The University of California Los Angeles will be hosting its first Basque conference on Wednesday, Dec. 3, the Day of the Basque Language.
The conference, to be held at the UC campus’ Rolfe Hall, is entitled “What Are Basque Studies?” For many years, Basque studies were reflected mostly in the fields of linguistics, anthropology and history and to some extent in literature, said UCLA professor Iker Arranz Otaegui. Today, that status is changing.
“It’s a good moment to rethink the discipline, especially in the U.S.,” he said. “We don’t want to limit the scope of the topic.” Arranz teaches Basque language classes at UCLA. He pointed out that new technological developments are changing every field, including his own.
The conference includes lectures by professors from several California universities. Among the topics to be addressed are Euskara, music, Basque Studies as a Scholarly Subject, Wild Basque America and Jews in the Basque borderlands.
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The conference will be offered only in person. There will be no online aspect to the event, said Arranz. This was decided by the organizers purposefully because Arranz notes that many times important face-to-face contacts and meetings often take place in the corridors of events. “Collaborations happen in this way,” he said.
“We hope the communities of Chino and Bakersfield will participate,” said Arranz.
The conference starts at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 6:30 p.m., with coffee and pastries during registration at 8:30 a.m. It will be held in Rm. 1301 of Rolfe Hall. Parking structures Lot 5 and Lot 3 are the closest to the conference location.
The conference is being organized by a UC-wide Basque research group UC Basque that includes professors in different fields. It is also sponsored by the Etxepare Basque Institute in Euskadi and the Basque Educational Organization.
