The Semiotic Society of America is an

interdisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

professional association A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) usually seeks to advocacy, further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that professio ...

serving scholars from many disciplines with common interests in

semiotics Semiotics (also called semiotic studies) is the systematic study of sign processes ( semiosis) and meaning making. Semiosis is any activity, conduct, or process that involves signs, where a sign is defined as anything that communicates something ...

, the study of signs and sign-systems. It was founded in 1975 and includes members from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Its official journal is ''

The American Journal of Semiotics ''The American Journal of Semiotics'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering semiotics. It was established in 1981 and is the official journal of the Semiotic Society of America. The journal publishes articles, responses or comments, and crit ...

''. The Society also publishes the proceedings of its annual conferences. Memberships in the society and publication of the journal are managed by the

Philosophy Documentation Center The Philosophy Documentation Center (PDC) is a non-profit publisher and resource center that provides access to scholarly materials in applied ethics, classics, philosophy, religious studies, and related disciplines. It publishes academic journal ...

. As its symbol, the Society uses

caduceus The caduceus (☤; ; la, cādūceus, from grc-gre, κηρύκειον "herald's wand, or staff") is the staff carried by Hermes in Greek mythology and consequently by Hermes Trismegistus in Greco-Egyptian mythology. The same staff was also ...

, the staff of a messenger bearing a

message A message is a discrete unit of communication intended by the source for consumption by some recipient or group of recipients. A message may be delivered by various means, including courier, telegraphy, carrier pigeon and electronic bus. A ...

, as a

sign A sign is an object, quality, event, or entity whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else. A natural sign bears a causal relation to its object—for instance, thunder is a sign of storm, or me ...

of a sign.

Publications of the Semiotic Society of America

* ''

'', 1981–present * '' Semiotics: The Proceedings of the Semiotic Society of America'', 1980–present * ''Semiotic Scene: Bulletin of the Semiotic Society of America'', 1977-1981 * ''Bulletin of Literary Semiotics'', 1975-1977

Presidents

According to the society's official website, the Presidents of the Society have included: * 1976: Henry Hiz * 1977: Eugen Baer * 1978: Thomas G. Winner * 1979:

Max H. Fisch Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

* 1980:

Allen Walker Read Allen Walker Read (June 2, 1906 – October 16, 2002) was an American etymologist and lexicographer. Born in Minnesota, he spent much of his career as a professor at Columbia University in New York. Read's work ''Classic American Graffiti'' is we ...

* 1981:

Richard Bauman Richard Bauman is a folklorist and anthropologist, now retired from Indiana University Bloomington. He is Distinguished Professor ''emeritus'' of Folklore, of Anthropology, and of Communication and Culture. Before coming to IU in 1985, he was the Di ...

* 1982: Harley C. Shands * 1983: Irmengard Rauch * 1984:

Thomas A. Sebeok Thomas Albert Sebeok ( hu, Sebők Tamás, ; 1920–2001) was a Hungarian-born American polymath,Cobley, Paul; Deely, John; Kull, Kalevi; Petrilli, Susan (eds.) (2011). Semiotics Continues to Astonish: Thomas A. Sebeok and the Doctrine of Signs'. ...

* 1985:

Donald Preziosi Donald Anthony Preziosi (born January 12, 1941) is an American art historian. He is Emeritus Professor of Art History at the University of California, Los Angeles. In August 2007, he became the MacGeorge Fellow at the University of Melbourne. He i ...

* 1986:

Michael Riffaterre Michel Riffaterre (; 20 November 1924 in Bourganeuf, Creuse – 27 May 2006 in New York), known as Michael Riffaterre, was an influential French literary critic and theorist. He pursued a generally structuralist approach. He is well known in ...

* 1987:

Naomi S. Baron Naomi S. Baron (born September 27, 1946, New York, NY) is a linguist and professor emerita of linguistics at the Department of World Languages and Cultures at American University in Washington, D.C. Education and career Baron earned a B.A. in ...

* 1988:

Jonathan Culler Jonathan Culler (born 1944) is an American literary critic. He was Class of 1916 Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Cornell University. His published works are in the fields of structuralism, literary theory and literary critici ...

* 1989: Bennetta Jules-Rosette * 1990:

Robert Scholes Robert E. Scholes (1929 – December 9, 2016) was an American literary critic and theorist. He is known for his ideas on fabulation and metafiction. Education and career Robert Scholes was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1929. After taking his ...

