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News Archive - Spring 2006
CBS personnel honored Two Center for Basque Studies faculty members and one of our Ph.D. candidates were honored at end-of-the-year ceremonies. On May 17, 2006, Dr. Linda White was honored at the “Honor the Best” ceremony, an annual recognition event, as Basque Scholar Emerita. She was presented a plaque by Provost John Frederick, and congratulated by University President Joseph Crowley. CBS Ph.D. candidate Pedro Oiarzabal was also recognized as the runner-up for “Outstanding Graduating Graduate Student.”
Word was also received that Dr. Joseba Zulaika had been recognized by
one of his students for his exemplary teaching under the Thank-a-Prof
program. This program is an initiative by the Excellence in Teaching (ETP)
Program designed to highlight the often overlooked teaching
contributions by UNR faculty. Barbara J. Millis of the ETP comments,
“This recognition reflects both his strong commitment to effective
teaching, and the high esteem of his students.” | |
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Local Basque restaurateurs visit class Sandra Ott’s BASQ 471/671 class, Basque Culture, was honored by a visit by Louis and Lorraine Erreguible in May 2006. Louis immigrated to Nevada at the age of 22 and worked at various jobs before he and Lorraine started the popular local Basque hotel and restaurant, Louis’ Basque Corner, in 1967. The couple discussed the early years at the hotel, and Louis’ immigration experiences. The class later enjoyed a typical family-style supper at Louis’ Basque Corner, along with Louis and Lorraine, to celebrate the end of the semester and to share in the longstanding Basque tradition of commensality. | |
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Outstanding Grad Students announced Basque Ph.D. students Juan Arana and Pedro Oiarzabal were selected for Outstanding International Graduate Student awards at the University of Nevada, Reno for Spring 2006. The awards include a cash prize to assist with studies and research. This was the third year in a row that Pedro Oiarzabal has received the award. Zorionak, Juan and Pedro! | ||
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Graduate student papers presented In May, Ph.D. student Argitxu Camus’ paper “Aljeriako Gerla eta Euskal Herria aldizkaria” (The Algerian War and the Newspaper Euskal Herria) was posted online for the conference Euskal Herria Mugaz Gaindi III/Basque Presence in the World III, for the EuskoSare.org online seminar. A paper by Pedro J. Oiarzabal, “Euskaldiaspora.com—a methodological approach to studying the Basque diaspora online,” “The Basque Presence in the World and the Communication Media– Euskal Herria Mugaz Gaindi,” was also presented online. | |
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Sandra Ott lectures at Historical Studies conference Sandra Ott became a member of the Society for French Historical Studies and was invited to give a paper at their 52nd annual meeting, held at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana April 20–23, 2006. Her paper, “Bad Tongues and Power-Playing by French Basque Women during the German Occupation,” was part of a workshop on gender and sexuality in France during and after the Occupation. The chair and commentator was Professor Sarah Fishman, from the University of Houston. | ||
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Andoni Alonso book receives recognition Visiting scholar Andoni Alonso’s book, co-authored by Iñaki Arzoz, has been selected as the book of the month for May by the University of Washington’s Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies. The book, Basque Cyberculture: From Digital Euskadi to Cybereuskalherria (Reno: Center for Basque Studies, 2006) is reviewed by Loykie Lomine of the University of Winchester (England) where he is Programme Director for the M.A. in Cultural and Arts Management. | |
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BSU project evaluated by Sandra Ott Sandra Ott served as the external evaluator of the Boise State University project, “Bridging Community Needs and International Studies: Developing a Basque Studies Minor” at Boise State in April. The two-year project is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. She met with administrators and faculty at BSU involved with the minor, launched in September 2005, and also with the Board of the Cenarrusa Center for Basque Studies. Ott will continue to work on the project until August 2007. | |
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Eusko Ikaskuntza/Basque Library sign agreement | |
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Diaspora Politics conference presented April 27–29 The CBS sponsored a 2006 International Symposium on Diaspora Politics, “Opportunity Structures in Diaspora Relations: Comparisons in Contemporary Multi-level Politics of Diaspora and Transnational Identity,” on the University of Nevada, Reno campus. World renowned experts investigated and debated such topics as the main characteristics and organizational structures of contemporary ethno-national diasporas, and how their relationships with their homeland and host-society governments might develop; communal strategies and tactics used by diasporas, and how effective they are at influencing the foreign policy of central governments; opportunity structures for diasporas in the post-modern and trans-state social, economic and political systems; and ways diaspora activities, and ethno-national identity maintenance in general, influence social and political security issues both domestically and in foreign policy.
