Institute for the Study of American Cultures
Encyclopedia
The Institute for the Study of American Cultures or ISAC is a defunct organization devoted to the study of pre-Columbian
contact between the Old and New Worlds. Although as an organization it did not espouse any particular theory, it was strongly oriented in a general way toward a hyperdiffusionist view that pre-Columbian contact had been extensive. It was greatly influenced by the work of Barry Fell
.
ISAC was founded by Dr. Joseph B. Mahan, a professional anthropologist whose career was primarily devoted to work in museums. Headquartered in Columbus, Georgia
, its activities consisted of holding an annual conference and of publishing books advocating the hyperdiffusionist view.
ISAC continued holding annual conferences after the death of its founder and President Dr. Mahan in 1995. The 30th Anniversary Conference was celebrated in 2003. Currently, ISAC's collection is housed at the Archives Department of Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia. Organizations with similar perspectives whose memberships overlapped that of ISAC are the
Midwest Epigraphic Society and the Epigraphic Society.
Pre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
contact between the Old and New Worlds. Although as an organization it did not espouse any particular theory, it was strongly oriented in a general way toward a hyperdiffusionist view that pre-Columbian contact had been extensive. It was greatly influenced by the work of Barry Fell
Barry Fell
Barry Fell was a professor of invertebrate zoology at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. His primary research was on starfish and sea urchins...
.
ISAC was founded by Dr. Joseph B. Mahan, a professional anthropologist whose career was primarily devoted to work in museums. Headquartered in Columbus, Georgia
Columbus, Georgia
Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Muscogee County, Georgia, United States, with which it is consolidated. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 189,885. It is the principal city of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area, which, in 2009, had an estimated population of 292,795...
, its activities consisted of holding an annual conference and of publishing books advocating the hyperdiffusionist view.
ISAC continued holding annual conferences after the death of its founder and President Dr. Mahan in 1995. The 30th Anniversary Conference was celebrated in 2003. Currently, ISAC's collection is housed at the Archives Department of Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia. Organizations with similar perspectives whose memberships overlapped that of ISAC are the
Midwest Epigraphic Society and the Epigraphic Society.