Cfp: "Independence and Decolonization," Institute for Historical Studies, University of Texas, Austin, April 15-17, 2010.

Inspired by the upcoming bicentenary of Mexican independence, the symposium aims to generate dialogue among scholars from a variety of disciplines working on processes of independence, decolonization, and the reconfiguration of territorial and social borders that such processes generate. We encourage proposals that adopt an explicitly synoptic approach to the interactions between metropolitan powers and colonial/nationalist societies. We welcome proposals from scholars working on the following broad problem areas: 1. Global and local dynamics of "first wave" independence movements and decolonization in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries (e.g. United States, Haiti, Spanish America); 2. Nineteenth century decolonization (e.g. Ottoman successor states, Brazil, Cuba); 3. National liberation movements and decolonization in the twentieth century. We are interested in bringing into dialogue a variety of approaches and themes which might include ethnic identities and anti-colonial movements, postcolonial state formation, and economic development of postcolonial states. Interested scholars should submit an abstract of 200-500 words and a one-page CV to Professor Susan Deans-Smith, sdsmith@mail.utexas.edu by March 1, 2009. Participants will be reimbursed for travel and lodging expenses. For further information about the Institute for Historical Studies, its programs, and fellowships see: www.utexas.edu/cola/insts/historicalstudies/.