December 2017
The African Studies Association (ASA) is pleased to announce the 2017 award winners. The awards at the ASA Awards Ceremony, held on the evening of Saturday, November 18th, 2017 at the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile in Chicago, IL. The ASA heartily congratulates the following individuals and organizations:
Distinguished Africanist Award
The ASA Distinguished Africanist Award was established in the 1980’s, to recognize and honor scholars who have contributed a lifetime record of outstanding scholarship in their respective field of African studies and service to the Africanist community. This year, the award goes to Professor Iris Berger for her considerable contributions to the study of Africa.
Graduate Student Paper Prize- Amanda B. Edgell
In 2001, the ASA Board of Directors established an annual prize for the best graduate student paper presented at the ASA Annual Meeting in the previous year. The 2017 award goes to Amanda B. Edgell, University of Florida, for her paper, “Vying for the ‘Man’s Seat’ – Constituency Magnitude and Mainstream Female Candidature for Non-Quota Seats in Uganda and Kenya.”
Paul Hair Prize
The ASA presents the Paul Hair Prize to The Life and Struggles of Our Mother Walatta Petros: A Seventeenth-Century Biography of an Ethiopian Woman: Galawdewos, Translated and Edited by Wendy Laura Belcher & Michael Kleiner
Gretchen Walsh Book Donation Award
The African Studies Association offers an annual grant program in collaboration with the Africana Librarians Council to assist book donation projects with shipping costs to send books to African libraries and schools. This year, two grants were awarded to: YAfrique Ghana and The Southern African Institute for Policy and Research (SAIPAR) Zambia
ASA Public Service Award
The ASA Public Service Award honors those who have been long-standing contributors to the ASA’s mission and to African Studies, through non-academic contributions. The ASA is excited to announce the following 2017 recipients: Elliot Fratkin & Sean Redding
Royal Air Maroc-ASA Student Travel Award
The Royal Air Maroc-African Studies Association Student Travel Award aims to increase the exchange of students and ideas between Africa and the United States, and to award outstanding scholarship by future scholars of African Studies. The award consists of tickets for round-trip travel between the United States and any Royal Air Maroc Africa destination, and it is given to students of African Studies. This year the following 19 individuals received the award:
Abdulbasit Kassim
Camille Dantzler
Nehal Elmeligy
Harrouna Malgoubi
Olanrewaju Lasisi
Boukary Sangare
Kevin Wamalwa
Tarek Ziadna
Samson Ndanyi
Cherie Saulter
Yassine Dguidegue
Matthew Steele
Abdul Gafaru Tahiru
Claire Seulgie Lim
Benjamin Kofi Nutor
Carlee Forbes
Antwi-Boasiako Kingsley
Richmond Danso
Isaac Dery
Bethwell A. Ogot Book Prize
The Bethwell A. Ogot Book Prize of the African Studies Association is awarded annually at the ASA Annual Meeting to the author of the best book on East African Studies published in the previous calendar year. This year, the Bethwell A. Ogot Book Prize was awarded to Bert Ingelaere, for his book, Inside Rwanda’s Gacaca Courts: Seeking Justice after Genocide (University of Wisconsin Press).
Melville J. Herskovits Prize
The ASA presents the Herskovits Prize to the author of the most important scholarly work in African studies published in English during the preceding year. This year, the Melville J. Herskovits Prize was awarded to: Fallou Ngom, for his book entitled, Muslims Beyond the Arab World: The Odyssey of Ajami and the Muridiyya (Oxford University Press)
Congratulations again to all of our winners and we look forward to seeing everyone next year in Atlanta!!
