African Studies Association (ASA)

Established in 1957, the African Studies Association is the flagship membership organization devoted to enhancing the exchange of information about Africa.

With almost 2,000 individual and institutional members worldwide, the African Studies Association encourages the production and dissemination of knowledge about Africa, past and present. Based in the United States, the ASA supports understanding of an entire continent in each facet of its political, economic, social, cultural, artistic, scientific, and environmental landscape. Our members include scholars, students, teachers, activists, development professionals, policymakers and donors.

Our Mission

The African Studies Association encourages the production and dissemination of historical and contemporary knowledge about Africa. The ASA is based in the United States and aims to cultivate a better understanding of the continent, taking a holistic approach to its areas of focus. This includes all facets of Africa’s political, economic, social, cultural, artistic, scientific, and environmental landscapes, to name a few. Our members include scholars, students, teachers, activists, development professionals, policymakers and donors. The ASA achieves its mission by:

• Providing access to path-breaking research and key debates in African Studies
• Facilitating interdisciplinary exchanges with African scholars and institutions
• Publishing high-quality research on Africa-related issues
• Fostering networks of Africanist scholars and practitioners through the Annual Meeting and other forums
• Addressing the challenges faced by universities engaged in research, teaching, and outreach related to Africa
• Broadening professional opportunities on African issues
• Promoting a better understanding of Africa through academia, policy-makers, NGOs, media, business, learned societies, and other interested communities

Annual Meeting

Every year the ASA hosts an international conference, which is attended by approximately 2,000 participants from around the world and across all academic disciplines.

Read More about Annual Meeting

The ASA has a long and proud tradition of honoring individuals for their outstanding work in the field of African Studies, through various lifetime contribution, research, and book awards.

Read More our Awards and Prizes

ASA Publications

The African Studies Association publishes two popular and respected journals:

1. African Studies Review (ASR) is the flagship scholarly journal of the African Studies Association (USA). The ASR publishes the highest quality African studies scholarship in all academic disciplines. The ASR’s rigorous interdisciplinary peer review seeks to contribute to the development of scholarly conversations of interest to the diverse audience of the Association’s membership and to the growth of African studies in North America, on the African continent, and in a global comparative context.
2. History in Africa, A Journal of Method is an international, peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes original research and review essays on methodological and historiographical matters pertaining to African history. It has been at the forefront of critical discussion of these topics for more than four decades. It seeks submissions that suggest new methodological approaches, provide insights into source materials, and reflect critically on themes in existing literature or emerging fields of inquiry. History in Africa is a venue for rigorous analysis of both established and emerging research practices as well as of the resulting scholarly production about the African past.