Laura DeLuca, a University of Colorado at Boulder instructor who was among the first group of Westerners invited into Sudan since the civil war began to abate, expressed concern over the recent death of the country's vice president in a helicopter crash July 30.
John Garang, a former rebel leader, had played a key role in the Jan. 9 peace agreement that represented the end of a 21-year civil war fueled by historical, religious and resource conflict, she said. The helicopter crash was believed to have been caused by bad weather.
"His death will be a huge blow to the Sudanese people," she said. "Though some Sudanese were divided over his leadership style, Garang was nevertheless greeted as a peacemaker by more than 1 million people when he was sworn in three weeks ago as part of a deal ending the civil war."
DeLuca was among 30 people invited to attend a weeklong field course last month in the town of Rumbek, the current administrative center of southern Sudan. The intensive workshop was attended by peacekeepers, aid workers, diplomatic staff and academics from 17 countries.
She is an instructor with the Smith Hall International Program and an adjunct faculty member in the geography department with the Developing Areas Research and Teaching program, or DART. She attended the workshop as part of her research on Sudanese refugees in Colorado, humanitarian interventions and post-conflict development.
DeLuca will use the knowledge gained through the July 9-16 workshop to enhance her research and teaching. She will teach a class titled "Regional Cultures of Africa" next spring focusing on the Sudanese conflict.
She also will co-author a chapter for a book on media coverage of Darfur being directed by Professor Bella Mody of CU-Boulder's School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
DeLuca also plans to share her findings during a week of events on Sudan being organized this fall by Congregation Har HaShem of Boulder in conjunction with numerous CU-Boulder groups.
The residential field course in Rumbek was organized by the Rift Valley Institute, an independent association based in Kenya and the United Kingdom. The workshop, which featured academic experts on Sudan from several countries, was aimed at increasing participants' professional effectiveness, deepening their understanding of the working environment in Sudan and enabling better-informed interaction between Sudanese and non-Sudanese.
DeLuca's research is supported by the proposed Institute for Ethics and Civic Engagement and the Dean's Fund for Excellence at CU-Boulder as well as the Colorado Endowment for the Humanities.
For more information about the week of events on Sudan being planned in Boulder this fall contact Mindy Pantiel via e-mail at: msp10@aol.com.