African Studies Association
The African Studies Association (ASA) is an association of scholars and professionals in the United States and Canada with an interest in the continent of Africa. Started in 1957, the ASA is the leading organization of African Studies in North America. The associations headquarters are Rutgers University in New Jersey. The ASA holds annual conferences
In 1968, the Black Caucus of the African Studies Association, led by John Henrik Clarke, founded the African Descent(Heritage) Studies Association.
Awards given by ASA
Herskovits Award
The Herskovits Award is given annually for the best scholarly work (including translations) on Africa published in English in the previous year and distributed in the United States. The award is named after Melville Herskovits, one of the founders of the ASA.
Distinguished Africanist Award
Beginning in 1984, the association has awarded the Distinguished Africanist Award.[1] In 2000, 2001, 2010 and 2011 two awards were given. Winners include:
- 1984 Gwendolen M. Carter
- 1985 Elliott Skinner
- 1986 Jan Vansina
- 1987 Joseph Greenberg
- 1988 Elizabeth Colson
- 1989 Roland Oliver
- 1991 Howard Wolpe
- 1992 Philip D. Curtin
- 1993 J. Ade Ajayi
- 1994 Leopold Sedar Senghor[2]
- 1995 Ali A. Mazrui
- 1996 Thandika Mkandawire
- 1997 Akin Mobogunje
- 1998 Ivor Wilks
- 1999 Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch
- 2000 Bernth Lindfors
- 2000 J.H. Kwabena Nketia
- 2001 Martin A. Klein
- 2001 Bethwell Ogot
- 2002 Peter Geschiere
- 2003 Joseph E. Harris
- 2004 Francis Deng
- 2005 John Hunwick
- 2006 Bogumil Jewsiewicki
- 2007 John Francis Marchment Middleton
- 2008 Edmond Keller
- 2009 Sylvester Ogbechie
- 2010 Terence Ranger
- 2011 Toyin Falola
- 2012 Jane Guyer
- 2013 Allen Isaacman
- 2014 Boubakar Barry
- 2015 Goran Hyden
Bethwell 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. Initiated in 2012, the award was made possible by a generous bequest from the estate of the late Professor Kennell Jackson, the award honors the eminent historian, Professor Bethwell A. Ogot.
Winners of this award are:
- 2012 Andrew Ivaska, Cultured States: Youth, Gender, and Modern Style in 1960s Dar es Salaam (Duke University Press)
- 2013 James R. Brennan, Taifa: Making Nation and Race in Urban Tanzania (Ohio University Press)
- 2014 Shane Doyle, Before HIV: Sexuality, Fertility and Mortality in East Africa 1900-1980 (British Academy Press)
- 2015 J.J. Carney, Rwanda Before the Genocide: Catholic Politics and Ethnic Discourse in the Late Colonial Era (Oxford University Press)
Presidents of ASA
Presidents of the ASA are elected annually by the membership. They include:[3]
- 1957-1958 Melville Herskovits, Northwestern University
- 1958 Gwendolen M. Carter, Smith College[4]
- 1959 William O. Brown, Boston University
- 1960 Cornelius W. deKiewiet
- 1961 William O. Jones, Stanford University
- 1962 Vernon McKay, Johns Hopkins University
- 1963 E. Franklin Frazier, Howard University[5]
- 1963 James Smoot Coleman, University of California, Los Angeles
- 1963 Hans Wolff, Michigan State University
- 1964 Paul J. Bohannan, Northwestern University
- 1965 Joseph H. Greenberg, Stanford University
- 1966 Rupert Emerson, Harvard University
- 1967 William A. Hance, Columbia University
- 1968 James S. Duffy, Brandeis University
- 1969 Benjamin E. Thomas, University of California
- 1970 L. Gray Cowan, Columbia University
- 1971 Philip D. Curtin, University of Wisconsin
- 1972 Carl G. Rosberg, University of California-Berkeley
- 1973 Immanuel Wallerstein, McGill University
- 1974 Absolom Vilakazi, The American University
- 1975 John Marcum, University of California-Santa Cruz
- 1976 Victor Uchendu, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- 1977 Edris Makward, University of Wisconsin–Madison
- 1978 J. Gus Liebenow, Indiana University
- 1979 Ali Mazrui, University of Michigan
- 1980 Peter Gutkind, McGill University
- 1981 Norman Bennett, Boston University
- 1982 Richard Sklar, University of California-Los Angeles
- 1983 M. Crawford Young, University of Wisconsin–Madison
- 1984 Laura Bohannan, University of Illinois at Chicago Circle
- 1985 Robert J. Cummings, Howard University
- 1986 Gerald J. Bender, University of Southern California
- 1987 Aidan Southall, University of Wisconsin–Madison
- 1988 Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja, Howard University
- 1989 Simon Ottenberg, University of Washington
- 1990 Ann Seidman, Clark University
- 1991 Martin A. Klein, University of Toronto
- 1992 Edmond J. Keller, University of California-Los Angeles
- 1993 David Robinson, Michigan State University
- 1994 Edward A. Alpers, University of California-Los Angeles
- 1995 Goran Hyden, University of Florida
- 1996 Iris Berger, State University of New York at Albany
- 1997 Gwendolyn Mikell, Georgetown University
- 1998 Sandra Greene, Cornell University
- 1999 David Wiley, Michigan State University
- 2000 Lansine Kaba, University of Illinois
- 2001 Catharine Newbury, University of North Carolina
- 2002 Allen Isaacman, University of Minnesota
- 2003 Beverly Grier, Clark University
- 2004 Sandra T. Barnes, University of Pennsylvania
- 2005 Bruce J. Berman, Queen's University
- 2006 Joseph C. Miller, University of Virginia
- 2007 Pearl T. Robinson, Tufts University
- 2008 Aliko Songolo, University of Wisconsin–Madison
- 2009 Paul Tiyambe Zeleza, Loyola Marymount University
- 2012 Aili M. Tripp, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- 2013 Abdi Samatar, University of Minnesota
- 2014 James Pritchett, Michigan State University
- 2015 Toyin Falola, University of Texas, Austin
- 2016 Dorothy Hodgson, Rutgers University
Publications
Publications include an annual journal: History in Africa: A Journal of Method, and African Studies Review. The Association publishes a quarterly newsletter ASA News for its members, and runs a blog.
African Heritage Studies Association
The African Heritage Studies Association is (or was) an offshoot of the African Studies Association, and was founded in 1968 by the ASA's Black Caucus and led by John Henrik Clarke.[6][7][8]
Notes
- ↑ "Distinguished Africanist Award 2009" African Studies Association Archived 2009-07-28 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ The award to Senghor was not without controversy. Bensaid, Alexandra and Whitehead, Andrew (1995) "Literature: Award to Senghor Triggers Debate" IPS-Inter Press Service, 18 April 1995, accessed via the commercial service Lexis/Nexis, 30 December 2008
- ↑ ASA, Presidents of the African Studies Association Archived August 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Elected ex-officio.
- ↑ Died before taking office.
- ↑ Eric Kofi Acree. "John Henrik Clarke: Historian, Scholar, and Teacher". Africana Library, Cornell University. Archived from the original on 31 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
- ↑ Diamond, Sara (2001). "African Heritage Studies Association". In Nina Mjagkij. Organizing Black America: an encyclopedia of African American associations. Taylor & Francis. pp. 16–17. ISBN 0-8153-2309-3. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
- ↑ Martin, William G.; West, Michael Oliver (1999). Out of one, many Africas: reconstructing the study and meaning of Africa. University of Illinois Press. pp. 99–106. ISBN 0-252-06780-0. Retrieved 2009-06-27.