Courtney Micots, "Did Jesus Build the Posuban?: The Effects of Colonialism and Christianity on Fante Shrines," Department of Art History, University of Florida.  Voted best graduate student paper at the Spring 2008 SERSAS Conference, Middle Tennessee State University.

Jatin Dua, "The Work of Piracy: Rethinking Economies of Circulation and Exchange along the East African Coast," Duke University.  Voted best graduate student paper at the Spring 2012 SERSAS/SEAN Conference, co-hosted by UNC-Chapel Hill and the University of Florida; conference site UNC-Chapel Hill.

Birthe Reimers, "The Effectiveness of Gacaca Courts in Post-Genocide Rwanda," Kennesaw State University Fall.  Voted best graduate student paper at the Fall 2012 SERSAS Conference co-hosted in Savannah, Georgia by Armstrong Atlantic State University and Georgia Southern University. 

Jeneva Wright, "Soul Songs: Origins and Agency in African-American Spirituals," Maritime Studies Program, East Carolina University.  Voted best graduate student paper at the Spring 2013 SERSAS Conference, East Carolina University. 

Cacee Hoyer, "African or Indian? South African Identity Construction, 1946-1952," Department of History, University of Texas at Austin. Voted best graduate student paper at the Spring 2014 SERSAS Conference, Georgia College and State University.

Nathaniel King, "Global Maritime Icons on South African Shores: Case Study of a Beached US Liberty Ship in Cape Point Nature Reserve, South Africa," Maritime Studies Program, East Carolina University.    Voted best graduate student paper at the Fall 2014 SERSAS Conference, College of Charleston. 

Special Recognition of an Undergraduate Paper:  David Medley, “Somali Nationalism, 1940s-1950s." College of Charleston; David Medley was an undergraduate student of Tim Carmichael.   

Koffi Yao-Kouame, "Civil War in Liberia as the Prequel of Côte d'Ivoire Civil War," Africana and Latin American Studies Program, UNC-Charlotte.  Voted best graduate student paper at the Spring 2015 SERSAS/SEAN Conference, co-hosted by UNC-Chapel Hill and the University of Florida; conference site, UNC-Chapel Hill.     

John Hames, "'Heroes' and 'Traitors':  The Politics of Pulaar Language Loyalty in Senegal and Mauritania," University of Florida.  Voted best graduate student paper at the Spring 2017 SERSAS Conference, College of Charleston.

Andrew and Anya Bonanno, "Family Farms, Family Land: National Land Policy, Customary Tenure Arrangements and Change in Northern Sierra Leone," Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia.  Voted best graduate student paper at the Fall 2017 SERSAS Conference, co-hosted by Tuskegee University and Auburn University.   Co-winners of the occasional SERSAS Undergraduate Prize for the best paper are Tuskegee undergraduates Jasmine Johnson, "Youth Empowerment Organizations in South Africa" and Courtney Peavy, "NGOs and the Idea of 'Poverty to Opportunity' in the United States and South Africa.”

Conor Wilkinson, “The Ancestors and Family Life in Eastern Tanzania at the Turn of the Twentieth Century," Columbia University.  Voted best graduate student paper at the Spring 2018 SERSAS/SEAN Conference; co-hosted by the University of Florida and UNC-Chapel Hill; conference site, University of Florida.  Honorable Mention graduate student winners are (in alphabetical order):

Kelsey Dwyer, "Black Female Slaves in the Caribbean: An Archaeological Observation on Culture," Maritime Studies Program, East Carolina University;

Ryan D. Marr, "An Historical and Ethnographic Study of Cultural Change and Continuity in the Use and Construction of Dhows and Outriggers in the Tanga Region, Tanzania," Maritime Studies Program, East Carolina University;

Jesse Miller, "Mossi Funerals and the Negotiation of Autochthonous and Allogeneic Forces," Florida State University;

Adele Oyediran, "The Maritime Cultural Landscape of Slavery in Badagry, Nigeria," Maritime Studies Program, East Carolina University;

Denis Waswa, "The Purge of African Politics: A Wave that is Reclaiming Africa," UNC-Chapel Hill;

Shari L. Williams, "William Butler Fagg and African Art: Dualism, Controversy, and Commodification, 1946-2017," Auburn University.

Mark Reeves, "A Gilded Cage? Nnamdi Azikiwe's Pan-Africanism as Governor-General of Nigeria, 1960-1963," UNC-Chapel Hill, and Denis Waswa, "Constructing Afropolitanism: A Response to the Clash of Cultures in Ama Ata Aidoo's _The Dilemma of a Ghost_,” Louisiana State University.  Voted co-winners for the best graduate paper of the Spring 2019 SERSAS/SEAN Conference; co-hosted by UNC-Chapel Hill and University of Florida; conference site, UNC-Chapel Hill.   

Riley Ravary, “Disorder as a Political Instrument in Transboundary Protected Area Governance: The Case of Mt. Elgon National Park,” University of Florida.   Voted best graduate paper of the Spring 2020 SERSAS/SEAN Conference; co-hosted by UNC-Chapel Hill and University of Florida; conference site, University of Florida.