African Studies Association Honors & Awards for Africanists
The African Studies Association recognizes outstanding contributions to the field of African studies through a range of awards, honors, fellowships, and prizes. These distinctions celebrate excellence in scholarship, research, writing, and service, highlighting achievements by authors, editors, graduate students, and Africa-based scholars. From book prizes and fellowships to recognition for innovative research and bibliographic work, the ASA’s awards showcase the diversity and impact of scholarship across the continent and globally.
Honors & Fellowships
Recognizes lifetime contributions to African studies, awarded with a plaque and lifetime ASA membership at the Annual Meeting.
Recognizes individuals or organizations for exceptional dedication to the ASA’s mission, including advancing African scholarship, supporting collaborations, and enhancing education and resources about Africa.
Provide travel grants for scholars and practitioners from Africa to attend the ASA Annual Meeting.
ASR Distinguished Lecture
The African Studies Review together with the ASA Board launched a distinguished lecture in 2011 featuring state of the art research in African Studies.
Focuses on leadership, development, and democracy in Africa, delivered biennially by an African scholar at the ASA Annual Meeting.
Focuses on humanistic scholarship and creative industries defined as architecture, design, fashion, film, music, visual and performing arts, and literature.
Awards & Prizes: Books
Honors the most significant English-language scholarly work in African Studies published in the previous year.
Aidoo Snyder Book Prize
Honors outstanding English-language works that center African women’s, alternating yearly between scholarly and creative works.
Recognizes the best scholarly book in East African studies published in the previous year.
Awards & Prizes: Publications
Awarded in odd years for the best English critical edition or translation of African primary source materials published in the previous two years.
Biennial award for Africa-related reference works, bibliographies, or bibliographic essays.
Recognizes editors and contributors of an Africa-focused anthology or edited collection of original scholarship that advances African studies through significance, originality, and quality.
Recognizes an Africa-based doctoral student who successfully defended a dissertation on any aspect of African studies during the previous year.
Recognizes the best research article published in African Studies Review during the previous year.
Awarded to the best graduate student paper presented at the previous year’s ASA Annual Meeting.
Awards & Prizes: Creative & Literary
Acknowledges the best unpublished Africana literary fiction manuscript each year.
Recognizes an outstanding film by an African filmmaker, focusing on innovative works that engage with social, political, and cultural issues relevant to Africa.
Recognizes the best children’s and young adult books on Africa published in the US, celebrating literary excellence and promoting accurate, balanced representations of African societies.
Grants and Stipends
Supports outstanding student scholarship in African Studies with travel grants for research, study abroad, or ASA Annual Meeting participation.
Junior Scholar Professional Development Grant
Supports junior scholar members at US institutions pursuing professional
development opportunities.
Provides travel subsidies to ASA members attending federal advocacy events in Washington, DC each spring.
Coordinate & Affiliate Organization Micro Grant
Supports events or projects by ASA Coordinate and Affiliate Organizations.
Offers annual grants to support book and media donations to African libraries and schools, covering shipping costs or purchasing materials.
Supports first-time Annual Meeting attendees—graduate students and junior faculty—interested in engaging with the ASA Women’s Caucus.
Engages local student volunteers who will support the ASA Women’s Caucus Marketplace.
Penny Schwartz Student Travel Grant
Honors Penny Schwartz’s legacy of student mentorship and is awarded annually to a current student member of the Caucus.