- Learned society
A learned society is an
organization that exists to promote anacademic discipline or group of disciplines. Membership may be open to all, may require possession of some qualification, or may be an honor conferred by election, as is the case with the oldest learned societies, such as the PolishSodalitas Litterarum Vistulana (founded1488 ), the ItalianAccademia dei Lincei (founded1603 ), theAcadémie Française (founded1635 ), theGerman Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (founded1652 ) or the Royal Society of London (founded1660 ).Most learned societies are
non-profit organization s. Their activities typically include holding regular conferences for the presentation and discussion of new research results and publishing or sponsoringacademic journal s in their discipline. Some also act asprofessional bodies , regulating the activities of their members in the public interest or the collective interest of the membership.Learned societies are of key importance in the
sociology of science . The formation of a society is an important step in the emergence of a new discipline or sub-discipline.Societies can be very general in nature, such as the
American Association for the Advancement of Science , specific to a given discipline, such as theModern Language Association , or specific to a given area of study, such as the [http://www.carla.umn.edu/LCTL/resources/orgs.html#yiddish American Association of Professors of Yiddish] .Most are either specific to a particular country (though they generally include some members from other countries as well), often with local branches, or are international, such as the
International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), in which case they often have national branches. But many are local, such as theMassachusetts Medical Society , the publishers of the internationally knownNew England Journal of Medicine .Membership
Some societies offer membership to those who have an interest in a particular subject or discipline, provided they pay their membership fees. Older and more academic/professional societies may offer associateships and/or fellowships to those who are appropriately qualified by honoris causa, or by submission of a portfolio of work or an original thesis. The most frequent benefit of membership is a sharply discounted subscription rate for the publications of the society.
ee also
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Academic conference s
*Engineering society
*List of learned societies
*Professional association
*External links
* [http://www.scholarly-societies.org/ Scholarly Societies Project from the University of Waterloo Libraries] -- database of hundreds of scholarly societies in various fields, including some of the oldest societies
* [http://www.morrin.org/eclectica Eclectica] , virtual exhibit on the history of Canadian learned societies.
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