01 / What is AfAAS?
A home for the field to grow.
AfAAS is a bilingual, transcontinental association connecting people, institutions, and ideas across Africa, the Americas, and the wider world.
What we do
Join the associationAfAAS creates an intellectual home for scholars, students, educators, cultural workers, and institutions invested in the study of Africa, the Americas, and their entangled histories.
We make space for African contributions to American Studies through rigorous inquiry, generous exchange, and collaborative scholarship. Our work connects research to teaching, public life, and the professional development of the next generation.
Through research networks, publications, annual gatherings, mentorship, teaching resources, and public-facing conversations, AfAAS helps make the field more expansive, multilingual, and accountable.
2018
Founded as a shared field
2
Working languages
40+
Countries connected
Board of Directors
AfAAS is guided by a board that brings together academic leadership, community care, institutional partnership, and public engagement.
- 01President
- 02Vice President for Partnerships, Cooperation, and Development
- 03Vice President for Academic Affairs and Research
- 04Secretary General
- 05Director of Digital Strategy and Scholarly Platforms
- 06Treasurer
- 07Director of Communications and Public Engagement
- 08Director of Membership and Community Engagement
- 09Director of Institutional Relations and Advocacy
- 10Director of Training and Capacity Building
- 11Director of Programs and Events
How we work
AfAAS is a member-led association. Our programs are shaped by the questions, needs, and collaborations of the community.
01 / CONNECT
Build lasting networks
We connect scholars, students, artists, educators, and institutions across regions and disciplines.
02 / SHARE
Circulate knowledge
We publish research, teaching resources, interviews, and public scholarship in English and French.
03 / SUPPORT
Nurture new voices
We create mentorship, training, and professional pathways for students and emerging scholars.
04 / GATHER
Make room for exchange
Our events bring ideas into conversation through assemblies, workshops, panels, and regional gatherings.
Partners in the work
AfAAS grows through relationships with universities, cultural institutions, scholarly associations, libraries, and community organizations.
01 / INSTITUTIONS
Universities & research centers
Supporting collaborative research, teaching exchange, visiting scholars, and shared academic programming.
02 / CULTURE
Museums & cultural spaces
Connecting scholarship with exhibitions, archives, public programs, and cultural practice.
03 / NETWORKS
Scholarly associations
Building bridges across disciplines, regions, and professional communities through shared initiatives.
04 / COMMUNITY
Community organizations
Making room for knowledge rooted in lived experience, local histories, and public engagement.
Our commitments
Plural perspectives
We value scholarship shaped by different geographies, disciplines, languages, generations, and lived experiences.
Open exchange
We build generous spaces where ideas can travel between universities, communities, classrooms, and public audiences.
Shared growth
We support mentorship, capacity building, and meaningful opportunities for students and emerging scholars.
Practical solidarity
We turn connection into action through collaboration, advocacy, and sustained institutional relationships.
Find your place
There is no single way to belong. Start with the part of the community closest to your work.