University of Nevada, Reno


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War, Exile, Justice and Everday Life, 1936-1946

Center for Basque Studies Ninth Annual Conference set for April 15-17

 

The theme of the 2010 CBS conference is “War, Exile, Justice and Everyday Life, 1936-1946.” The ninth annual conference of the Center for Basque Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno, will bring together a select group of fifteen scholars from European and American universities whose research broadly relates to the experience of war, exile, justice, and everyday life in the Basque Country, France, Spain and Germany from 1936 to1946. Subthemes include (but are not limited to) human displacement and migration in wartime, wartime and nationalism, wartime propaganda and public opinion, wartime gender relations and family life, justice and the process of judgment in post-war trials, and the impact of military bombardment on civilian life. Sessions will be organized according to themes/subthemes, and each paper will be followed by a commentary and questions. Participants will have 25 minutes in which to present their papers, which must be in English.

 

Commentators will limit their remarks to fifteen minutes. In order to maximize fruitful scholarly exchange prior to and during the conference, all papers must be submitted to the conference organizers, Professors Sandy Ott and Santi de Pablo, by April 1st, 2010, for timely distribution to the commentators and other presenters. The conference is open to the public.


 

Terrorism: The Self-fulfilling Prophecy

 

Zulaika's Terrorism: the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy published by University of Chicago Press

 

In counterterrorism circles, the standard response to questions about the possibility of future attacks is the terse one-liner: “Not if, but when.” This mantra supposedly conveys a no-nonsense approach to the problem, but, as Joseba Zulaika argues in Terrorism, it has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. By distorting reality to fit their own worldview, the architects of the War on Terror prompt the behavior they seek to prevent—a twisted logic that has already played out horrifically in Iraq. In short, Zulaika contends, counterterrorism has become pivotal in promoting terrorism.


Exploring the blind spots of counterterrorist doctrine, Zulaika takes readers on a remarkable intellectual journey. He contrasts the psychological insight of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood with The 9/11 Commission Report, plumbs the mindset of terrorists in works by Orianna Fallaci and Jean Genet, maps the continuities between the cold war and the fight against terrorism, and analyzes the case of a Basque terrorist who tried to return to civilian life. Zulaika’s argument is powerful and inventive, packed with insights and ideas that provide a new and sophisticated perspective on the War on Terror.

 

“This is a brilliant book—a rich and insightful theoretical analysis. Zulaika presents an in-depth critical and cultural deconstruction of what terrorism means symbolically, how it is used in political discourse, and how it is applied by the U.S. government as a means of manufacturing consent for violent policies of counterterrorism. Terrorism ends with a powerful and compelling critique of the War on Terror, arguing for the ironic but unavoidable conclusion that it is fundamentally a self-fulfilling prophecy in which those fighting the war on terror are those who are responsible for creating it in the first place.”

 

- Jeffrey Sluka, Massey University

 

“This is by far the best book on terrorism I have read for many years. In its systematic deconstruction of counterterrorism ideology and its call to take terrorist subjectivity seriously, this is a book of tremendous importance. Zulaika brings to the work several decades of in-depth research and understanding; he is clearly a scholar at the very height of his powers. Terrorism is incredibly rich in analysis and insight—I have no doubt that readers will be mining it for new ideas for many years to come.”

 

- Richard Jackson, Aberystwyth University

 

University of Chicago Press
www.press.uchicago.edu
ISBN-13: 978-0-226-99416-1
ISBN-10: 0-226-99416-3


 

Contraterrorismo - Zulaika

 

Zulaika Publishes Spanish-language volume on Counter-terrorism

 

In late 2009, Dr. Zulaika's book, ContraterrorismoUSA: profecía y trampa was published by Alberdania in Irun.

 

Alberdania
http://astiro.alberdania.net
360 pages
ISBN: 978-84-9868-098-0


 

 

Zulaika moderated discussion on Atxaga novel at Cervantes Institute in New York

 

Zulaika lectures at Cervantesd Institute

 

A lecture about Bernardo Atxaga's novel The Lone Man organized by the Jorge Luis Borges Library's European Book Club (EBC) took place at the Instituto Cervantes in New York [Gallery' Amster Yard '] in a double session on December 14 and 15.

