S E C E S S I O N
AS AN INTERNATIONAL PHENOMENON

PROGRAM

All Presentations will be at the Embassy Suites Historic Charleston
For abstracts of the papers, click here

Thursday, December 6

1:30–3:00 Session I (Colonial)

The Ethics of Secession

Don H. Doyle (University of South Carolina, USA, History) Introductory Remarks

Christopher Wellman (Washington University, USA, Philosophy) “Secession and International Law”

Coffee & Tea Break

3:30–5:30 Session II (Colonial) Secession and the Modern World

David Armitage (Harvard University, USA, History) “Secession and Civil War”

Bruno Coppieters (Free University of Brussels, Belgium, Political Science) “Secessionist Movements in Europe”

~ • ~

Friday, December 7

9:00–10:30 Session III:

Panel 3-A (Colonial West) Eastern Europe & Africa; Chair: Bruno Coppieters

Paul Kubicek (Oakland University, USA, Political Science) “Secession and National Unity in Ukraine and Moldova: Lessons Learned from Secessionist Movements That Were and Those That Weren’t”

Aleksandar Pavković (Macquarie University, Australia, Politics; University of Macau, Government) “Secession and Violence: A Comparative Study of Four Secessionist conflicts (Biafra, Slovenia, Chechnya, Kosovo)”

Panel 3-B (Colonial East) The British Isles; Chair: David Armitage

Arthur Aughey (University of Ulster, UK, Politics and International Studies) “‘For we are the people of England, that never have spoken yet’: Do They Now Speak and Speak of Secession?”

Thomas Mohr (University College Dublin, Ireland, Law) “Two Forms of Secession: The Irish Experience”

Panel 3-C (Citadel North) Latin America; Chair: Marco Pamplona 

João Paulo Pimenta (University of São Paulo, Brazil, History) “From Banda Oriental to Republic of Uruguay (1810-1828): The Idea of ‘Secession’”

Terry Rugeley (University of Oklahoma, USA, History) “The Brief, Glorious History of the Yucatecan Republic: Secession and Violence in Early National Mexico, 1836-1848”

Panel 3-D (Citadel South) Africa; Chair: Andrés Reséndez

Nuno C. Vidal (Coimbra University, Portugal, Political Science) “Cabinda: The Quest for Independence of an Oil-Rich Enclave”

Raphael Njoku (University of Louisville, USA, History) “Separatism, Nationalism and the Neoliberal Globalism: A Review of Africa and the Quest for Self-Determination since the 1950s”

Coffee & Tea Break

11:00–12:30 Session IV:

Panel 4-A (Colonial West) The American South & Germany; Chair: Charles Dew

Frank Towers (University of Calgary, Canada, History) “Romantic Ethnic Nationalism, Modernity, and the Secession Movement in the American South”

Stefan Zahlmann (University of Konstanz, Germany, History) “Our Cause was Foredoomed to Failure: Secession in Germany and the United States”

Panel 4-B (Colonial East) The United States; Chair: Robert Bonner

Richard Crockatt (University of East Anglia, UK, History) “American Nationalism and the Problem of Secession: An Interpretation”

Peter Radan (Macquarie University, Australia, Law) “Constitutional Law and Secession”

Panel 4-C (Citadel North) Law & Secession; Chair: Christopher Wellman

Joel Samuels (University of South Carolina, USA, Law) “Condominium Arrangements in International Practice: Reviving an Abandoned Concept of Boundary Dispute Resolution”

James E. Viator (Loyola University New Orleans, USA, Law) “Secession as a Contractual Right: The American and European Approaches Compared”

Panel 4-D (Citadel South) Taiwan & China; Chair: Margaret Moore  

Steven Phillips (Towson University, USA, History) “The Taiwanese Secessionists’ Struggle with International Legitimacy”

Alan M. Wachman (Tufts University, USA, International Politics) “Fooling Some of the People: Did Abraham Lincoln Oppose Taiwan’s ‘Secession’ from China?”

2:00–3:30 Session V:

Panel 5-A (Colonial West) Gender & Politics in Secession; Chair: Marjorie Spruill

Jill Vickers (Carleton University, Canada, Political Science) “Gender/Nation Dynamics in Separatist Projects”

Bridget Coggins (Dartmouth College, USA, Government) “The State of Secession and the Secessionist State”

Panel 5-B (Colonial East) The American South; Chair: Robert Bonner  

Paul Quigley (University of Edinburgh, UK, History) “Secessionists in an Age of Secession: The Slave South in Transatlantic Perspective”

Lawrence T. McDonnell (Erskine College, USA, History) “Secession as Cultural Revolution: Political Dynamics of Disunion in Charleston, South Carolina”

Panel 5-C (Citadel North) Kurdish Separatism; Chair: Susan-Mary Grant

Peter Sluglett (University of Utah, USA, History) “Common Sense, or a Step Pregnant with Enormous Consequences: Thoughts on the Possible Secession of Iraqi Kurdistan”

Stefanie Wichhart (Niagara University, USA, History) “British Policy Towards Kurdish Nationalism and Separatism in Iraq and Iran, 1941-1946”

Coffee & Tea Break

4:00–6:00 Session VI (Colonial) Separatism in North America

Margaret Moore (Queens University, Canada, Political Studies) “Territorial Disputes, Justice and Collective Self-determination”

Andrés Reséndez (University of California, Davis, USA, History) “Texas and the Spread of that Troublesome Secessionist Spirit through the Gulf of Mexico Basin”

Saturday, December 8

9:00–11:00 Session VII (Colonial)

The American Civil War

Robert Bonner (Dartmouth College, USA, History) “Proslavery Geopolitics and the Process of Southern Separatism, 1780-1865”

Susan-Mary Grant (Newcastle University, UK, History) “‘How a Free People Conduct a Long War’: Sustaining Opposition to Secession in the American Civil War”

Charles Lesser (South Carolina Department of Archives and History), “Introducing an Exhibit on South Carolina’s Ordinance of Secession, 1860”

Coffee & Tea Break

11:30–12:30 Session VIII (Colonial) Secession in the United States

Charles Dew (Williams College, USA, History) “Lincoln, the Collapse of Southern Moderation, and the Triumph of Secession: A South Carolina Congressman’s Moment of Truth”

12:30–1:30 Buffet Lunch $25*

1:45–5:15 Fort Sumter Tour $25* Bus from hotel, boat ride, and guided tour by National Park Historian Richard W. Hatcher III

*Lunch and bus only for those who paid in advance; boat and tour open to public   

 Checks should be made out to “The Walker Institute” & indicate the event and people you wish to pay for. Mail checks to: The Walker Institute, Gambrell Hall, USC, Columbia, SC 29208

Go to Top