History

The International Congress of Americanists is a scientific activity of a long tradition. The first Congress was held in the city of Nancy in France, in August 25 of 1875, called by the Société Américaine de France and they have met without interruption since then. Its immediate goal: “contribuer au progrès des études ethnographiques, linguistiques et historiques relatives aux deux Amériques, spécialement pour les temps antérieurs à Christophe Colomb, et de mettre en rapport les personnes qui s'intéressent à ces études”.

During the ten first versions of the International Congress of Americanists, the seat was in Europe. The first Congress in America was held in Mexico, in 1895. Since then, it has been tried to alternate the seat between the old and new world.

Along the time, the Congresses increased the number of subjects studied and nowadays they gather specialists in Anthropolgy, Archaeology, Art, Law, Economy, Education, Philosophy, Geography, History, Linguistics, Sociology, Urban Studies, Human Rights and other technological areas.

Today the International Congress of Americanists (ICA) meets every three years and is attended by a high number of participants in a wide variety of scientific activities: simposia, conferences, meetings of international associations and organizations related to american studies, etc.

References:

Juan Comas: Cien años de Congresos Internacionales de Americanistas. Ensayo histórico-crítico y bibliográfico, UNAM, México 1974.