 

After welcoming remarks by Eduardo Lago, director of the Cervantes Institute in NY, and the director of theJorge Luis Borges Library, discussion, conducted in English, was moderated by Professor Joseba Zulaika, director of the Center for Basque Studies at the University of Nevada at Reno. Attendees participated actively in discussions with the moderator and interacting with each other. In the first session on Monday, the analysis and discussion was within the coordinates marked by literary work, in the second meeting, on Tuesday moved closer to the political and social issue.

Both sessions proved very interesting because of the intense exchange of views and analysis. The director of the Library Jorge Luis Borges, Maria Vasquez, announced that the next reading from the EBC in ICNY be on a Catalan author, most likely in late May and in collaboration with the 'Institut Ramon Llull' of NY.


 

Pedro Oiarzabal

Pedro Oiarzabal, graduate of the Center's Ph.D. program, joins faculty at Deusto University

 

In early December Dr. Oiarzabal accepted a position as a full-time researcher on international migration at the University de Deusto in Bilbao. He will be in charge of managing research projects within the European Union and Latin America, and will be the liaison person with the research team's international network partners.

 

Zorionak, Dr. Oiarzabal!


 

Bitarte

Xabiero Irujo reviews González Chamorro's book on the Basque political conflict

 

Bitarte, a well-structured book by Javier González Chamorro introduces the reader to the keys of the Basque political conflict that today is 220 years old.

 

The work has, besides other interesting contributions, the virtue of being written from the equidistance and thus its name, Bitarte, between two fires. The author has managed to completely and impartially describe the chronological development of the conflict from its origins in the late eighteenth century to the present day underlying the key political, but also social, cultural and economic aspects of it. Indeed, the Basque political conflict is essentially the result of a cultural clash of three civilizations with their own languages, histories and customs that at the same time have known how to collaborate and generate a supranational culture of benefit to all three of them.

 

This book is a notable piece of scholarly research providing deep reflections on the keys for a necessary resolution of the Basque political conflict.


 

Ametzaga Book

Professor Xabier Irujo has published the letters of Bingen Ametzaga Aresti in two volumes

 

Bingen Ametzaga Aresti (1901-1969), born in Algorta (Bizkaia), was a poet, translator, historian and politician. Despite the obstacles to writing and publishing in Basque from exile in America, his production was vast. The two volumes of collected correspondence have been published with the prestigious Basque publishing house Utriusque Vasconiae. More...


 

Center for Basque Studies

Call for Applications: The William A. Douglass Distinguished Scholar Award

 

The Center for Basque Studies of the University of Nevada, Reno is now accepting applications for the William A. Douglass Distinguished Scholar Award for the academic year 2010–2011. This award was established in 2005 in conjunction with the ministries of Education, Culture, and Foreign Affairs of the Basque Government. The Douglass Scholar must be a specialist in some aspects of Basque Studies, and the areas of expertise from which candidates may vary from year to year in order to ensure representation from a broad range of disciplines. The scholar will be chosen on the basis of his/her contribution to Basque Studies and consistent record of research, achievement and scholarly innovation. For 2010-2011, we are seeking a specialist in Basque History.

 

During the award period, the Distinguished Scholar is expected to complete a substantial research and writing project, which is normally published by the Center. In conjunction with CBS faculty, the Scholar is also expected to participate in an international conference in his/her field of expertise. The Center for Basque Studies organizes such conferences annually as an important part of its research mission. The Distinguished Scholar is based in Reno for the duration of the award (September 1st until July 31st) and is expected to contribute actively to the academic community at the University of Nevada, Reno. The Center provides a fully equipped office at the Center, affordable housing for the Scholar and a monthly stipend to cover living costs.

 

Applicants should submit a detailed narrative of the proposed research (not to exceed two single-spaced pages and preferably in English) together with a résumé and the names/addresses of two referees to Ms. Kate Camino (kcamino@unr.edu), Center for Basque Studies, MS/2322, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89557-2322. The deadline for completed applications is January 15th, 2010.  Applications may be submitted via e-mail to basque@unr.edu, by fax (775-784-1355), or may be mailed to Ms. Camino. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Professor Zulaika at zulaika@unr.edu, Professor Sandra Ott at sott@unr.edu, or contact the Center by telephone on 775-784-4854.


