On Monday 21st of November, the KICS community was treated to the first of the 2011-12 Humanities Dept. Lecture Series.  Dr Tamador Khaled spoke to an interested audience of around 50 on the subject of ‘Post-Secession Sudan- the Dynamics of Boundaries and Borderlands’ with a particular focus on the area of Southern Kordofan around Abiyei.

Placing the topic firmly in its historical context Dr Tamador traced back the origins of the disputes between different ethnic groups to various colonial Land Acts bestowing power and influence on certain recognised tribes at the expense of others.
She examined how the Miseriya and Dinka tribes in this area had traditionally lived alongside each other in relative peace, with a high degree of intermarriage and economic co-dependence.  

In the late C20 this balance was disturbed as a result of environmental degradation, civil war and the activities of oil companies in the area, whose policy of compensating tribesmen for land concessions has led to increased inter and intra tribal tensions.
The  national boundary  that now crossed this landscape has added immeasurable pressure on an area that is already suffering from severe social dislocation.

An intersting and engaged question and answer session followed the lecture and Dr Tamador was able to elaborate on many points raised by her talk- including enlightening us about the origins of the so-called ‘Arab’ tribes prevalent in this region of Sudan.
Everyone left the talk much more informed about the highly complex issue of disputed borderlands that currently stands as a major impediment to peaceful coexistence between the peoples living in the region