Grants, Fellowships and Awards

For Undergraduate Students:

Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Awards are funded by the U.S. Department of Education and administered by the African Studies Program to assist students in acquiring African language and area studies competencies.

Applications due 11:59PM on Weds, Feb 14, 2024. Learn more>>


The Farha Tahir Award in African History supports an outstanding undergraduate student studying African History at UW-Madison. This fund may be used at the department’s discretion for writing prizes or research awards, and up to two awards of $1,000 each will be made in the spring 2023 term. This award is given to both History and non-History majors/certificate students, and any student who has written about or is planning to do research in African history is encouraged to apply. Questions about this award can be directed to undergraduateprogram@history.wisc.edu.

Applications are closed. Learn more>>


Boren Scholarships ($8,000 – $20,000) fund undergraduate students to study abroad in world regions critical to US interests. Funding can be used to study abroad in Senegal, Mozambique, Tanzania, Ghana, and South Africa. This program was established by the National Security and Education Program and is administered by the Institute of International Education.

Campus deadline for the 2024-2025 Boren Scholarship award cycle is December 1, 2023. Learn more>>


 

For Graduate Students

Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Awards are funded by the U.S. Department of Education and administered by the African Studies Program to assist students in acquiring African language and area studies competencies.

Applications due 11:59PM CST on Wed, Feb 14, 2024. Learn more>>


IRIS Graduate Student Summer Fieldwork Awards  will award $3,000 to support UW-Madison graduate students planning to conduct 6-8 weeks of summer fieldwork outside of the United States. Any continuing graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison may apply for these awards.

Applications are due 10AM CST on Wed, Feb 14, 2024. Learn more>>


The International Studies Teaching Fellow, will give students the opportunity to develop and teach an International Studies special topics course to undergraduate students

Application will open in early 2024. Learn more>>


The Africa 277 Teaching Fellow, will give students the opportunity to develop curriculum for the undergraduate survey course and serve as the lead summer instructor.

Application will open in early 2024.  Learn more>>


The Madison College Teaching Fellow, gives students the opportunity to develop and teach an in-person African Studies course at Madison College

Application will open in early 2024.  Learn more>>


The Laura Bassi Scholarship, which will award a total of $10,000 twice annually, was established by Editing Press in 2018 with the aim of providing editorial assistance to postgraduates and junior academics whose research focuses on neglected topics of study.

Rolling deadlines. Learn more>>


African Studies Program Research Award is intended to support graduate student research or creative/artistic endeavors related to the study of Africa and the diaspora. Funds may be used for domestic or international travel, archival work, or for other research related costs. Graduate students in good standing from any department or program are eligible to apply. Awardees may receive up to $4000. Award recipients must submit a photograph, brief bio, and a brief report on their work within one year of receiving funding. This information will be displayed on our website.

Applications are due 11:59PM CST on Wed, Feb 14, 2024. Learn more>>


Crawford Young Fellowship Fund in African Politics  will primarily support graduate students carrying out research and writing on African politics. Preference will be given to international students and to students from underrepresented groups or populations. Awardees will receive $1600 to support their research and writing on African politics.

Application closed. Learn more>>


Tejumola Olaniyan International Student Travel Award is intended to support travel for international students engaged in the study Global Black Cultures. The award is intended to support domestic or international travel by the student to conduct research, archival work, and/or creative or artistic endeavors. International graduate students in good standing from any department or program who are engaged in the study of Global Black Cultures are eligible to apply. Awardees may receive up to $4000 to support their research. Students must hold a F, J, or M visas (U.S. citizens and permanent residents are ineligible).

Applications are due 11:59PM CST on Wed, Feb 14, 2024. Learn more>>


William A. Brown Research Award is intended to support research on Islam or West African history. Funds must be used to advance research; recipients may propose to use this award for travel, archival work, or as direct support for writing. Awardees may receive up to $4000 in support of their research. Graduate students in good standing from any department or program who are engaged in the study of Islam or West African history.

Applications are due 11:59PM CST on Wed, Feb 14, 2024. Learn more>>


The Ebrahim Hussein Fellowship for research in African expressive cultures was established in the College of Letters and Science in 2003 thanks to the generosity of Robert M. Philipson, alumnus of the College of Letters and Science (PhD’89). The College will award up to $7500 each year to one or more full-time graduate students in L&S to carry out research on African expressive cultures in Africa and/or archives outside of the United States. The research must lead to a PhD dissertation, an MA thesis, or a publishable-quality paper. Doctoral students may receive up to $7500 each; MA level students may receive up to $3750 each.

Application closed. Learn more>>


The African Studies Jordan Prize is awarded annually to a UW-Madison graduate student for the year’s best paper on Africa. To be considered for the prize, a paper must be nominated and submitted to the African Studies Program by a UW-Madison faculty member.

Applications are due May 15, 2024 at 11:59 PM CST. Learn more>>


The Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad program is administered by the U.S. Department of Education. It provides opportunities to doctoral candidates to engage in full-time dissertation research abroad in modern foreign languages and area studies.

Application will open in early 2024. Learn more>>


The Scott Kloeck-Jenson (SKJ) Fellowship Program (min. $3000) offers International Pre-Dissertation Fellowships to support overseas travel to potential field research sites for doctoral students and the SKJ International Internship Fellowships to support graduate students (working towards a doctorate) interested in undertaking practitioner internships.

Applications closed. Learn more>>


Boren Fellowships ($12,000 – $24,000) fund graduate student research and intensive language study ( Swahili, Akan/Twi, Wolof, or Zulu) proposals. This program was established by the National Security and Education Program and is administered by the Institute of International Education.

Campus deadline for the 2024-2025 Boren Scholarship award cycle is December 1, 2023. Learn more>>

 

For Faculty and Staff:

The Fulbright Scholar Program offers U.S. faculty, administrators, and professionals grants to lecture, conduct research in a wide variety of academic and professional fields, or to participate in seminars.
Deadlines vary. Learn more >>


Complimentary African Studies Association Membership is available to any UW-Madison African Studies affiliate.
Requests due January 31, 2024 at 11:59 PM CST Learn more>>


Complimentary ASA Registration is available to any affiliate wishing to attend the 2023 ASA annual meeting in San Francisco.
 Registration opens in August and will be due September 1,2024.


Nominate an Africa at Noon speaker. Requests submitted outside of the nomination period will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The nomination period is now open for the 2024-25 academic year. Support available for domestic and international speakers.
Nominations due Feb 14, 2023 at 11:59 PM. Learn more>>


Request co-sponsorship. The African Studies Program routinely provides letters of support and in-kind or financial contributions for Africa-related event and activities. Requests are considered on a rolling basis. Please email your request to aleia.mccord@wisc.edu