The Symposium consisted of presentations and
discussions of papers given by Thomas Abraham, Kim Butler, Nergis Canefe,
Robin Cohen, William A. Douglass, Michel Laguerre, Razmik Panossian,
William Safran, Gabriel Sheffer, Khachig Tölölyan, and Gloria
Totoricagüena. Please see the conference web site
for further details, including a schedule and abstracts of the presentations. | |
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Juan Arana presents review and paper on Oteiza Basque Ph.D. student Juan Arana reviewed a book by Edorta Kortadi Olano, Eduardo Chillida. Vida y Obra de un artista universal (Madrid: Editorial Síntesis, 2003) for the journal Revista Internacional de Estudios Vascos (RIEV) No. 49-2, pp.714–718.
In addition, at a conference on Jorge Oteiza on
April 6 at the University of Navarra (Kultur Ekintzen Zerbitzua), Arana
presented a paper on “Oteiza eta Ilargiaren Begiraleak. Gai
Erromantikoak Oteizaren Eskulturan.” Travel expenses for the conference
in Navarra were partially covered by a travel grant awarded to him by
the Graduate Student Association of the University of Nevada, Reno. | |
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P. Oiarzabal gives Basque lecture On April 24, Basque Ph.D. student Pedro Oiarzabal gave a talk about Basque history and Basques in the U.S. for the Honorary Teachers Organization, Delta Gamma Kappa International Society, a Chapter of the Reno-Sparks organization. Oiarzabal was invited by the Honorary Teachers Organization to present information about the Center for Basque Studies and its educational goals. For the past few years, he has participated in various community-outreach activities on behalf of the Center. | ||
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William Douglass receives prestigious award from Universidad Pública de Navarra In March, Director Emeritus of the Center for Basque Studies, William A. Douglass, was awarded the Medalla de Oro (gold medal) by the Universidad Pública de Navarra (Public University of Navarre), in the Basque region of Spain. The award acknowledged his contributions to the field of Basque studies, which began with doctoral research conducted in 1963 in the village of Etxalar, Navarra. This research was later published in his work Echalar and Murelaga: Opportunity and Rural Depopulation in Two Spanish Basque Villages (London: C. Hurst & Co.; New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1975). As an anthropologist, Douglass has published some twenty monographs and numerous scholarly articles throughout his career in the areas of peasant society, ethnic groups and ethnicity maintenance, Basque society, Mediterranean social structure, family history, and migration studies. Last summer, Dr. Douglass donated a portion of his personal library of around 5,000 books and dozens of journals to the Universidad Pública de Navarra.
The Medalla de Oro award was announced in a
full-page article appearing in the newspaper Diario de Noticias
(Pamplona, Spain) on March 25, and included an interview with Dr.
Douglass. An award ceremony will be held at a later date. | |
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Center, USAC featured in special supplement — The Center for Basque Studies and the University Studies Abroad Consortium (USAC) were featured in an eight-page University of Nevada, Reno supplement included in the Reno Gazette-Journal newspaper for April 9. The theme of the news items was Studying Abroad. Information on the Center included an article on director Gloria Totoricagüena, discussing the Center’s projects and activities, and information on emeritus director William A. Douglass.
