Description
In honor of Emeritus Professor Aliko Songolo for his many years of dedicated teaching and service to the Department of African Cultural Studies, ACS has created a $2,500 annual summer research award to be given to one full-time graduate student or undergraduate major in the Department. Applicants must utilize the award 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 or a publishable-quality paper (QP).
Selection Criteria
- Excellence of research proposal
- Demonstrated commitment to researching African expressive cultures
- General academic record
- Strong recommendations from faculty
- Timing of the proposed research in relation to degree requirements
Call for Applications
Applications normally due the beginning of April each year.
Application materials should be submitted to William Bach at info@african.wisc.edu and must include:
- Cover letter
- Curriculum Vitae (CV)
- 3-page research proposal including a budget and timeline
- Unofficial UW–Madison transcript
- Names and email addresses of three UW–Madison faculty references (please do not have them send letters)
Past Winners
Jibril Gabid
Jibril Gabid is a doctoral candidate and Arabic instructor in the Department of African Cultural Studies. His research seeks to explore ways of (re)imagining Islamic West Africa, foregrounding West Africa Muslim scholarship by shifting the gaze of Islamic knowledge production from an Arabo-centric one to one that privileges and affirms the contributions of Black West African Muslim intellectuals. Jibril received a bachelor’s degree in Arabic and Psychology from the University of Ghana and a master’s degree in Arabic Language and Literature from the American University in Cairo.
Xi Jin (Titilayo)
Xi “Títílayọ̀” Jin (she/her/hers) is a PhD student in the Department of African Cultural Studies with a Minor in Visual Cultures at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before joining ACS at UW-Madison, she earned an MA in African Literature and Culture from Peking University and a BA in Chinese Language and Literature from Beijing Normal University in China. Her research delves into the intersections of African literary, art, and cultural histories of the 20th century, as well as museum studies in Africa. Her PhD dissertation will focus on the role of African museums in decolonization efforts.
Rosemary Popoola
Rosemary is a Ph.D. candidate(ABD) in African Cultural Studies with a doctoral minor in Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her second doctoral dissertation is an attempt to read the history of popular music against the grain, centering women, non-binary and queer artists, who have occupied the margin, reclaiming voice, agency, and resistance against heteropatriarchal, hegemonic masculinity, and heteronormativity in the social production and scholarship of popular music in Nigeria, West Africa.