International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations
About Us
Who We Are
The International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations was formally established in 1961 at a meeting in Salzburg, organized by historian Othmar Anderle and attended by fellow historians Arnold J.Toynbee and Rushton Coulborn. Sociologist Pitirim Sorokin was our Society's first President.
In 1970 the Society's leadership crossed the Atlantic as Benjamin Nelson became it's first American president. Under the guidance of anthropologist Roger Wescott; historian Carroll Quigley; political scientist David Wilkinson; literary comparatist Michael Palencia-Roth; sociologists C.P. Wolf, Vytautas Kavolis, Matthew Melko, Benjamin Nelson the ISCSC developed into a dynamic international organization.
Although a majority of its members reside in the United States of America, over thirty foreign countries are represented in its membership. The dynamism of the society has been maintained over the years in part through its Annual Meeting and the participation of scholars such as Talcott Parsons, Hayden White, Immanuel Wallerstein, Gordon Hewes, André Gunder Frank, Marshall Sahlins, Lynn White Jr. and Jeremy Sabloff.
The ISCSC is committed to the notion that complex, civilizational problems need diverse, multidisciplinary analyses. Initially the members of the Society came from history, anthropology, and sociology; now, the Society includes such disciplines as philosophy, psychology, comparative religions, economics, political theory, literary criticism and textual analysis, art history, comparative government, comparative literature, science and technology, linguistics, archaeology, architecture, geography, biology, physics and ethnohistory.
The Society is affiliated with comparative studies programs worldwide and actively fosters internationalism through its annual meetings and its publications. Our mailing address is: 7960 B Soquel Drive Suite 394, Aptos, CA 95003 USA
Past & Current Presidents:
Pitirim A. Sorokin, 1961-1964
Othmar Anderle, 1964-71
Benjamin Nelson, 1971-77
Vytauta Kavolis, 1977-83
Matthew Melko, 1983-86
Michael Palencia-Roth, 1986-92
Roger W. Wescott, 1992-95
Shuntaro Ito, 1995-98
Wayne Bledsoe, 1998-2004
Lee Daniel Snyder, 2004-07
Andrew Targowski, 2007-2013
David Rosner, 2013-2016
Toby Huff, 2016-2017
Lynn Rhodes, 2017-current
Past and Future Conference Locations
1961: Salzberg, Austria
1964: Salzberg, Austria
1971: Philadelphia, PA USA, & American Academy for the Advancement of Science
1972: Washington, DC, USA & AAAS
1974: Boston University, USA & Society for Cross-Cultural Research
1975: University of Pittsburgh, PA USA
1976: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia USA
1977: Bradford Junior College, Bradford, MA USA
1978: The University of Milwaukee USA
1979: California State University, Northridge USA
1980: Syracuse University, NY
1981: Indiana University, Bloomington USA
1982: The University of Pittsburgh USA
1983: The State University of New York at Buffalo USA
1984: Appalachian State University, Boone, NC USA
1985: Antioch College, Yellow Springs, OH USA
1986: The College of Santa Fe, NM USA
1987: Ohio University, Athens, OH USA
1988: Hampton University, Hampton, VA USA
1989: The University of California, Berkeley USA
1990: The University of Illinois, Urbana
1991: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
1992: Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond USA
1994: University College, Dublin, Ireland
1995: Wright State University, Dayton, OH USA
1996: Cal Poly Institute Pomona, CA USA, & World History Assn
1997: Brigham Young University, Provo, UT USA
1998: Reitaku University, Reitaku, Japan
1999: St. Louis, MO, USA
2000: The University of Alabama, Mobile AL, USA
2001: Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA
2002: Frenchman’s Cove, Port Antonio, Jamaica
2003: St. Petersburg, Russia, with four Russian Associations
2004: The University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK USA
2005: The University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN USA
2006: Paris, France, Ecole Practique des Hautes Etudes
2007: Asilomar Conference Center, Monterey, CA USA
2008: New Brunswick, Canada
2009: Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
2010: Provo, Utah, USA
2011: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
2012: Washington DC USA
2013: Pacific Grove CA USA
2014: Monmouth University, NJ, USA
2015: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2016: Monmouth University, New Jersey, USA
2017: Marconi Conference Center, Marshall CA, USA
2018: Suzhou University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
2019: El Retiro San Iñigo, Los Altos, CA USA
2020: Bucharest, Romania (postponed due to COVID19 restrictions)
2021: Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University, Bucharest, Romania
2022: Monmouth University, New Jersey, USA