What is ItaCa?

Our name is a syllabic acronym: we are Italian Category theorists, but we also allude to the island to which Odysseus strove so hard to return.

During the Category Theory 2019 conference in Scotland, it became clear just how many Italians are part of the category theory community. Some of us proposed creating an official network in which we could grow together. ItaCa was born from this idea: a group of mathematicians scattered across the world, united by a shared love for category theory and their Italian background.

The community we aim to build is as open and inclusive as possible, with no distinction based on mathematical taste or school of thought (or on gender, language, ethnicity, and so on). The island of ItaCa is open to mathematicians of all kinds, regardless of nationality or background.

At the same time, ItaCa is rooted in Italy: it is made up primarily of Italian category theorists, and its core group of organizers and promoters is Italian.

Over the past few years, ItaCa has grown beyond our expectations. We have organized conferences in Milan, Genoa, Pisa, Turin, and Padua. Our sixth workshop, held in December 2025, hosted nearly eighty participants, the vast majority of whom were Italian.

Alongside our annual in-person workshops, we run an online seminar series, ItaCa Fest, which usually takes place monthly, from April to November.

We have also published a freely available introductory course on basic category theory on YouTube.

You are very welcome to join us and help the community grow. In particular, feel free to subscribe to our mailing list by sending a subscription email (the subject and body can be left blank), and to join our Facebook group.

— Blind monks examining an elephant
Hanabusa Itchō