 

 

 

Ott signs on to university committees

 

Sandy Ott is now co-chair of the UNR Presidential Diversity Committee, the Intercultural Council. She also serves on the UNR diversity subcommittee for the Core Curriculum and is involved in rewriting the criteria for diversity courses at the university.


 

de Pablo

Douglass Scholar Santi de Pablo lectured at the University of Connecticut

 

Dr. de Pablo presented a lecture titled

"Imágenes en Conflicto: Cine y Guerra Civil en el País Vasco" on Thursday, December 3, 2009, 2:00 pm at the Department of Modern & Classical Languages at the University of Connecticut.

 


 

 

Ott article published in The Proceedings of the Western Society for French History

 

In November, Sandy published an article, “Gifts, Ambiguity and Questionable Justice: The Trial of a Vichy Police Commissioner,” in The Proceedings of the Western Society for French History (vol. 36).


 

 

Ott becomes humanities scholar

 

During the fall semester Sandra Ott became a humanities scholar for the Northern Nevada Reads project that will sponsor various Basque-related exhibitions and speaking engagements in libraries across northern Nevada in the spring of 2010. Sandy is responsible for the program, which will feature lectures on Basque dance by Lisa Corcostegui, among others.


 

Patxi Larralde

Patxi Larralde

Javier Larralde

Javier Larralde

 

 

Baztan Dance workshop
Dance workshop

Txistularis Patxi and Javier Larralde offered dance workshops at UNR on November 17 and 18

 

Patxi Larralde, txistulari and Mutil Dantzak expert from Arizkun, Nafarroa, taught two cumulative workshops on the Mutil Dantzak from the Baztan Valley on November 17 and 18. Mr. Larralde has pioneered a method for teaching this genre and has developed a corresponding nomenclature. His father, renown txistulari Javier Larralde, provided live music for both workshops.

 

The workshops were held in the Center for Basque Studies foyer, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. They were attended by members of local dance groups, students, and visiting scholars. The Larraldes focused on the dances Hiru Puntukoa, Bilantziko, and Baztango Zazpi Jauziak with the aim of transmitting the unique movement aesthetic of the Baztan Valley of Nafarroa.

 

The workshops were made possible through the collaboration of NABO, Zazpiak Bat Reno Basque Club, Zenbat Gara EDT, and the Center for Basque Studies.

 

Javier had worked as a sheepherder in the Bakersfield area in the 1950s. During their stay in Reno they visited the monument to the Basque sheepherder.

 

View Poster


 

Sandra Ott

 

Ott lectures at McQueen High School

 

On November 13th Sandra Ott lectured on Basque culture for the AP Human Geography class at McQueen High School in Reno. This was her third invitation to teach at McQueen.

 

 

 


 

Andreas Hess Book Presentation at Sundance Bookstore November 11, 2009 (allow time for video to download)

 

 

Reluctant Modernization

 

Andreas Hess

Andreas Hess

Andreas Hess gave talk at the Center for Basque Studies on November 10 and presented book, Reluctant Modernization, at Sundance Bookstore on November 11

 

Andreas Hess, professor of sociology at University College Dublin and current Yale research fellow gave a talk entitled "Reflections on Basque Egalitarianism" on November 10 at 3:00 PM. The talk was held in the Basque Studies Conference Room (305). Hess talked about what led him to write the book and some of its conclusions.

 

Three institutions that are of particular importance to Basque history and culture form the main subject of this book: the baserria (the Basque farmstead), the cofradia (the fraternity of fishermen) and the txoko (gastronomic society). In this study the three institutions are seen
as windows; once we look through these windows, we get an opportunity to see the larger picture – namely the structural components of a rich plebeian culture and moral economy. While the investigation of baserri culture provides insights into Basque rural life and the radical changes that occurred with industrialization, the cofradia allows the reader to see the
connection that the Basque Country has with the sea. The third institution, the txoko or sociedad gastronómica, represents a more recent and urban phenomenon and reflects an effort to come to terms with urbanization and the anonymous forms of modern life. The book closes with some reflections on cultures that have been somewhat reluctant to modernize.

 

November 11 at 6:30, Hess presented and signed his book, Reluctant Modernization at Sundance Bookstore located at 1155 W 4th St. in Reno.

