The International Institute of Semiotic Studies of Nanjing Normal University (IISS-NNU) was established in April, 2007. Semiotics has been around for a century since its two founders, namely C. Peirce of the US and F. de Saussure of Switzerland, put forward their own semiotic theories based on their logical and linguistic studies respectively. But the academic research in semiotics has been accelerated since the 1960s. In this sense, semiotics is still a new discipline. Semiotic studies attempt to make the discourse of the humanities precise and scientific. As a comprehensive or instructive discipline of the humanities and social sciences, semiotics is of great significance to the development of them.
　　The current director is Prof. Zhang Jie, who is also the dean of the School of Foreign Languages & Cultures of NNU and the vice chairman of China Association of Linguistics and Semiotics. The IISS-NNU has invited a number of famous scholars both at home and abroad to be the honorary research fellows such as Prof. Li Youzheng and Prof. Hu Zhuanglin. Since its birth, the IISS-NNU has been committed to semiotic research and has attained considerable achievements in this field, especially the studies of Russian and Soviet semioticians. Participating in and organizing academic activities is also a priority on the IISS-NNU’s agenda. The IISS-NNU team attended the 9th World Congress of Semiotics in Finland in June, 2007, the 10th World Congress of Semiotics in Spain in September, 2009, etc., and hosted the International Symposium on Cultural Semiotics on November 15-17, 2008. The IISS-NNU team has been in the process of co-organizing an international symposium on cultural semiotics with the International Association for Semiotic Studies. Now, it is in the process of preparing for the 11th World Congress of Semiotics to be held on October 5-9, 2012 in Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China.