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International Symposium on Diaspora Politics Center for Basque Studies, University of Nevada, Reno April 27–29, 2006 The Center for Basque Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno announces its 2006 International Symposium on “Opportunity Structures in Diaspora Relations: Comparisons in Contemporary Multi-level Politics of Diaspora and Transnational Identity.” Participants will discuss the following areas: What are the main characteristics and organizational structures of contemporary ethno-national diasporas, and to what extent might their relationships and political agency with their homeland and host-society governments develop? Which communal strategies and tactics (and in which circumstances) are used by diasporas and which are most effective at influencing global affairs, particularly the foreign policy of central governments? What opportunity structures exist for diasporas in the post-modern and trans-state social, economic and political systems, and which are the most essential to foster and/or exploit (progression of spatial, historical, temporal factors)? In what ways do diaspora activities, and ethno-national identity maintenance in general, influence social and political security issues both domestically and in foreign policy?
Please see the conference web site for schedule and other details. |
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Mondragon Cooperative Conference 2005 A conference on cooperatives and social economy will be held at Mondragon University in Mondragon, Spain on June 28, 2005. English will be the official language of the Conference, and topics include, but are not limited to, entrepreneurship and job creation, participation / democracy, organizational structure and networks, regional development, and social capital. Presentations can be in the form of full papers, short papers (work in progress, 4 pages or less), and posters / demonstrations. Please see their web site for further information. |
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 Learning from the Guggenheim A conference for discussion of the “Guggenheim effect” five years after the opening of the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum, and for reflection on its influence on art, architecture, museums, and urban renewal. More details here. April 22–24, 2004 — Reno, Nevada |
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Old Songs, New Theories: A Symposium on Oral Improvisational Poetry The Center for Basque Studies hosted a conference May 16 and 17, 2003 on improvised oral poetry. Participants debated improvisational songs in various cultural traditions, including the Castilian romances, the Judeo-Spanish ballads, the Ibero-American decimas, the Asturian cante jondo, the Santanderian trovas, the Slavic guslari, the Arabic invectives, and the Basque bertsolariak. The conference featured sixteen presenters from a range of disciplines, many of them well-known names in the scholarly world. A list of participants and title of their paper appears below, and a full schedule is posted on the web. This event was sponsored by the Bernard and Lucie Marie Bidart Fund and took place at John Ascuaga’s Nugget Hotel and Casino in Sparks, Nevada. More information and photos are posted on our site. Samuel Armistead: “Improvised Poetry in the Hispanic World” John Foley: “Comparative Oral Traditions” Maximiano Trapero: La poesía oral improvisada en España” James T. Monroe: “From Satire to Self-Criticism: Arabic Invective Poetry and Ibn Quzman’s ‘Zajal 87’ (Where Blond Meets Blonde)” James Fernandez: “Playfulness and Planfulness: Improvisation and Revitalization in Culture” William Christian: “Occasions for Improvised Verse in the Mountains of Cantabria” John Zemke: “Verbal Contests: Context, Text, and Orality” Israel J. Katz: “Bertsolaritza and Its Musical Foundations: Some Observations” Antonio Zavala: “My Years of Research on Popular Basque Literature” Gorka Aulestia: “Bertsolarism, Island or Archipelago?” Linda White: “Formulas in the Mind: A Preliminary Examination to Determine if Oral Formulaic Theory May Be Applied to the Basque Case” Kepa Fernandez de Larrinoa: “The Performing Arts of ‘Maskarada’ Winter Festivals: An Ethnographic Account from Zuberoa, French-Basque Country” Joseba Zulaika: “Bertsolariak and Writers: An Old Tale of Fathers and Sons” Jon Sarasua: “Reality and Challenges of Bertsolaritza in the Information Society” Andoni Egaña: “The Process of Creating Improvised Bertsos” Joserra Garzia: “A Theoretical Framework for Improvised Bertsolaritza” |
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Conference on Nationalism, Globalization, and Terror held in April 2002 The Center hosted a small, invitational conference on “Nationalism, Globalization, and Terror: A Debate on Stateless Nations, Particularism/Universalism, and Radical Democracy,” on the University of Nevada, Reno campus April 7–9, 2002. Conference organizers Begoña Aretxaga, Joseba Gabilondo, and Joseba Zulaika invited several speakers to participate in the conference/seminar, which discussed such questions as: What are the hegemonic strategies of nation-states now that there is no longer a “proper” state in Europe? Under what theoretical and political grounds can stateless nations claim rights to “sovereignty,” and how can this concept be (re)framed in the era of globalization? What kinds of relations are established between the law of the state and the state of “terrorist” law? Presenters included Begoña Aretxaga (Univ. of Texas-Austin), John Beverley (U. of Pittsburgh), Walker Connor (Middlebury College), William Douglass (UNR), Dennis Dworkin (UNR), Joseba Gabilondo (UNR), Pedro Ibarra (Univ. del País Vasco), Ernesto Laclau (Univ. of Essex), Robert Paine (Memorial Univ. of Newfoundland), Alfonso Perez-Agote (Univ. Complutense), Xabier Rubert de Ventós (Autonomous Univ. of Barcelona), and Joseba Zulaika (UNR). Public lectures by several of the presenters were given April 8-11, sponsored by the Hilliard Committee of UNR. The Center plans to eventually publish the conference papers to make them available to the public. |
