Takiyah Harper-Shipman – APSA Centennial Center Research Grant

The Office of Grants and Contracts congratulates Assistant Professor of Africana Studies, Takiyah Harper-Shipman, on a Centennial Center Research Grant from the American Political Science Association (APSA).

The $4,500 collaborative grant will fund the project entitled “Overcoming Barriers: Transnational Black Womxn Scholars of African Politics Network.” Collaborating with Professor Harper-Shipman are Professors Kira Tait, University of Massachusetts; Tiffany Willoughby-Herard, University of California at Irvine; and Robin Turner of Butler University. The US-based scholars aim to build a transnational network co-led by Africa-based womxn scholars to identify and challenge shared and distinct barriers that Black womxn scholars face in writing on African politics.

With Centennial Center funding, the collaborators will establish and host four pre-conference events at the 2021 National Conference of Black Political Scientists (NCOBPS), to facilitate networking and mentoring for Black womxn African politics scholars at various points in their careers.  At the conclusion of the pre-conference, participants will be invited to join the Transnational Black Womxn Scholars of African Politics network and to participate in subsequent virtual gatherings and pre-conferences in the US and Africa that build strong ties among Black womxn scholars, support scholarship, and identify and challenge the barriers faced.

Professor Harper-Shipman’s additional grants include the collaborative “Sapelo Island Summer Fellowship” and “Farming as Resistance: Reading and Service Collective” projects, engaging student research and community experience, both funded by the Justice, Equality and Community – Davidson College initiative.