About Us

The Semiotic Society of America (SSA) is an interdisciplinary professional organization serving a diverse community of scholars with common interests in the study of signs and sign-systems. Founded in 1976, the Society has supported innovative scholarship linking analytical and critical approaches to the postmodern world. Sign theories connect the fine arts, literary criticism, linguistics, communication, pedagogy, philosophy, mathematics, law, the human and social sciences, and technology disciplines.

Sebeok Fellow

Thomas Sebeok (1920-2001) expanded the purview of semiotics to include non-human signaling and communication systems, coining the term "zoosemiotics" as well as being one of the founders of biosemiotics.  He was renowned for his ability to bring together specialists from neighboring fields in order to generate perspectives on the study of myth, psycholinguistics, stylistics, animal communication, and biosemiotics as well as others. Sebeok was the editor-in-chief of the journal Semiotica (1969-2001) as well as the editor of several book series and encyclopedias, including Approaches to Semiotics, Current Trends in Linguistics, and the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Semiotics. The title of Sebeok Fellow recognizes outstanding contributions to the develop­ment of the doctrine of signs. In addition, the title of Sebeok Fellow also carries life membership in the Semiotic Society of America in accordance with the SSA Constitution.

Roberta Kevelson Award

Roberta Kevelson (1931 – 1998) was a semiotician and an important authority on the pragmatism theories of Charles Sanders Peirce. She was a professor at Pennsylvania State University (PA) and The College of William & Mary (VA). Among her published works are High Fives, The Inverted Pyramid, The Law as the System of Signs and, possibly her most significant work, Peirce and the Mark of the Gryphon. She was a founding member of the Semiotic Society of America. The Kevelson Award honors the best student paper presented at the SSA annual meeting (if, in the committee's judgment, a paper has been submitted that is worthy of this award). The winner of the Kevelson Award will be formally presented at a banquet at the next Annual Meeting, receive a cash prize, and the winning paper will have the opportunity to be published in The American Journal of Semiotics (provided it meets TAJS guidelines and passes the review process.).

The Kevelson Award is currently under the direction of Prof. Donna West in collaboration with the Executive Board.

   CONTACT INFORMATION

   Questions or comments about the SSA? Contact us @

   This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Correspondence Address:
Semiotic Society of America
Ramapo College of New Jersey
Teacher Education Suite, E-wing
505 Ramapo Valley Road
Mahwah, NJ 07430

Want to join this website as a member?
Send a request to:
semioticsocietywebmaster [at] gmail.com