The African Studies Association is thrilled to award Robertson Engagement Grants to first-time Annual Meeting attendee graduate students and junior faculty with an interest in engaging the ASA Women’s Caucus. Robertson Engagement Grants expand support for emerging and underfunded scholars in the field of African studies, and provide access to ASA’s resources and career-advancing networking opportunities.
The Robertson Engagement Grant includes one year of ASA membership, Annual Meeting registration, ASA Women’s Caucus membership, and a modest Annual Meeting travel stipend. Awardees will be selected annually beginning in 2026.
This award was made possible by a generous gift from Claire Robertson through the establishment of the Robertson Fund. You can support this award and related programming by selecting the Robertson Fund in the donation form here.
Eligibility
First-time ASA Annual Meeting attendees who are current MA or PhD students or junior faculty are welcome to apply. Junior scholar is defined as a non-tenured scholar with a terminal degree including pre-tenure, non-tenure track, postdoc, visiting scholar, instructor, temporary, adjunct, or lecturer.
To Apply
Please complete this form to be considered for a Robertson Engagement Grant. Applications will open early 2026. Applications close April 30 annually.
Robertson Engagement Grant committee
TBD
About Claire Robertson
Dr. Claire C. Robertson is Professor Emerita of History and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at The Ohio State University, where she taught from 1984 to 2012. She received her MA from the University of Chicago in early modern European history and her Ph.D. in 1974 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in African history. She has published over sixty articles and six books on women and slavery, African women and trade, education, socioeconomic structure, genital cutting, racism in the military, life histories, with particular reference to Ghana and Kenya, and Atlantic World histories, among others. She received the African Studies Association Best Book Award (formerly the Herskovits Book Prize) for Sharing the Same Bowl: A Socioeconomic History of Women and Class in Accra, Ghana (Indiana University Press, 1984), and the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association’s Peggy Koppelman Book Award for Transnational Sisterhood and Genital Cutting: Disputing U.S. Polemics (University of Illinois Press, 2005), co-edited with Stanlie James. Dr. Robertson is a founding member of the ASA Women’s Caucus and former co-convener.
About the Robertson Fund
The Robertson Fund, established through a generous gift by Dr. Claire Robertson in 2025, supports three ASA opportunities: The Robertson Engagement Grant, ASA Dependent Care Grants, and Student Volunteer Attendance Stipends. The Student Volunteer Attendance Stipends engage local student volunteers who support the ASA Women’s Caucus Marketplace.