACLS. A background paper entitled "The Humanities in the Next Decade" had been prepared in advance by the Executive Offices and circulated before the annual meeting. This paper served the admirable function of stimulating discussion without controlling it. This delegate was in the round table chaired by scholar Henri Peyre and found the discussion highly stimulating. There was a feeling of real participation, an exciting exchange of ideas, and a sense of the seriousness of problems concerning the humanities. The same attitudes were expressed at the final session when the rapporteurs reported on their respective sessions. There was a general attempt to define the Humanities and there was agreement that a precise definition was not possible since all intellectual activities had humanistic aspects at times. It was also considered important to stress the coalescent quality of the humanities.