Call for Nominations - APCG Awards

The APCG’s 2026 award cycle is now open. Please see the following calls for nominations for the awards that the five awards APCG will give out this year. Nominations for awards are due by Friday May 1, 2026.

Please also help us disseminate this call broadly, especially to colleagues and scholarly communities based in African countries. Thank you!

1. The APCG-Lynne Rienner Best Dissertation Award. We invite submissions for the best dissertation in African politics. The award carries a monetary prize and is intended to recognize outstanding scholarship in African politics. Dissertations that were completed and accepted in the 2025 calendar year are eligible for this award. This year’s selection committee consists of Elena Gadjanova, University of Exeter; Erin Hern, Syracuse University; and Singumbe Muyeba, University of Denver. Departments are requested to submit a letter of nomination and an electronic copy of the dissertation to the chair of the committee, Erin Hern, at ehern@syr.edu. The deadline for nominations is May 1, 2026. The award is made every year at the annual APSA meeting.


2. The APCG-African Affairs Best Graduate Student Paper Award. This award carries a cash prize and is intended to recognize outstanding scholarship in African politics. Eligible papers must be nominated by a member of the APCG (self-nominations not allowed), written by a graduate student, and presented at the 2025 APSA, 2025 ASA, 2025 ISA, or 2025 MPSA annual meeting. The papers cannot have a co-author with a Ph.D. This year’s committee consists of Maureen Fubara, University of Amsterdam; Dominika Koter, Colgate University; and Jesper Katomero, University of Dar es Salaam. To nominate a paper, please send an email with the paper and the conference name to the Committee Chair, Dominika Koter, at dkoter@colgate.edu. The deadline for nominations is May 1, 2026. The award is made every year at the annual APSA meeting.


3. The 2026 John Harbeson APCG Distinguished Africanist Award. The award is presented bi-annually at the African Studies Association annual meeting to a senior scholar in recognition of distinction in publications, undergraduate and/or graduate teaching, mentoring, leadership, and institution-building in the area of African politics. This year’s committee consists of Jaimie Bleck, Leheigh University; Bernadeta Kilian, University of Dar es Salaam; and Catherine Boone, London School of Economics and Political Science. Please send nominations to the committee chair at  c.boone@lse.ac.uk. Nomination letters that address criteria listed above must be received no later than May 1, 2026.  The award is made every year at the annual ASA meeting.  


4. The APCG Best Article Award. All articles published in peer-reviewed journals in 2025 are eligible. This year’s committee includes Tessa Devereaux, SOAS University of London; Farès Davion, University of Florida; David Ngendo-Tshimba, Makerere Institute of Social Research at Makerere University; and Vladimir Chlouba, University of Richmond. Please send the full abstract and a copy of the article to the committee chair, Vladimir Chlouba at vladimir.chlouba@richmond.edu. The deadline for nominations is May 1, 2026. The award is made every year at the annual ASA meeting.


5. The APCG Best Book Award. To be eligible for the Book Award, books must have been published in English in 2025. Books should analyze an issue related to political science or international relations with special reference to Africa. The book should employ methodological techniques regarded as appropriate by any subgroup of contemporary political scientists. Edited volumes are not eligible. Translations of books written in a foreign language qualify if the translation was published in 2025.  This year’s committee consists of Marcus Walton, Boston University; Amanda Lea Robinson, Ohio State University; and Cliff Ubba Kodero, Morgan State University. Please send nominations to the committee chair at mbwalton@bu.edu.

Copies of nominated books must also be sent to each committee member at the addresses below or via email, if a PDF or e-book link is available. Electronic copies of submissions are preferred by the committee. Nominations and books must be received no later than May 15, 2026.  The award is made every year at the annual ASA meeting.

Dr. Cliff Ubba KoderoMartin D. Jenkins Behavioral and Social Sciences Building (BSSC), Room 4181600 Havenwood RoadBaltimore, MD 21218United StatesOffice telephone:  443-885-2338 cliff.kodero@morgan.edu Dr. Amanda Lea RobinsonDepartment of Political Science154 N. Oval MallDerby 2140Columbus, Ohio 43201United States of America robinson.1012@osu.edu Dr. Marcus Walton277 Babcock Street Box 1602 Boston, MA 02215 United States of Americambwalton@bu.edu

‍