American Studies Association (asa)
The American Studies Association (ASA), founded in 1950, is the oldest and largest U.S. scholarly association for interdisciplinary American studies, serving roughly 5,000 researchers, educators, students, and practitioners through its journal American Quarterly, annual conference, membership tiers, awards, and advocacy initiatives.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1950
- HeadquartersWashington, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What American Studies Association (asa) does
The American Studies Association (ASA) is the oldest and largest U.S.-based scholarly association devoted to the interdisciplinary study of American culture and history in a global context, founded in 1950 during the early Cold War era. The organization serves approximately 5,000 members — researchers, teachers, students, writers, curators, community organizers, and activists — through a portfolio of scholarly products: American Quarterly (the preeminent peer-reviewed journal in the field), an annual conference attracting 2,000+ scholars (the most recent held October 22-25 in Chicago), the open-access Encyclopedia of American Studies Online, regional chapters, caucuses organized around subfields (digital humanities, environmental justice, critical disability studies, etc.), ten+ named scholarly prizes, a jobs and fellowships board, and advocacy/resolutions products. Institutionally, ASA is a U.S.-domiciled, member-governed nonprofit with no parent company, external shareholders, or venture capital exposure; it is led by an elected President and National Council with day-to-day operations managed by an Executive Director and small staff.
ASA's revenue model rests on four primary streams: tiered individual membership dues priced $25-$250 annually based on household income ($25-$250 range across six bands; memberships expire at calendar year-end); institutional memberships at $170/year (fiscal year July 1 to June 30), each granting up to ten free student or contingent faculty memberships; transactional job/fellowship listings at $250 per posting (calls and grants are free); and annual conference registration and sponsorship. Distribution is operated through a self-serve portal at asa.press.jhu.edu hosted by Johns Hopkins University Press under a core channel partnership, with email communications delivered via Constant Contact and the conference functioning as the principal mid-funnel engagement mechanism. ASA has no proprietary technology platform — the underlying stack consists of standard website infrastructure, an outsourced email service, and the JHU Press-hosted portal — and its competitive position is grounded in incumbency, journal prestige, community scale, and the embedded role of its products in academic career pipelines (publication, awards, conference presentation).
The organization is well known for taking public advocacy positions on academic freedom and social justice issues, including unanimous National Council support in 2013 for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions, opposition to the Iraq War, and support for graduate unions. It coordinates with an Academic Associations Coalition of 70+ peer organizations (including the American Historical Association, Organization of American Historians, and AAC&U) on joint statements and amicus actions. The most recent strategic event in the input is the 2026 election cycle, which installed Alexander Weheliye (Brown University) as incoming President effective July 1, 2026.
American Studies Association (asa) firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- American Studies Association (asa)
- Legal name
- American Studies Association
- Website
- https://theasa.net
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1950
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- The American Studies Association (ASA), founded in 1950, is the oldest and largest U.S. scholarly association for interdisciplinary American studies, serving roughly 5,000 researchers, educators, students, and practitioners through its journal American Quarterly, annual conference, membership tiers, awards, and advocacy initiatives.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
American Studies Association (asa) industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Professional Scholarly Association / Academic Membership Services
- NAICS
- Professional Organizations (813920), Business Associations (813910), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (519)
- SIC
- Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Scholarly Societies & Conference Proceedings Publishing (MPAJABAK)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Academic & Scientific Conferences (MPAGAGAD), Scholarly Society & Association Publishing (EDAGAFAK)
Keywords
Where American Studies Association (asa) is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Washington
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
American Studies Association (asa) business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others
Revenue model
- Individual Membership Dues: ASA generates revenue through tiered individual membership dues based on household income, ranging from $25 to $250 annually. All individual memberships expire at the end of the calendar year.
- Institutional Memberships: Annual institutional memberships for departments, programs, and centers at $170 per year, starting July 1 through June 30 fiscal year. Institutional members can nominate up to 10 students or contingent faculty for free one-year online memberships.
- Job and Fellowship Listings: Job or fellowship listings are posted for $250 per listing. Calls and grant opportunities are posted free of charge. This generates revenue from academic institutions and employers seeking ASA members.
- Annual Conference: Annual conference generates revenue through registration fees for the October 22-25 event in Chicago, attracting 2000+ scholars and educators annually.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Household income under $25,000 |
| Subscription | Annual | Household income $25,001-$50,000 |
| Subscription | Annual | Household income $50,001-$75,000 |
| Subscription | Annual | Household income $75,001-$100,000 |
| Subscription | Annual | Household income $100,001-$125,000 |
| Subscription | Annual | Household income over $125,000 |
| Subscription | Annual | Institutional Membership |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Job and Fellowship Listings |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
American Studies Association (asa) product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The American Studies Association is a nonprofit scholarly membership organization that delivers its core value through individual and institutional memberships, the American Quarterly peer-reviewed journal, an annual academic conference, awards and prizes, an open-access Encyclopedia of American Studies Online, regional chapters, caucuses, and a jobs/fellowships board. Members, institutions, and field professionals access these services primarily through the ASA website and through Johns Hopkins University Press.
