The African Studies Association encourages its members to apply for a travel subsidy grant to support advocacy for international education, the humanities, and social science. Travel awards of $1,000 are available through ASA to help facilitate the travel of ASA members to one of four advocacy events scheduled in Washington, DC. These events are National Humanities Alliance Annual Meeting and Advocacy Day (March 10-12), the Coalition for International Education Meeting and Advocacy Day (March 13-14), the Association of International Educators Advocacy Day (March 18-19), or the Consortium of Social Science Associations Social Science Advocacy Day (April 30-May 1). Each event consists of a one day conference that will focus on advocacy strategies, information about federal funding, and more, as well as a day on Capitol Hill to meet with elected officials. The ASA believes it is critical for their members to be represented at these events and for the voices of the field of African Studies to be heard by representatives in the federal government as they prepare to make key decisions about funding for international education, the humanities, social science, and higher education as a whole. These conferences will also provide ASA members with tools and strategies to advocate for African Studies on campus and in other local arenas.
Applications can be submitted via this online form, and must be received by Friday, January 18, 2019. Successful applicants will be expected to attend the entirety of their selected conference, and to write a blog post about their experience.
Because visits on Capitol Hill are limited to the congressional representatives of the individuals who participate, preference will be given to constituents of representatives on the key committees involved in decision-making for international education and higher education funding, in particular the Senate Labor, HHS, and Education Sub-committee of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the House Labor, HHS, and Education Sub-Committee of the Appropriations Committee.
All ASA members are encouraged to apply. To read the experiences from the 2018 awardees, please see here, here, here, and here.
If you have any questions, please contact the ASA at kathryn@africanstudies.org.