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Basque Studies Program Newsletter · Issue
55, 1997
Staying in Touch
by Linda White
The Basque Studies Program is located in Reno,
Nevada, but the Basque Country is practically on the other
side of the world. How do we keep abreast of what is
happening there? It isn’t always easy. We correspond
with folks from Euskadi, we e-mail, we web surf, we fax and
phone. We receive many visitors from abroad. And, of course,
we travel.
This fall five Program and Library faculty visited
the Basque Country on different missions. William Douglass,
Coordinator, went from November 9 - 20. Linda White,
Assistant Coordinator, was there from September 18 to
October 9. Carmelo Urza, Coordinator of the University
Studies Abroad Consortium, visited in November. Marcelino
Ugalde, Basque Librarian, spent three weeks in Euskadi. And
Joseba Zulaika, Basque Scholar, is currently on sabbatical
in the Basque Country.
Dr. Douglass and Dr. Urza met with Javier
Zuñiga, the Vice Rector of the University of the
Basque Country (UPV), Nicanor Ursua, the Director of
International Affairs, José Luis de la Cuesta, Vice
Rector of the Gipuzkoa campus, and Felix Menchacatorre, to
negotiate agreements for the University Studies Abroad
Consortium (USAC). They also met with Joan Zelaia, the
founder of Euskal Fundazioa, and with its Executive Director
Joseba Intxausti, to discuss future projects. Meetings
continued as they worked out details of a visiting
professorship and Basque Government student scholarships in
discussions with Inaxio Oliveri, Félix Goñi,
Javier Muniozguren, and Eneko Oregui. In addition, they
visited with Iñaki Agirre from the Department of
Exterior Affairs and with a representative of the Department
of Culture to explore future relations and potential
projects with the BSP.
Dr. Douglass also gave an address on the life and
work of Jon Bilbao at the inauguration of the Fundazioa Jon
Bilbao at the Gasteiz-Vitoria campus of the
UPV.
And finally, Dr. Douglass lecture for five hours on
the Basque immigrant diaspora at the Palacio Miramar in San
Sebastián. The audience was a group of scholars doing
post-graduate work under the auspices of UPV,
Eusko-Ikaskuntza, and the Basque Studies Program. The
lecture was videotaped and broadcast on the Spanish-language
channel of the Basque Television Network
(ETB).
October 1 through 15, Marcelino Ugalde was in the
Basque Country to reinforce the bonds of friendship and
communication between the Basque Studies Library and the
libraries and book suppliers of Euskadi. Mr. Ugalde also had
the opportunity to spend a week with the Bilbao
Jiménez family in order to begin organizing the late
Jon Bilbao’s manuscripts and correspondence. Amale
Bilbao and Koldo San Sebastián assisted in the
endeavor.
Also on the agenda was the establishment of an
approval order system with Urretxindorra, the Basque
Library’s major book supplier. Mr. Ugalde used this
opportunity to select new titles for the library, as well.
In addition, Mr. Ugalde met with Carmen Gómez and
Jesús Odriozola at Sancho El Sabio Library in
Gasteiz-Vitoria (Alava) to coordinate efforts being made to
establish a collaboration with regard to cataloging Basque
materials, to discuss their internet status, review their
current library information system, and view their progress
in the project of digitizing manuscripts and rare
books.
And finally, while visiting family in Oñati,
Mr. Ugalde met individuals involved with the International
Institute for the Sociology of Law. He took a tour of the
University of Oñati, which dates from the
sixteenth-century, and met with Inmaculada Gozález
Gómez, the archivist of the University.
Oñati’s village festival was a bonus that
occurred during his stay.
Dr. White began her stay with a delightful visit to
the Zulaika home in Getaria. On the weekend they journeyed
to France to meet with Jacques Bellay in Biarritz and
Natalie Morel-Borrotra in Bordeaux. The trip turned into
quite an adventure as they navigated the busy streets with
rusty French and no map!
Algorta, Bilbao, Donostia, Gasteiz, and Durango were
all on the agenda. Dr. White met with Basque writers
Mariasun Landa, Laura Mintegi, and Amaia Lasa. She did a
radio interview with another writer, Arantxa Iturbe, and her
cohost Jaime Otamendi at Euskadi Irratia. Before leaving the
Basque Country, she did another radio show on Bizkai Irratia
with host Dorleta Alberdi. On both programs she discussed
the results of her dissertation about Basque women writers,
and she promoted the Basque-English English-Basque
Dictionary and her most recent translations (two
children’s books by Mariasun Landa, The Dancing Flea
and Karmentxu and the Little Ghost).
Dr. White also met with: Gloria Jover of the Basque
English Teacher’s Association of Bilbao; Patricia
O’Connor of the University Studies Abroad Consortium
(USAC) program in Donostia; and Mari Jose Olaziregi, who
recently completed her PhD at the University of the Basque
Country (UPV). She brainstormed with Dr. Teresa del Valle
(UPV) about a Consortium for the Study of Basque Women. She
spent a pleasant morning discussing Basque writers with
Maite Gonzalez, secretary of the Idazle Taldea
(Writers’ Group).
In Gasteiz-Vitoria, Dr. White visited with dictionary
co-author Gorka Aulestia and his wife Mertxe de Renobales.
Their son, Iker, speaks Basque, Spanish, and English, and
they conversed in all three from time to time. Also in
Gasteiz, Dr. White visited the Sancho el Sabio library and
met with Carmen Gómez who spearheads an incredible
technological push to transfer old, rare documents to a
computer database where they can be accessed without
damaging the originals.
In Durango, Dr. White was the guest on Andoni
Azpuru’s popular television program, “Bertatik
bertara”. For half an hour, they discussed topics as
varied as women’s literature and frisbee-catching dogs.
Later, she viewed the program with Gorka Aulestia, and they
had a good laugh over the extreme make-up and the amusing
topics covered by the show.
In Bilbao, Dr. White visited with Professor Jasone
Astola of the Sarriko campus of the UPV. And for the first
time in Europe her path crossed that of another BSP staff
member, Marc Ugalde, as they both visited with Amale Bilbao
and Koldo San Sebastián to reminisce about the late
Jon Bilbao. Before departing from Euskadi, Dr. White visited
Dr. Gorka Palazios at the Leioa campus of the UPV, discussed
the Basques in Russia with Professor Josi Basterretxea, and
caught up on news from both sides of the ocean with Dr. Juan
Carlos Odriozola.
And finally, Dr. White met briefly with Félix
Goñi, the Director for Political Science for the
Basque Government. And yet, with all this activity, there
were still many people to visit and not enough time to see
them all.
But the most adventuresome traveller this year has
been Dr. Joseba Zulaika, Basque Scholar at the BSP, who is
spending a sabbatical year in the Basque Country while
conducting research for a new book. Other professors may
lounge in an ivory tower, but the staff of the Basque
Studies Program travels every year to ensure close ties
between the BSP and our friends and colleagues in the Basque
Country.
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