Welcome to the official website of the International Association for Semiotic Studies (IASS).
We are a global scholarly organization of researchers interested in studying signification processes and systems, from bio-zoological ones to those of our social life and everyday worlds.
Semiotics studies signification phenomena in nature, in society, between cultures and between all sorts of beings, both human and non-human. To do it, semioticians analyze meaning and sense-making with heuristic methods and instruments. The purpose is to understand signification and sense-making better, to propose models of interpretation, and to shed light on the diversity of possible meanings or senses a given phenomenon might have.
Therefore, semioticians play the role of ‘mediators of meaning’ for other disciplines, for professions in all fields, and for individuals interested in what life and the world around them might mean.
The International Association for Semiotic Studies (IASS) was founded in 1969. Among its founding members were Algirdas Julien Greimas, Roman Jakobson, Julia Kristeva, Emile Benveniste, André Martinet, Roland Barthes, Umberto Eco, Thomas A. Sebeok, and Juri Lotman. Since then, it has been the world’s leading organization in semiotics. Its official working languages are English, French, Spanish and German.
The IASS-AIS has both individual and collective members. Among the latter, we count international and multinational associations and groups dealing with the semiotics of particular topics, national semiotics associations, regional groups and research centers.
The current Bureau of the IASS, elected in Warsaw (September 2024) for the 2024-2029 term, is composed as follows:
PRESIDENT: Jacques Fontanille (France)
0000-0003-1141-1596 | 
26036915300 | 
U-1542-2019
SECRETARY GENERAL: Tiziana Migliore (Italy)
0000-0003-1501-7983 | 55795087000
TREASURER: Nedret Öztokat (Turkey)
0000-0003-3445-1275 | AAC-6627-2020
VICE-SECRETARY GENERAL: Marita Soto (Argentina)
0009-0009-7325-1007 | LGZ-6886-2024
VICE-PRESIDENTS
- for Europe: Zdzisław Wąsik (Poland)
- for the Americas: Claudio F. Guerri (Argentina)
0009-0004-1394-1843 | 56432526100 | - for Asia and Oceania, excluding China: Seema Khanwalkar (India)
0000-0003-4027-2812 | - for Africa: Joseph Paré (Burkina Faso)
- for China: Hongbing Yu (Canada and China)
0000-0002-1944-1514 | 55584498700 | LFV-1551-2024
EDITORS-IN-CHIEF OF SEMIOTICA
- Stéphanie Walsh Matthews (Canada)
0009-0004-1363-4464 | 57193224469 | FKK-8025-2022 - Massimo Leone (Italy)
0000-0002-8144-4337 | 35199859000 | U-3689-2019 - Jamin Pelkey (Canada)
0000-0002-0069-0617 | 55761050300 | AAA-8514-2021
COLLABORATORS
- Communications Manager: Alexandre Provin Sbabo (Brazil)
0000-0001-5231-0658 | - Social Media Manager: Sebastián Moreno (Uruguay)
0000-0003-3551-7117 | 57219166189 | JPX-0465-2023
HONORARY PRESIDENTS:
Eero Tarasti (Finland)
Umberto Eco ✝ (Italy)
Jerzy Pelc ✝ (Poland)
Roland Posner ✝ (Germany)
Cesare Segre ✝ (Italy)
Gloria Withalm (Austria)
According to Article 2 of the Statuts de l’Association Internationale de Sémiotique, the IASS-AIS has the following goals:
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Promoting the integrity of semiotics as scientific research (Promouvoir les recherches sémiotiques dans un esprit scientifique);
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Strengthening and broadening international ties within the field of semiotics (Renforcer la coopération internationale dans ce domaine);
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Reinforcing collaborations with similar associations (Collaborer avec d’autres associations similaires);
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Organising conferences and workshops both at the national and international level (Organiser des colloques nationaux et internationaux et des stages de formation);
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Publishing an international journal, Semiotica (Publier une revue internationale [. . .]: Semiotica).
The IASS-AIS comprises nearly 800 members representing all continents. Combined with the members of affiliated multinational, national, regional associations, research groups and circles, the Association represents more than thousand of semioticians who are organized all over the world.