The Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies (ICJS) is a multidisciplinary research center that supports the ongoing international study of Thomas Jefferson and his world. Academic conferences constitute a major vehicle for engaging a global audience in Jefferson’s ideas. Along with hosting lectures and events at Monticello, the ICJS has sponsored international conferences in Australia, China, Cuba, Russia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Britain, Poland, Austria and Italy. These international symposia are headlined by prominent historians, including Annette Gordon-Reed, Gordon Wood, Peter S. Onuf and David Armitage.
In December 2018, Monticello’s ICJS and the University of Notre Dame collaborated on a conference on comparative independence movements in the Americas. The conference was held at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in Santiago. Among those in attendance were Andrew O’Shaughnessy from Monticello and historians associated with the ICJS, including Gordon Wood, Annette Gordon-Reed, Peter Onuf, Jack Greene, Amy Bushnell, Trevor Burnard, Patrick Griffin and Frank Cogliano.