The Rector of the University of Seville and President of the Organizing Committee of the 52nd International Congress of Americanists greets the international academic community working in American studies and at the same time, invites them to participate at the next edition of this scientific meeting, which will be held at our University between July 17th and July 26th 2006. The International Congress of Americanists is a scientific event with a long tradition. It has been held uninterruptedly since 1875 (when the first one was held in Nancy, France) every three years, and the host city changes from country to country and also between continents, so that an edition in Europe is followed by an edition in America, and vice versa.

In the last two decades congresses were held in Colombia (Bogotá 1985), the Netherlands (Amsterdam 1988), United States (New Orleans 1991), Sweden (Stockholm-Uppsala 1994), Ecuador (Quito 1997), Poland (Warsaw 2000) and Chile (Santiago 2003).

The theme chosen for the 52nd ICA is intended to focus on plurality, on the fact that the Americas are plural not just in terms of states or European-background cultures, but also plural with regards to the indigenous people that preserve their own cultures; the resulting plurality of voices and votes, of studies and debates among the people and cultures of the Americas, a large region with one main feature, since the first encounter there are convergent and divergent developments of both global and local phenomena.

The University wants to show its gratitude for the trust conferred onto it by the scientific community that attended the General Meeting of the 51st International Congress of Americanists held in Santiago de Chile on July 17th 2003, in which it was voted to hold the forthcoming 2006 edition of the congress in Seville. It will be the fifth time this event takes place in Spain, which has already hosted four editions, all of them a long time ago: the two first ones in the late 19th century (4th and 9th editions, held in Madrid in 1881 and Huelva in 1892), and the other two editions were, by the way, held in Seville; they were the 26th Congress (Seville 1935) and the 36th Congress, held in Barcelona, Madrid and Seville in 1964.

In taking again the baton the University of Seville intends to attain the high standards of previous editions, which have turned the congress in an obliged reference in Americanist studies. With a history that dates back to the late 15th century, the University of Seville expanded with the city’s upsurge in connection with the American world, and nowadays it has become one of the most important in Spain. It keeps excellent academic relationships with all American countries and in quite different fields of knowledge, and this will nothing but facilitate the best possible welcoming environment to all those wishing to attend the Congress.

Moreover, the University of Seville has a long experience in the organization of all kinds of conferences and a physical infrastructure which is not only most appropriate, but also excellent to host an event of the characteristics and magnitude of the 52nd ICA. The venue will be historic central building of the University (former Royal Tobacco Factory, of the 18th century), current site of its Central Services and of the Schools of Law, Languages and Geography and History.