Product overview
The American Studies Association operates as a membership-based professional organization offering a portfolio of scholarly services including the American Quarterly journal (the preeminent publication in the field), the Annual Conference (gathering 2000+ scholars), the open-access Encyclopedia of American Studies Online, multiple awards and prizes recognizing scholarly achievement, individual and institutional memberships with tiered pricing, a Jobs & Calls board for career opportunities, regional chapters with grant funding, and specialized caucuses for various research interests.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- American Quarterly: The preeminent peer-reviewed journal in American Studies, published by the ASA and distributed to members and academic institutions worldwide.
- ASA Annual Conference
- Encyclopedia of American Studies Online
Products and services
- American Quarterly
Companies that use American Studies Association (asa)
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
American Studies Association (asa) technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
American Studies Association (asa) partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.
- Johns Hopkins University PresscoreJohns Hopkins University Press hosts the ASA membership portal (asa.press.jhu.edu) and co-publishes the Encyclopedia of American Studies Online as an open-access resource for the international community of American studies researchers, teachers, and students.
- Academic Associations CoalitionmajorASA works with allied academic associations and organizations to draft public statements, share information, and join lawsuits on issues of academic freedom. Notable partnerships include American Historical Association, Organization of American Historians, Association of American Colleges & Universities, and over 70 other organizations on joint statements regarding education and academic freedom.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
American Studies Association (asa) competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Association for the Study of Arts and Literature (ACLA): Interdisciplinary humanities scholarly association with annual convention and membership tiers — analogous emerging scholarly-society model that competes for the same interdisciplinary humanities audience.
Direct peers
- American Historical Association (AHA): Peer scholarly association named explicitly in ASA's coalition partnerships; operates member dues, flagship journal (American Historical Review), and an annual meeting with overlapping academic audiences.
- Association for Asian American Studies: Interdisciplinary scholarly association with similar mission structure (culture/history studies), membership tiers, journal, and annual conference — comparable niche-discipline scholarly society model.
- National Council for Black Studies: Interdisciplinary scholarly association for Black Studies with member dues, conference, and journal — overlapping constituency in race/culture scholarship and similar caucus/advocacy model.
- Organization of American Historians (OAH): Specifically focused on U.S. history and referenced as an ASA coalition partner; competes for similar institutional memberships and cross-lists job/fellowship opportunities for overlapping members.
- Modern Language Association (MLA): Largest U.S.-based scholarly association for humanities scholars, with a comparable member-funded model, tiered individual/institutional dues, flagship journal, and annual convention — the closest structural analogue to ASA in humanities.
- Cultural Studies Association (CSA): Interdisciplinary scholarly association for cultural studies, sharing ASA's interdisciplinary U.S.-culture/critical lens and operating with a comparable member-run conference and journal model.
Regional players
- Society for the History of the Early American Republic (SHEAR): Niche scholarly association serving early-American-history scholars; smaller scale than ASA but comparable member-driven academic structure overlapping in U.S. culture/history content domain.
Broad incumbents
- American Sociological Association (ASA): Large scholarly association with member-funded structure, peer-reviewed journals, annual meeting, and section/caucus model strongly analogous to ASA's products and governance.
- American Anthropological Association (AAA): Larger, longer-established social-science scholarly association operating tiered memberships, multiple journals, and a major annual meeting — overlapping on member demographics and humanities-adjacent positioning.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
American Studies Association (asa) social profiles
Digital presenceAmerican Studies Association (asa) financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
American Studies Association (asa) leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
American Studies Association (asa) funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
American Studies Association (asa) M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about American Studies Association (asa)
What does American Studies Association (asa) do?
The American Studies Association is a nonprofit scholarly membership organization that delivers its core value through individual and institutional memberships, the American Quarterly peer-reviewed journal, an annual academic conference, awards and prizes, an open-access Encyclopedia of American Studies Online, regional chapters, caucuses, and a jobs/fellowships board. Members, institutions, and field professionals access these services primarily through the ASA website and through Johns Hopkins University Press.
Is American Studies Association (asa) a public or private company?
American Studies Association (asa) is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was American Studies Association (asa) founded?
American Studies Association (asa) was founded in 1950. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is American Studies Association (asa) based?
American Studies Association (asa) is headquartered in Washington, United States, in the North America region.
How does American Studies Association (asa) make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Individual Membership Dues are the primary driver. The others are institutional Memberships, job and Fellowship Listings and annual Conference.
Who are American Studies Association (asa)'s main competitors?
Association for the Study of Arts and Literature (ACLA) is listed as an emerging player. Direct peers are American Historical Association (AHA), Association for Asian American Studies, National Council for Black Studies, Organization of American Historians (OAH), Modern Language Association (MLA) and Cultural Studies Association (CSA). Society for the History of the Early American Republic (SHEAR) is listed as a regional player. Broad incumbents are American Sociological Association (ASA) and American Anthropological Association (AAA).
Does American Studies Association (asa) have an API?
No public API is recorded for American Studies Association (asa).
What industry is American Studies Association (asa) in?
American Studies Association (asa)'s product category is Professional Scholarly Association / Academic Membership Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAJABAK, Scholarly Societies & Conference Proceedings Publishing, with a secondary code of MPAGAGAD, Academic & Scientific Conferences. Its NAICS code is 813920 and its SIC code is 8600.