The Smithsonian Congress of Scholars (SCOS) is an organization composed of representatives from all the museums and units that carry out scholarly research. Our goal is to enhance communications among scholarly staff across the Institution and to address issues of common concern to the Smithsonian research community.
As such, the SCOS serves as a point of contact between the Smithsonian’s administration and the Institution’s research staff, illuminating the important scholarship being done here and serving as a sounding board in order to foster excellence in scholarship at the Smithsonian. The Congress of Scholars is led by a Council comprised of representatives from research units across the Smithsonian. A list of Council representatives is found on the Council page.
The Council organizes an annual lecture series featuring prominent scholars from around the Smithsonian. In addition, the Council hosts a special Annual Event, bringing together scholars on a specific issue of timely relevance.
A brief history of the Congress can be found on the About SCOS page.