* 1991:

Linda Waugh Linda may refer to: As a name * Linda (given name), a female given name (including a list of people and fictional characters so named) * Linda (singer) (born 1977), stage name of Svetlana Geiman, a Russian singer * Anita Linda (born Alice Lake i ...

* 1992:

Nancy Armstrong Nancy Armstrong (born 1938) is a scholar, critic and professor of English at Duke University. Overview Before moving to Duke, Armstrong was the Nancy Duke Lewis Professor of Comparative Literature, English, Modern Culture & Media, and Gender Studi ...

* 1993: ( David Savan - died before taking office) * 1993: Michael Shapiro * 1994: Richard Lanigan * 1995: Eugen Baer * 1996:

Roberta Kevelson Roberta "Bobbie" Kevelson (November 4, 1931 – November 28, 1998) was an American academic and Semiotics, semiotician. She was an acknowledged authority on the pragmatism theories of Charles Sanders Peirce. Personal life Kevelson was born ...

* 1997: Myrdene Anderson * 1998:

Jean Umiker-Sebeok Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jean ...

* 1999: Floyd Merrell * 2000: William Pencak * 2001:

John Deely John Deely (April 26, 1942 – January 7, 2017) was an American philosopher and semiotician. He was a professor of philosophy at Saint Vincent College and Seminary in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Prior to this, he held the Rudman Chair of Grad ...

* 2002: Paul Perron * 2003:

Vincent Colapietro Vincent Colapietro is a Liberal Arts Research Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Pennsylvania State University (University Park Campus). His education includes a bachelor's degree from Saint Anselm College, a master's degree from Marque ...

* 2004–2005: Cary William Spinks * 2006:

Joseph Brent Joseph Frederick Brent (born April 6, 1976) is an American composer, mandolinist, multi-instrumentalist, and teacher. He is known for his performances and arrangements of rock and indie songs, as well as his original compositions with the ensembl ...

* 2007: Nathan Houser * 2008: Robert Hatten * 2009: Thomas Broden * 2010:

John Coletta John Coletta (1932 – 9 July 2006) was an English music manager and music producer. He managed Deep Purple, Whitesnake, Rainbow, Praying Mantis and others. He started his career by taking the Teacher's Diploma in Art at Brighton College of ...

* 2011: Frank Nuessel * 2012: Isaac Catt * 2013: André DeTienne * 2014: Elliot Gaines * 2015:

Marcel Danesi Marcel Danesi (born 1946) is Professor of Semiotics and Linguistic Anthropology at the University of Toronto. He is known for his work in language, communications and semiotics and is Director of the program in semiotics and communication theory. H ...

* 2016 Ted J. Baenziger * 2017 Deborah Smith-Shank * 2018 Deborah Eicher-Catt * 2019 Farouk Y. Seif * 2020 Frank Macke * 2021 Ronald C. Arnett

Honorary members

The "Sebeok fellow" award is the highest honor given by the Semiotic Society of America. The Sebeok fellows are David Savan (1992),Deely, John 2005. Floyd Merrell named sixth Thomas A. Sebeok Fellow of the Semiotic Society of America. ''

Sign Systems Studies ''Sign Systems Studies'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal on semiotics edited at the Department of Semiotics of the University of Tartu and published by the University of Tartu Press. It is the oldest periodical in the field. It was initially p ...

'' 33(2): 477–480.

(1993), Paul Bouissac (1996),

Jesper Hoffmeyer Jesper Hoffmeyer (21 February 1942 – 25 September 2019) was a professor at the University of Copenhagen Institute of Biology, and a leading figure in the emerging field of biosemiotics. He was the President of the International Society for Bios ...

(2000),

Kalevi Kull Kalevi Kull (born 12 August 1952, Tartu) is a biosemiotics professor at the University of Tartu, Estonia. He graduated from the University of Tartu in 1975. His earlier work dealt with ethology and field ecology. He has studied the mechanisms ...

(2003), Floyd Merrell (2005),

Susan Petrilli Susan Petrilli (born 3 November 1954) is an Italian semiotics, semiotician, professor of philosophy and theory of languages at the University of Bari, University of Bari, Aldo Moro, Italy, and the seventh Thomas Sebeok, Thomas A. Sebeok Fellow o ...

(2008), Irmengard Rauch (2011), Paul Cobley (2014),

(2018), Nathan Houser (2019),

(2020).

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.semioticsocietyofamerica.org/
List of Past SSA Presidents

The American Journal of Semiotics

Semiotics: The Proceedings of the Semiotic Society of America

Philosophy Documentation Center
Society of America, Semiotic

Publications of the Semiotic Society of America

Presidents

Honorary members

See also

References

External links