The article on USAC celebrated their 25th
Anniversary and described their growth from a small program in the Basque
region to currently offering 38 programs in 25 countries. The Consortium
includes 31 U.S. and 35 foreign university members. While programs in
Spain remain the most popular, students also enjoy studying in more
exotic regions such as St. Andrews, Scotland and Bangalore, India. In
the past 25 years, more than 17,000 students have studied around the
world on USAC programs. We congratulate the University Studies Abroad
Consortium and their director, Carmelo Urza, on their incredible success
and growth over the last quarter-century. | |
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CBS a valuable resource, says Nevada News article The article “Small Basque Studies Program Boasts Global Reach,” by Heather Shallenberger, appeared in the Nevada News Online (University of Nevada, Reno) for April 10. The article said, “This internationally recognized department is heralded for its research, student programs, scholarly conferences, and publications as well as considered a valuable resource by media and scholars worldwide.” The Center had been contacted by various media representatives from around the world for comments after the Basque separatist group, ETA, recently announced a permanent ceasefire with the Spanish government. Center Director Gloria Totoricagüena commented on the Center’s role as a resource and gave information on its history, research projects, and many publications. | |
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Center for Basque Studies Seminar Series, Spring 2006 The Center continued its seminar presentations this semester with three lectures. On March 15, Linda White spoke on “Borrowing Culture: Thirty Years of Studying Basques.” As a faculty member at the Center for over twenty years, Dr. White’s research has focused on the effect of nationalism on Basque women’s lives, genre fiction in Basque literature, the new women writers, and Basque women who write in Spanish. She has also taught the Basque language and is currently writing a textbook for learning Euskara. On April 5, Gloria Totoricagüena, Director of the Center, presented “The Political Agency of Ethnic Diasporas: Paradiplomacy and the Construction of Political Communities in the World System.” Her talk addressed the perseverance of non-state actors in foreign policy, stating that “culture and identity politics are no longer singularly dominated by state-centric networks and are moving into the realm of interest and ethnic alliances, such as homeland-diaspora transnational relations.”
On April 12, we heard a lecture from Gregorio Monreal, the current William A.
Douglass Distinguished Scholar at the Center for Basque Studies. He
discussed “Llorente, 1806: The End of Basque Naiveté.” The talk discussed Llorente’s
book Noticias históricas de las tres provincias vascongadas (Historical news of
the three Basque provinces) (1806) and its importance in Basque contemporary history. | |
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Basque journal includes Totoricagüena interview Gloria Totoricagüena was interviewed in March about her future plans for the Center for Basque Studies by Miel Elustondo for the Basque journal, Argia. The interview is posted online on the Argia site. | |
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Sandra Ott publishes article on German Occupation in the Basque region Dr. Sandra Ott of the Center published the article, “Good Tongues, Bad Tongues: Denunciation, Rumour and Revenge in the French Basque Country, 1943–1945,” in the March 2006 issue of History and Anthropology (pp. 57–72). The article provides the first ethnographic study of denunciation and rumor during the German Occupation and its aftermath, focusing on events in a French Basque village. | |
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Joseba Zulaika lectures at Stuttgart conference On April 7, Joseba Zulaika presented a talk at the symposium, “Politics of Space” (a conference in the context of the exhibition “On Difference #2: Grenzwertig”), held at Wurttembischer Kustverein in Stuttgart, Germany. One focus of the symposium was a critical reflection of the political and economic background of urban developments, in the local and global context. Zulaika’s paper was on “The Architecture of Desire: Bilbao’s Four Cathedrals.”
The presentation argued that
the interactions among four key buildings— the field where soccer team
Athletic plays, popularly known as “The Cathedral”; the
basilica of the Virgin Mother of Begoña; the Bank of Bilbao; and the Guggenheim Bilbao
Museum—provide a basic grounding
for an ethnography of desire in Bilbao. | |
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Totoricagüena interview appears on Buber’s Page An interview with CBS director Gloria Totoricagüena by Blas Pedro Uberuaga appears on his popular Basque-related web page, the Buber page. The interview includes questions about her personal views on being Basque, the role of the Center in the context of modern Basque culture, and her research on the Basque diaspora. | |
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Book review published by P. Oiarzabal Ph.D. student Pedro Oiarzabal published a review of the book Los hijos del exilio vasco: arraigo o desarraigo by José Ángel Ascuence and María Luisa San Miguel, in RIEV – Revista Internacional de Estudios Vascos (International Journal of Basque Studies), Vol. 49, No. 2, pp. 711–713. | |
