The 2024 Center for Africana Studies Student Prizes submission season is CLOSED.
Questions may be submitted to the Center for Africana Studies at africana@sas.upenn.edu.
Named in honor of University of Pennsylvania alumnus, author and the first director of the Afro-American Studies Program, this prize is awarded annually for the best undergraduate Africana Studies (African American or Diaspora) essay in literature or the arts. Students may submit an essay previously written for a course.
Named in honor of celebrated Nigerian novelist, children's writer, screenplay writer and autobiographer, this prize is awarded annually for the best undergraduate essay on African language, literature (in any language, written or oral), music or the arts. Students may submit an essay previously written for a course.
Named in honor of University of Pennsylvania sociologist and Pan-Africanist, this prize is awarded annually for the best undergraduate Africana Studies (African American or Diaspora) essay in history or the social sciences. Students may submit an essay previously written for a course.
Named in honor of the first president of independent Nigeria, this prize is awarded for the best undergraduate African Studies essay in any of the social or natural sciences. Students may submit an essay previously written for a course.
This prize awards money toward graduate school expenses to an exceptional student who will pursue graduate study in Africana Studies (African continent, African American or Diaspora). For consideration, students should submit a one-page statement that discusses their proposed graduate study, research plans and a letter of support from a faculty member who is familiar with the student's work and graduate school plans.
Questions may be submitted to the Center for Africana Studies at africana@sas.upenn.edu.