The Sudan Studies Association (SSA) (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

: جمعية الدراسات السودانية) is the US-based

professional association A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) usually seeks to advocacy, further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that professio ...

for scholars of Sudan and

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the ...

, with members from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, Sudan,

, and elsewhere. The SSA was founded in 1981 to pursue knowledge about all aspects of life in Sudan (and now South Sudan) and to "foster closer ties among scholars in the Sudan, North America, Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere." The association seeks to promote research about the dynamics that shape Sudan and South Sudan and their relationships with neighboring countries. Conferences are held annually in North America. In addition, international conferences have in recent years been convened in collaboration with the Society for the Study of the Sudans UK (SSSUK) in Durham, England (2000), Washington DC (2003), Bergen, Norway (2006),

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

(2009) and

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

(2012).

History

The SSA emerged from the 1980 meeting of the

African Studies Association The African Studies Association (ASA) is a US-based association of scholars, students, practitioners, and institutions with an interest in the continent of Africa. Founded in 1957, the ASA is the leading organization of African Studies in North ...

, where three panels were independently organized on Sudan. The SSA's co-founders, Richard Lobban (the organization's first President) and Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, gathered the names of scholars interested in forming an Association for the study of Sudan. Notable among those who showed early interest were Dr. Constance E. Berkley of Fordham University and Dr. Jay Spaulding of Kean College of New Jersey (now Kean University), who served as the first Editor and Co-editor, respectively, of SSA publications. Dr. Berkley served as the SSA's first Executive Secretary, and through her close ties with the Cultural Counsellor's office of the Embassy of Sudan in Washington introduced the Lobbans to Syd. Osman Hassan Ahmed, who had also compiled a list of Sudan scholars. Combining their lists, they sent out letters to roughly 70 people, informing them of the immanent formation of the Sudan Studies Association. The first meeting of the Association was held at

The George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , presid ...

on February 7, 1981. Thirty-five people attended the inaugural meeting, where officers were appointed, a steering committee formed, and contributions received from attendees, the Ministry of Education in the Sudan, the officer of Sudan's Cultural Counsellor in Washington, as well as Osman Hassan Ahmed and the former Ambassador, Salah Hashim.

Publications

The Association's quarterly publication is the peer-reviewed ''Bulletin of the Sudan Studies Association'' (''Nashrat Jamʻīyat al-Dirāsāt al-Sūdānīyah'', ). The Association occasionally publishes the proceedings of its annual meetings in book form.see see

Notes

References

External links

* Sudanese culture South Sudanese culture Professional associations based in the United States Organizations established in 1981 {{Sudan-stub