About the Institute

The Institute was founded in August 2004 through a merger of the Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS) with the Institute of United States Studies (IUSS), both of which had been founded in 1965 at 31 Tavistock Square. Like its predecessors, the new Institute forms part of the University of London's School of Advanced Study.

ISA occupies a unique position at the core of academic study of the region in the UK. Internationally recognised as a centre of excellence for research and research facilitation, ISA also provides resources to the wider academic community, serving and strengthening national networks of North Americanist, Latin Americanist and Caribbeanist scholars. The Institute actively maintains and builds ties with cultural, diplomatic and business organisations with interests in the Americas and, as part of the School of Advanced Study within the University of London, benefits from academic opportunities, facilities and stimulation across and between a wide range of subject fields in the humanities and social sciences.

The Council of the University of London approved the establishment of ISA on the understanding that it would be dedicated to teaching and research, not just on the USA and Latin America, but to the Americas as a whole, with proper attention to Canada and the Caribbean. ISA will uphold the dedication to area studies and multi-disciplinarity that animated its predecessors. No other institution in Europe offers such a combination of approaches.

As an integral part of the School of Advanced Study, ISA has a mission to foster scholarly initiatives at a national level, ensuring an energetic and original British presence in the international, and especially trans-Atlantic, study of the western hemisphere.