 

View Event Flier

 

Download order form


 

Kepa Junkera

Kepa Junkera

Joseba Zulaika participated in Kepa Junkera pre-concert event in Fallon on November 7

 

The Churchill Arts Council (CAC) presented a concert with the Kepa Junkera Ensemble on Saturday, November 7 at 8:00 PM at the Oats Park Art Center, 151 E. Park St., Fallon. 

 

Kepa Junkera, along with Joseba Zulaika, Co-Director of the Center for Basque Studies at UNR, conducted a free and open-to-the-public preview and conversation on Basque music and traditions at 3:00 PM on the day of the performance. 

  

Kepa Junkera is a master of the trikitixa, Basque diatonic accordion, and one of the most innovative musicians in Europe who has performed with world-renowned musicians from the Chieftains to Andreas Vollenweider as well as at concert halls throughout Europe and the British Isles.  His 2006 release, Hiri, was named the Best Album of World Music in Europe for its fascinating blend of tradition and contemporary elements.  As Nobel Laureate, José Saramago puts it, “there is a musical city where all the cities of the world are represented…the name of the architect and builder of all this is Kepa.”  For more information, please visit www.kepjunkera.com.

 

CAC performances and activities are sponsored, in part, by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; the  National Endowment for the Arts; the City of Fallon; the Nevada Arts Council; ; the Fallon Convention & Tourism Authority; the Nevada Commission on Tourism; Bango Oil; Systems Consultants; US Bancorp Foundation; Holiday Inn Express; Churchill County and CC Communications.  Additional support for the performance and conversation has been provided by TourWest, a program of the Western States Arts Federation.


 

Sandra Ott

Ott Lectures at San Francisco's Basque Cultural Center

 

On November 7th Sandy gave a lecture on the promotion and maintenance of Basque identity through literature at the Basque Cultural Center (Basque Educational Organization) in San Francisco. The lecture followed the rededication of the BEO’s library, to which the UNR Basque Library has donated numerous books.


 

 

Sandra Ott attended conference of Western Society for French History

 

On October 23-24, Sandra Ott attended the annual conference of the Western Society for French History, held at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She organized a panel, “Occupied France: Transgressions and Confrontations in Public and Private Spaces,” with three speakers. She presented a paper on the panel that was entitled “Sociability and Commensality in Franco-German Relations, 1940-1944.” At the same conference she also served as commentator for the panel “World War II France Revisited.”


 

 

Ott acts as commentator at German Studies Conference

 

On October 9-10, Sandy Ott acted as commentator for a book project, The Happy Burden of History, or the German Sisyphus, at the annual conference of the German Studies Association, of which she is now a member. The conference took place in Washington, D.C.


 

CBS and EHU Collaborative Publishing Agreement

Center for Basque Studies announces publishing agreement with the University of the Basque Country


In September, 2009, University of Nevada, Reno President Milton Glick and Iñaki Goirizelaia, Rector of the University of the Basque Country, signed an agreement committing their respective institutions to collaborate in the sphere of higher education through the promotion of research activity, scientific dissemination and the social projection of their results. The goal of this series will be the dissemination of books that represent cutting-edge research on Basque art and culture, science, technology, and education, and other issues currently in demand in the English-language publishing market.


These works, produced by the Center for Basque Studies, will focus on works written by teaching and research staff at the University of the Basque Country. The Center for Basque Studies, receiving funding from the University of the Basque Country, will be responsible for translation, editing, design and printing of the books.  Each work will be approximately 200 pages in length. The governing editorial board will be composed of two members of the Center for Basque Studies and three appointed by the rector of the University of the Basque Country, along with a director and secretary. Manuscripts will be subjected to a process of peer review as determined by this editorial board.


Under this agreement which encompasses the next three calendar years, the Center for Basque Studies will publish up to eight new titles in English per year. These works will be co-published by both universities and will be issued in initial runs of 500 copies. The agreement will go into effect on January 1, 2010.


 

Two Basque Stories
Two Basque Stories

Center for Basque Studies Publishes Two Basque Stories by Famed Basque Author Bernardo Atxaga


The Center for Basque Studies is proud to announce the publication of Two Basque Stories by internationally acclaimed author Bernardo Atxaga. The book presents for the first time in English two of the author’s novellas previously published in Euskara, the Basque language, “Two Letters All at Once” and “When a Snake Stares at a Bird.”


