HONOR DUTY RESPECT - The Citadel

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A Tradition in Southern PoliticsBy Maj. Scott BuchananWhen I was a young, struggling graduate student at Auburn University, one of my professors toldme about The Citadel Symposium on Southern Politics. Since my master’s thesis focused on one areaof Southern politics, I decided to send in a paper proposal. While I was aware that The Citadel was amilitary college, my knowledge about the institution was limited. Little did I know that the symposiumwould lead me back to Charleston from 1996 to 2008, and that it would play a large role in my decisionto join The Citadel faculty in 2009.Once every two years, political science professors from acrossthe nation descend from their ivory towers and converge onMark Clark Hall. While The Citadel is known for its militarytraditions and teaching excellence, many do not realize the depthof the institution’s commitment to academic research.Since 1978, the department of political science has hostedthe Symposium on Southern Politics. This biennial eventbrings together the nation’s foremost academic experts onthe politics of the American South. Through the supportof The Citadel administration with funds from The CitadelFoundation’s annual academic endowment grant, we are ableto host this conference that helps to enhance the college’sreputation within the academic community. Equally important,the symposium brings cadets into contact with scholarswho have written some of the articles and books they areusing in the classroom. Few colleges offer such opportunities totheir students.22
Academia is a rather small world. Colleagues within one’sacademic discipline across the nation are all familiar with oneanother. Even if we do not know one another directly, it doesnot take long to find connections. And research conferences arethe glue that holds us together. They provide an opportunityfor continuing education for professors and allow us to keepabreast of research in our chosen fields. These conferences giveus the chance to present our research. On rare occasions, ourresearch is published in academic journals, further enhancing thereputation of the professors and their institutions.In my college teaching career, I have observed how studentsare surprised that their college professors know the authorswhose works they are reading as a part of their courses. WhileI am sure that many of my colleagues throughout academiacan relate, The Citadel offers a rare opportunity for studentsto become acquainted with scholars in the field of politicalscience through the symposium.The Symposium on Southern Politics began as the brainchildof three long-time political science professors at The Citadel:Todd Baker, Larry Moreland and Robert Steed, who proposedthe idea to Lt. Gen. George M. Seignious, then president ofthe college. Seignious had asked the entire faculty to think ofways to enhance and expand the college’s scholarly footprint inthe region and the nation. After securing funding, the politicalscience department hosted the first symposium in February1978. Not really knowing what to expect, Baker, Moreland andSteed were pleasantly surprised by the flood of research paperproposals. The rest was history. The symposium has been heldevery two years since the inaugural event.The symposium is held the first Thursday and Friday of Marchin even years. Most of the panel sessions are held in Mark ClarkHall. Planning for the symposium begins the previous July. FromJuly to December, the emphasis is on organizing panel sessionsin which the participants will present research that focuses onthe politics of the region.The 2012 symposium featured more than80 political scientists from aroundthe nation. While most of the scholarswho come to the symposium teach atcolleges and universities in the South,we regularly draw professors fromother areas of the country includingBoston, Chicago, Los Angeles and evenLas Vegas.The symposium has built up such a reputation and followingover the years that many participants return over and overagain, including a handful of researchers who have attendedevery conference since 1978. Additionally, one of the endearingqualities of the symposium is that we continue to drawyounger colleagues as well. We regularly have several graduatestudents who participate, and in recent years we have often hadundergraduates who present research as well. In 2010, PhilipFord, ’10, presented research on recent gubernatorial electionsin South Carolina.23
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