AANLS – History

The American Association for Neo-Latin Studies (AANLS) was formed in 1983 to promote the study and teaching of Neo-Latin language and literature from the beginnings of Italian humanism to the present day. The current constitution and by-laws date to 1990. The AANLS is affiliated with the American Philological Association (APA) and holds its annual conference at the January meeting of the APA (see information about our past meetings by clicking “Meetings” on the Index). The AANLS is a non-profit organization with no political agenda or political affiliation. The AANLS website is http://www.arts.yorku.ca/aanls/index.html.  Neo-Latin News, the official publication of the AANLS, is published at the back of the academic journal Seventeenth Century News and consists of reviews dealing with Neo-Latin. It is edited by Craig Kallendorf of Texas A&M University. The journal has recently converted from paper to electronic format and is available through links on this website.

Neo-Latin is an exciting area of research and study in which much still remains to be done in regard to manuscripts, first editions, commentaries, pedagogy, and the cultural and historical environments of Neo-Latin texts. On this website are two new AANLS web projects: Neo-Latin in the New-World Context (coordinated by Edward George and Anne-Marie Lewis) and Neo-Latin in the Classroom (coordinated by Angela Fritsen, Diane Johnson, and Anne-Marie Lewis).

The AANLS currently has about thirty members and welcomes new members, both in North America and around the world – academics, teachers, graduate students, and anyone interested in Latin beyond the Medieval period.