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CBS receives funding for Basque Genealogy Center The Center for Basque Studies recently received funding from the Nevada State Legislature to organize and launch the Basque Family History in the USA project, with Dr. Gloria Totoricagüena as the Principle Investigator. The CBS has formed a network of professionals to aid in conducting genealogical research in the USA from US census data, military records, Social Security Index, and port of entry immigration records. The $250,000 allotment is allocated for the 2005–2007 biennium. The goal of the project is to create a database from existing records on Basques in the U.S. from 1790 through the 1930s. The database will not be ready for any public inquiry until the end of 2007. | |
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Zulaika article published Joseba Zulaika published an article entitled “Las ruinas de la identidad: conversión y escritura” in a book edited by A. Ortiz-Osés and P. Lanceros, La interpretación del mundo: cuestiones para el tercer milenio (Barcelona: Anthropos, 2006). | |
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Totoricagüena interview appears in Euskal Etxea of NY newsletter Gloria Totoricagüena was interviewed by Basque Ph.D. student Pedro Oiarzabal for the web site of the Basque Club of New York, on her appointment as Director of the Center for the term 2006–2009. He asked her to discuss her goals for the next three years, including current initiatives such as an international conference on Diaspora studies in April, and a Basque family heritage program. | |
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William Douglass interview in Basque journal The December 2005 issue (no. 11/12/13) of the journal Landazuri presents a lengthy interview with William A. Douglass, former director of the Center for Basque Studies. The interview was conducted by Miel Angel Elustondo, a journalist in the Basque Country and a frequent visitor to the Center, and Henrike Knorr. Mr. Elustondo has been interviewing Dr. Douglass and others connected with the Center for a book on Douglass’ career. | |
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Basque courses for Spring 2006 The Center is offering the following courses for spring semester 2006: Elementary Basque II, taught by Kate Camino; Basque Culture, taught by Sandra Ott and also taught online by Joseba Zulaika; Independent Study: Basque Cyberculture, taught by visiting professor Andoni Alonso; and Bernardo Atxaga, taught online by Mari Jose Olaziregi. | |
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European Studies Centre, Oxford sponsors workshop A workshop on Forms of Union: the British and Spanish Monarchies in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries was held on Saturday, March 11 at the European Studies Centre, St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford. The event was convened by the Centre’s Basque Visiting Fellow, Jon Arrieta.
The workshop was opened by Sir John Elliott (Regius
Professor Emeritus of Modern History, University of Oxford), and
included presentations by:
The Basque Visiting Fellowship at St. Antony’s was set up by current CBS faculty
member Sandra Ott in conjunction with Eusko Ikaskuntza and the Basque
Government, when she was director of the European Studies Centre. | |
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Basque courses offered in Boise For the second year, the Cenarrusa Center for Basque Studies and Boise State University are offering Basque language, history, and culture classes at a discounted price for all Basque Museum or Euzkaldunak (Boise Basque Club) members. For more information and a program flier please see the Cenarrusa Center’s web site. | |
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Idaho issues Basque-themed license plate A new Basque license plate for Idaho registered vehicles is now available. Funds raised through sale of these special plates will be used “to preserve the Basque culture, language and contributions to Idaho through educational and outreach programs,” said Pete Cenarrusa, former Secretary of State of Idaho and champion of Basque culture. He founded the Cenarrusa Center for Basque Studies at Boise State University. For more information on the special plates, please see the Idaho Transportation Department web site. | |
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CBS Advisory Board meets in Reno The Center’s annual winter Advisory Board meeting took place March 4 at Ascuaga’s Nugget in Sparks, Nevada. Three new board members were welcomed, including ex-officio member Tontxu Campos, Minister of Education of the Basque Government; Sixto Jimenez; Koldo San Sebastián; and Antonio de Ynchausti. The board also welcomed several visitors, among them Alberto Letona of the Dept. of Education of the Basque Government.
The Board proposed creating business plans for the
Basque Genealogy Project, and for CBS publications. Genealogy project
leaders Dr. George Ryskamp and Jennifer Kerns of Brigham Young
University were in attendance at the meeting to present their initial
work on database creation. Also under discussion were future staffing
needs of the Center, fundraising issues, and organization of a Basque
Country tour in 2007. Center Director Gloria Totoricagüena gave an
overview of the Center’s founding and history, and her proposals for
future initiatives. She also expressed deep appreciation to the Basque
Government’s Education Department for their generous financial
assistance to the Center that has made many of our most important
projects possible. | |
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