Minor in Basque Studies

CBS Home Page

BASQUE STUDIES
Tutorial Ph D
Minor
Online courses
Course Syllabi
Language

Basque Cultural Studies Minor

An undergraduate minor in Basque cultural studies is offered through the Center for Basque Studies in the College of Liberal Arts. The University of Nevada, Reno houses the only Center for Basque Studies in the United States, and as part of our mission we offer a variety of courses on Basque topics. The present minor provides the student with an introduction and exposure to one of the unique ethnic heritages of the American West.

In addition to the classes offered on the UNR campus, the University Studies Abroad Consortium offers Basque courses in the Basque Country. And now the University of Nevada, Reno’s online Independent Learning courses allow students majoring in another field at UNR to complete a minor in Basque Studies entirely online. For information on the online courses, please see the Independent Learning web site.

Requirements for completion of the Basque Studies minor include a two-semester (8 credit) course sequence in elementary Basque, and 15 additional credits selected from the following list.

BASQ 101–102 Elementary Basque I and II, 8 credits.
An introduction to the language through the development of written and conversational language skills. Emphasis on Unified Basque (batua) but includes some information on the dialects.

BASQ 203–204 Second-year Basque I and II, 6 credits.
Structural review, conversation and writing. Includes further work with the unique structure of the Basque verb and system of suffixes.

BASQ / ANTH / FLL / PSC 220 Introduction to Basque Cultural Studies in a Global Frame, 3 credits.
Examines the representations of Basques worldwide in the media, the arts, scholarship, international politics, and the Internet. (Diversity course.)

BASQ 221 Introduction to Basque Folk Dance, 2 credits.
Study and practice of movement styles and techniques of Basque traditional dance at an introductory level, with emphasis on cultural context.

BASQ 295 Independent Language Study, 1 to 2 credits.
Open to qualified students in the Basque language. At least one conference per week with instructor concerned. Maximum of 4 credits.

BASQ / ANTH / PSC / SOC / WS 378 Identity across Borders: Basque Transnationalism in the United States, 3 credits.
Theories of globalization, social identity, diaspora foreign policy, identity construction, and nationalism are utilized to compare Basque individual and institutionalized ethnicity in the United States. (Diversity course.)

BASQ 405–406 Basque Conversation & Composition I and II,
6 credits.
Syntax and idiomatic usage in spoken and written Basque. Concentration on verb forms. Prerequisite: BASQ 204.

BASQ / HIST 430 Basque History (until 1700), 3 credits.
A political, social, and economic survey of the pre-modern (until 1700) "First Family of Europe," the Basques of Spain and France and their unique ethnic status.

BASQ / HIST 431 Modern Basque History (1700 to the present), 3 credits.
Social and political history of the Basque Country from the eighteenth century to the present; situates Basque history within major theories of nationalism.

BASQ 451 Basque Literature, 3 credits.
Literature of the Basques in Basque, French, and Spanish. Readings in English translation. Course conducted in English.

BASQ 452 Bernardo Atxaga, 3 credits
Reading and analysis of Basque writer Bernardo Atxaga's work in connection with world and Basque literary tradition.

BASQ 455 / ANTH 484 Basque Linguistics, 3 credits.
Structure of the Basque language, suggested relationships to other languages, historical development; dialectology; survey of research problems.

BASQ 456 / ANTH 412 / FLL 456 Basque Language, Society, and Culture, 3 credits.
Examines social and cultural aspects of the Basque language. Includes language shift, contact, planning, and interrelationships among language and gender, ethnicity, and culture.

BASQ 460 Topics in Basque Cultural Studies, 1–3 credits.
Topics vary from semester to semester. Max. of 6 credits.

BASQ 461 / WMST 462 Basque Gender Studies, 3 credits
Analysis of gender in the Basque context, past and present, in its domestic, economic, and political dimensions, and in the construction of socio-cultural identities.

BASQ 462 Cyberculture: A Basque Global Information Diaspora, 3 credits
Basque technological experience in its economic, social, and cultural contexts, as a nation with a large diaspora.

BASQ 465 Basque Economy from Industrialization to Globalization, 3 credits.
Provides an in-depth perspective of the Basque economy, from its historical roots in industrialization to the present institutions, infrastructures, and sectors that configure it.

BASQ 466 R / ANTH 413 R / ART 466 Museums, Architecture, City Renewal: The Bilbao Guggenheim, 3 credits.
Introduction to the complex architectural, museistic, local/global, artistic, political and epistemological issues presented by the first global museum in its first franchise. (General capstone course.)

BASQ / HIST 467 Basques in Contemporary European Culture, 3 credits.
The transformations of Basque social and political institutions brought about by the ongoing process of suprantional Europeanization, as reflected in youth movements, literature, and popular culture.

BASQ 471 / ANTH 414 R Basque Culture, 3 credits.
Survey of the culture of the Basque people of Europe, including occupations, cultural institutions, oral traditions, and art, as well as their transformations in emigrant settings such as the American West. (General capstone course.)

BASQ 472 / ANTH 415 R / PSC 407L Basque Diaspora Studies, 3 credits.
Ethnic identity maintenance is compared in the Basque diaspora with special attention to the factors of migration, globalization, ethnonationalism, gender, generation, and Basque government relations.

BASQ 473 Basque Cinema: An Introduction, 3 credits.
Examines Basque cinema both as an artistic practice and as a social text, and explores some of Euskadi's most significant cultural, historical, and political elements. Prerequisite: instructor permission.

BASQ / ANTH 477 War, Occupation & Memory in the Basque Country, 3 credits.
The experiences of Basque resisters, evaders, collaborators, and Jewish refugees in World War II in the French Basque Country provide the focus for discussions about history, memory and anthropology. (General capstone course.)

BASQ 480 Consuming Culture: Food, Gastronomy, and Lifestyles, 3 credits.
Examines new and traditional Basque cuisine and its adaptations abroad (especially in the American West). Includes significance of food-centered activities to gender relations.

BASQ 482 / ANTH 416 / ART 482 Oteiza, Chillida: Basque Modernist Art, 3 credits.
Contemporary Basque art will be situated in relation to major European artistic movements, native culture and society, and comparative ethnographic art from other cultures.

BASQ 495 Independent Language Study, 1 to 3 credits.
Open to qualified students in the Basque language. At least one conference per week with instructor concerned. Maximum of 8 credits.

BASQ 499 Individual Research in Basque Cultural Studies, 3 credits.

HIST 497 Independent Study in History when offered as: Basque and Iberian History, or equivalent, 3 credits.

P SC 497 Independent Study in Political Science when offered as: Political Institutions of the Basques, Spain, and Europe, or equivalent, 3 credits.

Crosslisted courses may be taken under any of the prefixes noted above and still count toward fulfilling the minor. Courses listed through other departments (such as independent study) may also apply to the minor if the subject matter is approved by the program director of Basque Studies. Also, the Center for Basque Studies has the flexibility to accept any appropriate course taken on the University Studies Abroad Consortium program as a substitute for those listed above.

Several of these courses are being offered online as well. For information about enrollment, please go to the Independent Learning site.

As part of the Basque Studies minor, a student at the University of Nevada, Reno can earn 14 foreign language credits and fulfill the University language requirement by enrolling in the Basque language sequence, consisting of four semesters of elementary Basque (BASQ 101, BASQ 102, BASQ 203, BASQ 204). Classes are generally very small. The first-year (101–102) language classes are also being offered online, soon to be followed by the second-year classes.

Students who want to study euskara in the Basque Country should visit the University Studies Abroad Consortium Web site.