The ASA is thrilled to announce its 2023 Fellowships for Carnegie Corporation of New York supported scholars. This year, the ASA will be offering unique opportunities to which Carnegie supported scholars can submit proposals. Applicants are invited to submit applications in one of two tracks: First Time Grantees and Returning Peer Mentor Grantees. All grantees will attend the ASA 66th Annual Meeting and pre-conference workshop in San Francisco, November 29 – December 2. The Publishing Improvement Pipeline for Emerging Scholars (PIPES) workshop, jointly organized by the editors of African Studies Review, History in Africa, and the ASA Emerging Scholars Network, will afford all grantees an opportunity to workshop their paper for future publication in a scholarly journal with expert and peer feedback. First Time Grantees should plan to workshop their conference presentation paper in one of the topics below. Returning Peer Mentor Grantees may workshop a draft paper related to the topics below. Following the workshop, 12 First Time Attendee scholars will present on three curated panels at the Annual Meeting, November 30 – December 2. Three Returning Peer Mentor Scholars will participate as discussants, one on each of the curated panels. A senior scholar with topical expertise will chair each panel, provide presentation feedback, and mentorship.
We are delighted to invite submissions from the Carnegie supported programs below and look forward to welcoming 15 new fellows in this year’s cohort.
Carnegie scholars are invited to submit presentation proposals to one of the following topics:
*Please note: the questions under each topical title are for thought and reflection. We aim for these groups to be deeply interdisciplinary, so if you feel your work may fit broadly within the heading even if the questions do not directly address your work, please submit a proposal.
Climate Activism and Apathy
Climate change and its challenges have quickly become some of the most pressing concerns of contemporary policy and politics. This panel responds to this concern by exploring the broad range of responses to and questions raised by climate change and its accompanying politics. How are states responding to growing pressures to adopt policies that show action in relation to the effects of climate change? What kinds of activism and alliances have growing concerns about the environment and the impacts of climate change produced? Can we imagine an actionable, ideal sustainability for food production? What are the roles of local and international government, and transnational regulatory bodies in Africa’s agricultural industries? How do indigenous knowledge systems approach contemporary climate change and other environmental challenges? What about international corporate interest and international market development? How do urban population growth, conservation efforts, and the rural/urban divide impact climate activist goals throughout Africa? How are environmental concerns shaping understandings and practices of governance, social stability, and peacebuilding?
Afro-Futures: Science, Technology, & Innovation in Practice and Imagination
This panel seeks to understand the role of scientific and technological practices in forging imaginations of African futures. A growing literature has examined the questions of power across technoscapes in Africa, whether it be struggles over the control of new technologies such as solar and wind which threaten to displace existing systems of fossil fuels, or the growing concerns about artificial intelligence, biometrics, and financial technologies that enable private institutions to track and conceive of humans in new ways. This panel builds on these debates by exploring how everyday engagement with emergent technologies and scientific practices are reshaping notions of futurity and imaginations of what Africa’s possible futures might be. Using diverse tools from political organization, to technological innovation, to artistic production, to literary imaginations, how have Africans engaged the question of technological and scientific futures? How have governance structures, policies, and social practices shaped the uses of technology in Africa? How do we understand the historical and social dynamics of science and scientific innovation? How can the world center African scientific practices in global discussions about science and technology?
Gendering Urban Landscapes
What happens to conceptualizations of African cities when we place gender at the center of our analysis? While studies of African urbanism have burgeoned over the last two decades there remains a critical need to better understand how gender shapes studies of cities both as method and as concept. This panel brings together questions of gender and urbanism. We seek to understand: Where do women have a voice in sharing their experiences of urban life? How have notions of gender roles influenced planning, spatial usage, or everyday city life? How have shifting socio-political landscapes of gender and sexuality impacted health and safety in urban spaces?c In what ways have the demands of everyday urban life shifted during the pandemic and how have those shifts impacted women and families? How does urban space, surveillance practices, and opportunities shape gendered experiences of urban living and working?
Paper Proposal
The paper abstract should consist of a statement about the topic, the nature and extent of the research on which the paper is based, and a brief summary of the main argument(s) (a maximum of 200 words). All proposals must be submitted via this form and must be received by Monday, May 15, 2023.
Participation Expectations
The ASA’s events will provide multiple opportunities to engage in interdisciplinary dialogue, refine scholarly papers, and cultivate mentor relationships. The publishing pre-conference workshop will focus on the process of publishing in a scholarly journal, article editing, and peer review skills for 15 Carnegie supported scholars in three topical groups. All grantees should prepare a research paper to workshop as a draft journal article. All participants will be expected to participate in person in San Francisco so grantees should plan for international travel. First Time Attendee scholars should prepare a 15-20 minute paper presentation for the Annual Meeting. Returning Peer Mentor Grantees will be expected to provide presentation feedback to First Time Grantees and serve as discussants on the curated panels. All scholars will be expected to communicate with panel chairs via email one month prior to the Annual Meeting, and to provide their journal article draft to workshop facilitators in that same period.
Selected participants will be granted two-year memberships in the African Studies Association and ASA Emerging Scholars Network as well as conference registration, travel funding, and onsite meals and incidentals per diem.
Eligibility
The African Studies Association invites fellows from the following networks to submit paper proposals:
– African Humanities Program
– African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS)
– African Leadership Centre
– African Peacebuilding Network
– African Research Universities Alliance, Centers of Excellence
– Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa
– Makerere Institute for Social Research
– Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa
– Partnership for African Social and Governance Research
– Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture
– CCNY supported projects at the University of Ghana
– CCNY supported projects at Makerere University
– CCNY supported projects at the University of the Witwatersrand
– CCNY supported projects at the University of Cape Town
– CCNY supported fellows at the University of Pretoria Future Africa Institute
– Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment at the University of the Witwatersrand
Please note: Individuals that have previously been awarded an ASA Presidential Fellowship or a CCNY Fellowship to attend the ASA Annual Meeting are not eligible as a First Time Grantee for the 2023 CCNY Fellowship. They should apply as a Returning Peer Mentor.
Proposals can be submitted via this form. All proposals must be submitted via this form by Monday, May 15. Proposals submitted via email will not be accepted. If you have any questions, please contact Alix Saba at alix@africanstudies.org or Reed Couvillon at reed@africanstudies.org.
