|
CBS Home Page
ABOUT US
Faculty & Staff
History
History
II
History III
|
|
History III: Silver
Anniversary
by William A. Douglass
From The Basque Studies Program Newsletter, No. 45, April 1992
The Basque Studies Program is twenty five! In terms
of the arithmetic of this quincentennial year we have
existed for one-twentieth of the period since the discovery
of the New World. Such benchmarks invite contemplation and
the taking of stock. In the May 1983 issue of this
newsletter, I presented an overview of the Program’s
first fifteen years of history. In November of 1987, I
updated the account. It would therefore seem appropriate at
this time to review the past five years.
The Library Collection - The growth in our
Basque library continues to accelerate. With 2% of UNR’s
total library budget, the collection is adding approximately
1,500 titles to its holdings annually. We now have over
30,000 volumes, several hundred journals and thousands of
photographs, videos, films, tapes, musical recordings,
manuscripts, etc.
In 1988 our first librarian, María Boisvert,
moved to New York where her husband was enrolled in graduate
school. We were fortunate to acquire the services of Ellen
Brow who came to us from Harvard University where she was
the Latin American and southern European
bibliographer.
At this juncture the library collection faces four
major challenges. First, there is a considerable backlog of
uncataloged material which is growing due to our expanding
volume of new acquisitions. Second, we, like the rest of the
library world, are in the midst of computerization. Third,
we are out of shelf space and are now culling the collection
in order to warehouse its more esoteric items. Fourth, the
library is under-staffed and we are dependent upon
volunteerism and ad hoc arrangements.
Growth pains are a part of a natural process, but
they still hurt! We are pursuing several long-term
strategies that may help alleviate the problems. We have
submitted a proposal to the National Endowment for the
Humanities for a major grant that would catalogue ten
thousand books. We continue to make our case in the
strongest possible terms within the budgetary process of the
university. However, these are difficult times characterized
by scarce resources.
Publications - The Basque Book Series of the
University of Nevada Press has expanded considerably over
the past five years from fifteen titles in print in 1987 to
its current list of twenty-four. Thus, if for the first
twenty years of our existence the Series averaged less than
one book per year, the production currently stands at about
two titles annually. The Occasional Papers Series released
two new titles during the period as well. Between the two
series there are approximately ten titles in press at
present. This newsletter continues to be published twice
annually and is currently sent to 8,600
subscribers.
Staff - During the past five years Jill Berner
became our office manager and Joan Brick was hired as
Program secretary. Gorka Aulestia resigned his position to
return to the Basque Country. Linda White was made assistant
coordinator. Anthropologist Joseba Zulaika joined the
professional staff and Jose Mallea has been conducting
postdoctoral research for the past two years with grant
scholarship.
Visiting Scholars - In March of 1988 Basque
President José Antonio Ardanza Garro and a delegation
visited the United States. They came to Nevada and signed
cultural exchange agreements with Governor Richard H. Bryan
and University of Nevada System Chancellor Mark H. Dawson.
Under the terms of the latter, the Basque Government agreed
to fund two scholarships for American students to study in
the Basque Country, two scholarships for Basque students to
study at UNR and a visiting professorship permitting a
Basque professor to spend a year in residence with the
Basque Studies Program. This support enhanced considerably
the existing exchange of faculty and students between the
University of Nevada, Reno and various academic institutions
in the Basque Country. To date the visiting professors
include Mila Alvarez Urcelay (University of the Basque
Country-San Sebastián), María Elisa Zorriqueta
(University of the Basque Country-Lejona) and Demetrio
Loperena (University of the Basque Country-San
Sebastián).
The scholars who have come to Reno for brief stays of
a few days are far too numerous to mention individually.
Those who spent significant periods in residence with the
program include Román Basurto (University of the
Basque Country-Lejona), Gurutz Jáuregui Bereciartu
(University of the Basque Country-San Sebastián),
Kepa Fernández de Larrinoa (Western Ontario
University), Josu Rekalde Izaguirre (University of the
Basque Country-Lejona), María Asunción Cenoz
Iragui (Xabier Zubiri School-San Sebastián), Angel
Ansa Goenaga (Escuela Universitaria de Magisterio-San
Sebastián), María José Azurmendi
(University of the Basque Country-San Sebastián),
Benjamin Tejerina (University of the Basque Country-Lejona),
Cynthia Irvin (Duke University), Eusebio Osa (University of
the Basque Country-Vitoria), Jaione Lanborena
(Eusko-Bibliographía), John Tuthill (Georgia Southern
University), Iñaki Insausti (Basque artist) and
Daniele Conversi (London School of
Economics).
Instruction - Basque Studies Program faculty
continue to offer courses here at UNR through the
Departments of Anthropology, Foreign Languages and History,
and Linda White provides a two-year Basque language
sequence. For the past five years we have offered a
week-long seminar on Basque culture as part of the
Elderhostel program. We were pleased when Jose Mallea
received his doctorate through the Basque Tutorial Ph.D.
program and deeply saddened when Rodolfo Luera, another of
its students, was killed tragically in a traffic
accident.
Study Abroad - During the past five years the
activity of the University Studies in the Basque Country
Consortium, directed by Carmelo Urza, expanded dramatically.
The University of Iowa, the University of Idaho-Moscow,
Wright State University (Ohio) and Deakin University
(Australia), all joined the Consortium. A new summer program
was initiated at St. Jean de Luz in the Basque Country and
semester and year-long ones were begun at the University of
Turin in Italy, Deakin University in Australia and the
International University SEK in Santiago de
Chile.
Given the expanded scope of the Consortium, its name
was changed to the University Studies Abroad Consortium. It
was also formally institutionalized during the past year as
a regular activity of the University of Nevada, Reno. The
magnitude of the effort may be appreciated from the
statistics for the current year. Its budget has surpassed
one million dollars and under its auspices 220 American
students will have studied abroad and 100 foreign students
have enrolled in its courses as well. About eighty percent
of this activity remains focused upon the Basque
Country.
Research - Recently, one of the major research
goals of the Basque Studies Program was realized with
completion and publication of the Basque/English,
English/Basque dictionary. Similarly, the results of the
field research by William Douglass among Basque sugar
canecutters in Australia were prepared for publication and
are currently in press. Jose Mallea initiated important
research regarding aspen tree carvings left by Basque
sheepherders throughout the American West. The work is still
in progress but has already produced publications and
documentary film. Joseba Zulaika is currently preparing a
book on terrorism based on his previous research as a
Guggenheim fellow. In short, Program staff continue to frame
and conduct original research regarding Old World Basque
culture and the Basque emigrant diaspora
worldwide.
This five-year update of the twenty-five-year history
of the Basque Studies Program on the occasion of its silver
anniversary suggests that we have matured without
sacrificing any of our dynamism. I feel particularly
privileged to have been named as coordinator in 1967 and
entrusted with both the opportunity and responsibility of
implementing the concept. I do not, however, have any
particular claim to proprietorship. Through the efforts of
literally thousands of persons over the past quarter of a
century the Program has practically fashioned itself. I
thank and salute all of you.
Eskerrikasko!
|
