In 2018, the association's leadership as represented by the National Council embarked on a planning period for initiatives designed to give back to the membership, organized under the banner of the ASA Solidarity Fund. To launch this overarching strategy, the ASA instituted a fundraising program among its membership to help subsidize conference costs for precarious members and defray expenses for traveling to the annual meeting.
What is it?
The Solidarity Fund Travel Grant provide partial travel reimbursement to eligible members who will travel to the upcoming convention in order to present as part of the annual meeting program. In 2022, we increased the maximum requests to $400. The ASA will also reimburse the recipients of the Solidarity Fund grants for their conference registration fee. (To aid transfer of funds, recipients will be asked to provide Zelle account information.)
Who can apply?
Priority will go to contingent faculty, community-based scholars and artists, unemployed or underemployed scholars, and undergraduate students. Graduate students should apply for the Baxter travel grant. To support the ASA's HBCU and Tribal College initiatives, full-time and tenure-track faculty from HBCU's and Tribal Colleges may apply if institutional support is necessary to participate in the annual meeting. The ASA is particularly concerned with helping those who have no (or limited) support from their institutions or other sources, who incur substantial costs for travel to and from the convention, and who have not received travel reimbursement or emergency funds from the ASA in a prior year.
How to Apply?
- Fill out the Grant Application Form
- Upload a single PDF including:
- Letter of Application
- Documentation or statement detailing employment status and/or undergraduate student status, as applicable
- A copy of the applicant's registration receipt (in order to receive reimbursement).
The letter of application should include a brief statement indicating the amount of your request (up to $400) and describing what university sources of funding, if any, are available; confirmation that the applicant has no (or limited) external support for travel to the convention from these or other funds; and the applicant’s presentation and session title, as it will appear on the program.
When is the deadline?
Application materials should be assembled by the submitter as a single PDF and uploaded via the Grant Application Form by July 1, 2023. We will meet the needs of applicants as best as possible and are continuously seeking to raise additional funds. Please apply as soon as you can, so we can best assess the overall level of need.
Where to contribute?
If you are a member of the ASA who has the means to contribute, we welcome your gift. Please visit Donate Now. Members can also make a tax-deductible contribution to the fund when they are registering online for the annual meeting or when submitting dues for membership renewal.
The American Studies Association is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization chartered in the District of Columbia and eligible to receive tax-deductible donations and contributions.