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Elkarri Peace Conference – Phase 2 Continues On February 11, 2001, the elkarri organization announced a Peace Conference for the Basque Country, to end political violence. The preparation phase has been completed, and its goals have been accomplished: (1) To garner support. Internationally, over a hundred political and cultural figures have expressed support. In addition, over 50,000 people signed a support pledge and donated 6 euros each toward the cause; (2) To develop a methodology for action, based on respect for different socio-political beliefs. The implementation phase, to be carried out through conferences and debates, began September 2001 and will last through March 2002. The goal is to reach an agreement by all the political forces involved that will result in an effort to solve conflicts through non-violent means—ultimately an end to political violence; and encourage respect for the principle of equality. For further information, see the elkarri website. |
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XV Congreso de Estudios Vascos Eusko Ikaskuntza – the Society of Basque Studies – held their XV Congreso de Estudios Vascos during November 28-30 in Donostia-San Sebastián, in the Basque Country. The theme of the conference was Basque Science and Culture and Telematic Networks, and the topics were organized into six sections: 1 - A Future for our Past. Innovations in the field of anthropology and cultural heritage 2 - The Basque Country within a New Europe. A view from a geographical, historical, and legal point of view. 3 - The Basque Country and Civil Society. New actors and social change on the threshold of the new millennium. 4 - Literature and Scenic Arts: current situation. 5 - Plastic Arts: current situation. 6 - The Society of Knowledge and the Basque Country. Situation and future perspectives. For more information, please see the conference web site. |
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Conference in France on Basque immigration to the Americas An international conference was held in Bayonne May 17 and 18, 2001 on “L’immigration des Basques aux Ameriques,” sponsored by Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour, Ministère de l’Education Nationale et de la Recherche (France), and Centre de Recherches Eusko-Ikaskuntza Iparralde. The agenda included presentations given by Prof. Alberto Irigoyen Artetxe of Uruguay, Prof. Gorka Aulestia of Universidad de Deusto-Bilbao, and Prof. Roldán Jimeno Aranguren of Universidad de Navarra. The colloquium was presented in three languages, with simultaneous translation. |
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International Symposium on Basque Cultural Studies The Cultural Studies Symposium organized by the Institute of Basque Studies in London and held June 29-July 2, 2000 was a great success, as reported by Center for Basque Studies staff who were in attendance at the event. Dr. Linda White presented a paper on “A Literature in Chains: Literatura Kateatuta,” as organizer of a panel of the same name. Dr. Joseba Zulaika“s paper on “Towards Basque Cultural Studies” was part of a panel on Culture and Identity. Prof. Emeritus William Douglass served as a discussant for the panel on Peace Process and Conflict Resolution. You may view the agenda and read many of the papers presented online at the Institute’s Web site. |
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 Just published: 33 papers in three volumes. |
Basque Studies for the New Millennium In the summer of 1998, the University of Nevada, Reno hosted an international symposium on Basques in the Contemporary World: Migration, Identity, and Globalization, attended by nearly eighty scholars. Selected papers from the symposium are now available in three volumes published in the Occasional Papers Series of UNR’s Basque Studies Program: 1. Basque Cultural Studies with fourteen articles ranging over the origin theories of the Basque language and its viability in the Contemporary world, literature, gender studies, rock music and the bertsolari (troubadour), cinema, sports, Bilbao and the Guggenheim Museum, and Basque identity in cyberspace. 2. Basque Politics and Nationalism on the Eve of the Millennium includes eleven essays on Basque nationalism and institutions in the European Union and an increasingly globalized world, the image of Basques in the international media, depictions of ETA in the Spanish press and cinema, the status of Navarre and the French Basque country within (or without) Basque nationalism and the articulation of a Basque foreign policy through the Basque Government’s diaspora policy. 3. The Basque Diaspora / La Diáspora Vasca contains eight essays (in Spanish) on Basques in Latin America - notably Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Mexico, four essays (in English) on Basques in the western United States, and one essay (in French) on the Basques of Canada. For full details, please see the article in Issue 61 of the Center for Basque Studies Newsletter. The books cost $29.95 each. To order, please contact the University of Nevada Press. |
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