The society for the history of human thought 

A global community of scholars since 1994.

The International Society for Intellectual History (ISIH) organises regular international conferences, publishes the Intellectual History Review, supports Early Career Researchers and publishes news from across the field.

We embrace a wide variety of approaches, methods, and disciplinary perspectives and are truly international in our membership. Join today!

What is intellectual history?

Intellectual history is the study of ideas and intellectual patterns over time.

It is a broad subject, addressing the history of philosophy, religion, science, scholarship, anthropology, technology, the book, psychology and the social sciences, and other relevant intellectual formations.

Find out more about intellectual history

Why join the Society?

If you are working in the history of philosophy, theology, and scholarship; the history of science, medicine, and technology; the history of legal and political thought; the history of literature, the visual arts, and music…then ISIH is for you!

Enquire about membership

Latest news

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  • 2023 Charles Schmitt Prize Winner

    We are delighted to announce that the winner of the Charles Schmitt prize for 2023 is Carlos Perez Crespo of the University of Hamburg, for his essay ‘Antiliberalism, Civil War and Dictatorship: Carl Schmitt and His Intellectual Influence on the Ideologists of Francoism (1939-1942)’. The winning essay will be published in Intellectual History Review. The…

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  • The Future of Intellectual History: A Celebration of Quentin Skinner’s London Years 

    10 May 2023, QMUL

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  • CFP: Afterlives of Empire in the Public Imagination

    21-22 September 2023 Department of European, American and Intercultural Studies, Sapienza University of Rome Keynote speakers: Corinne Fowler (University of Leicester), Pablo Mukherjee (University of Oxford). The resurgence of nationalist ideologies in Europe and the US has reignited interest in the histories and legacies of modern Empires. As of late, this has been strongly visible in the UK. The…

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  • Michael J. B. Allen (1941–2023)

    It is with great sadness that we share news of the death Professor Michael J. B. Allen, who died on 25 February 2023 in his Santa Monica home at the age of 81. Michael was an outstanding scholar, renowned for his work on the Renaissance philosopher Marsilio Ficino. Professor Emeritus at UCLA, he was a…

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