Welcome to the first co-convenors’ report of 2019! This has been an exciting year for the African Studies Association Women’s Caucus (WC) already, and we hope it has been exciting for the WC community as well.
We thank J. Jarpa Dawuni for serving her term as co-convenor. We are both excited to be at the helm of the WC for the 2019-2020 year; the guidance of Jarpa and members of the SC and AC will be invaluable as we navigate our term. The WC has meant much to us during the trajectory of our academic careers, providing essential mentorship from senior scholars and networking opportunities. We thank you all for being a part of the WC in 2019!
Those of you who joined us at the Women’s Caucus Luncheon remember a great talk by Minna Salami, a Finnish Nigerian journalist who has propagated information on African feminist issues, about the African diaspora, and Nigerian women through her award-winning blog MsAfropolitan, which she created and has been editing since 2010. The luncheon was also a celebration of the scholarship that the WC supports through its various awards. Please encourage graduate students as well as colleagues to join the WC not only for the awards but for the support we offer one another.
The WC receives much of its funding from membership fees, the Caucus Luncheon, and Claire Robertson’s famous Marketplace. We thank Alicia Decker for coordinating our membership process. We are thrilled to announce that our net earnings for 2018 was 4,910.06 and almost half of the profits were from Claire’s marketplace. We profusely thank Claire, and all the individuals who volunteered at the marketplace. We also thank Tara Reyelts for handling our 2018 finances, a remarkable accomplishment given she was also completing her dissertation research in Nigeria!
Finally, a very friendly reminder: please renew your WC membership! Graduate students and those based in Africa get free membership. However, even free members need to register each year.
Sincerely yours,
Jacqueline-Bethel Tchouta Mougoué and Maha Marouan