Founded in 1957, the ASA is the leading organization of African Studies in North America, with a global membership of approximately 2000.

[3][4][5] The ASA is different from the African Studies Association of Africa (ASAA), which was founded at the University of Cape Town in October 1-2, 2012.

[6] The ASA Book Prize is given annually for the best scholarly work (including translations) on Africa published in English in the previous year and distributed in the United States.

This prize highlights exceptional scholarship produced by emerging scholars in any African studies related discipline.

It honors two pioneers in African Studies bibliography, Helen F. Conover, of the Library of Congress, and Dorothy B. Porter, of Howard University.