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ASA Announces Expansion of the Mahmoud Mohamed Taha Student Travel Award Fund

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 17, 2024
Contact: Alix Saba, Executive Director, asaed@africanstudies.org

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ASA Announces Expansion of the Mahmoud Mohamed Taha Student Travel Award Fund
 
PISCATAWAY, New Jersey – The African Studies Association is pleased to announce the expansion of the Mahmoud Mohamed Taha Student Travel Award Fund to support research and the exchange of ideas for African studies students. The expansion of this Fund was made possible by a generous gift from Dr. Steve Howard to scale the award’s impact.
 
The Mahmoud Mohamed Taha Student Travel Award, established in 2023 by a generous gift from Dr. Howard, is awarded to competitively selected students who have displayed outstanding scholarship in their area of study. The ASA invites nominations from ASA members or applications from currently enrolled students for funds to facilitate research, study abroad, and/or travel to present research at the ASA Annual Meeting. Applications for African and African descended students studying at U.S. Institutions are prioritized during the selection process. Applications will open online in December 2024 for the 2025 award cycle.

The award is named in honor of Mahmoud Mohamed Taha (1909-1985), an author and founder of an Islamic reform movement in Sudan called the “Republican Brotherhood.” This award honors his legacy of “progressive ideas, his promotion of democracy and gender equality, and his vision of a universe at peace.” Dr. Howard attended the 2023 ASA Annual Meeting in San Francisco with Asma Mahmoud Mohamed Taha, political activist and daughter of the award’s namesake. At the ASA’s awards ceremony, both spoke movingly about the award, Mahmoud Mohamed Taha’s legacy, and the current war in Sudan. You can view the recording on our YouTube.
 
Nine students received the Mahmoud Mohamed Taha Student Travel Award for the inaugural 2024 award cycle. You can also read their profiles and the impact of the award on their research in our recent ASA News, Fall 2024.

Ridwan Balogun, Florida State University
Diweng Mercy Dafong, University of Alabama
Oluwasola Daniels, University of California, Davis
Kevin Hayes, Florida State University
June Kariuki, Ohio University
Kefas Lamak, University of Iowa
Atswei Laryea, Barnard College
Ashley May, Brown University
Vitalis Nwashindu, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
 
Dr. Howard grew up near Boston, Massachusetts, graduated from Georgetown University, and decided to pursue a scholarly career in African studies following his Peace Corps service. He earned his PhD in sociology at Michigan State University, writing a dissertation on Sudan. Sudan has continued to be the center of his research interests, writing particularly about the progressive Muslim social movement known as the Republican Brotherhood. Dr. Howard taught for 36 years at Ohio University and served 24 years as the institution’s African Studies Program director – directing approximately 60 dissertations of African scholars. In 2022, Dr. Howard was awarded the ASA’s Distinguished Africanist Award. Complete biographies for Dr. Steve Howard and Mahmoud Mohamed Taha can be found on the award page and in Dr. Howard’s book, Modern Muslims: A Sudanese Memoir.
 
About the ASA
Established in 1957, the African Studies Association (ASA) is the flagship membership organization devoted to enhancing the exchange of information about Africa. Based in the United States, the ASA aims to cultivate a better understanding of the continent, taking a holistic approach to its areas of focus. ASA provides access to path-breaking research and key debates in African studies and facilitates interdisciplinary exchanges with African scholars and institutions. The ASA Annual Meeting fosters global networks by convening people with scholarly and other interests in Africa, and ultimately broadens professional opportunities in the field. The organization publishes two leading multidisciplinary journals on Africa, African Studies Review and History in Africa and promotes an informed understanding of Africa to educational institutions, as well as to the public. businesses, media, and other interested communities.

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