Bernardo Atxaga broke onto the international scene with the 1988 publication of Obabakoak in Euskara. The novel has been published in 25 languages, including an English edition (Vintage, 1994), and earned the author Spain’s top narrative prize among many other awards. That book was praised in The Observer of London as “a brilliant novel, full of life,” and by The New York Times Book Review as a “delicious paella, Baroque and Spanish.”


In Two Basque Stories, Atxaga turns his attention to complex lives lived in the “rustic” Basque village of Obaba (reminiscent of Faulkner’s mythical Yoknapatawpha County) and the creative process of identity. The first novella, “Two Letters All at Once,” tells the story of Old Martin, a former sheepherder consigned to a generic Boise neighborhood. In order to make sense of his life, Martin narrates for an un-understanding grandson the life-altering deception that led him from his native village to the American West. In “When a Snake Stares at a Bird,” a young city-bred boy spending time in his grandfather’s village comes to realize that things he once believed to be simple: nature, animals, and his grandfather, are much more complex than he could have imagined. Evocative illustrations by Antton Olariaga compliment these at once simple and deceptively complex stories.
These stories, originally published in Euskara after the publication of Obabakoak, cemented the popularity of Atxaga in his homeland. The volume was translated by Nere Lete.


It has been a busy year for Atxaga in English. In February, his novel The Accordionist’s Son was published by Graywolf Press. In a starred review, Publisher’s Weekly called the book “a gorgeous and ambitious story about the Basque land and language,” and The New York Times said it was “a sprawling novel about the legacy of civil war in Spain.” And the Fall 2009 issue of the acclaimed California arts journal The Threepenny Review presents Atxaga’s “The Mystery of the Four Birds.”

 

117 pp., paper (ISBN 978-1-877802-85-0), $19.95.

 

For more information or to order copies of Two Basque Stories, contact the Center for Basque Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno.

 


 

 

Ott Speaks at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

 

On October 19th Sandy Ott gave an illustrated talk on Basques in the American West and Iparralde to some sixty-five students at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in Extended Studies at UNR.


 

Pete T. Cenarrusa

Pete Cenarrusa

Pete Cenarrusa Visits the Center for Basque Studies 9/10/2009

 

Pete Cenarrusa visited on September 10 to discuss the final details of his memoirs that will be published by the Center in the next few months. Pete was accompanied by Cenarrusa Foundation board member Roy Eiguren.

 

Pete T. Cenarrusa has served fifty-two years in the State of Idaho-nine terms in the House of Representatives (1950-1967); as a Speaker of the House in 1963, 1965 and 1967; and six terms as Secretary of State (1967-2002) for the Republican Party.


 

 

Ott offers Capstone course

 

This semester Sandy is teaching her capstone course, “War, Occupation and Memory, 1914-1945,” to a class of twenty-five students.


 

Critical Studies on terrorism

 

 

Joseba Zulaika publishes piece in Critical Studies in Terrorism

 

The article, "Response to Richard Jackson" was published in Critical Studies on Terrorism, 2 (2): 345-347 (August 2009).

 

 

 

 


 

M. Verónica Valdenebro

M. Verónica Valdenebro

Visiting Scholar M. Verónica Valdenebro spoke about long-range transport of pollutants into the Basque Country 8/29/2009

 

In a talk at the Center for Basque Studies Dr. Verónica Valdenebro presented a summary of part of the research performed by the Group of Atmospheric Research (GIA) at the School of Engineers of Bilbao (University of the Basque Country). Over the last 25 years this  group has been carrying out research on atmospheric pollution and at present it participates actively in several national and international projects and other cooperative international research activities.

 

During the last 15 years the group has developed an intense project on numerical simulation with mesoescale meteorological models. Precisely, the use of a high-resolution meteorological model coupled with a trajectories-dispersion lagrangian model has allowed the documentation of the relationship between some intense ozone episodes in the Basque Country and regional transport of pollutants into the area. The main meteorological processes that affect this zone, as well as the origin and the import-export mechanisms of the polluted air masses during the episodes have been demonstrated. The research has also manifested that these episodes are recorded all along Northern Iberia, where they begin in a quasi-simultaneous manner and have similar durations.

 

This work has improved the knowledge of the continuity and interaction of the different scale circulations in this inter-phase area between the Atlantic and Western Mediterranean and has also revealed the limitation of lower resolution meteorological models to reproduce transport in the area.

Dr. M. Verónica Valdenebro is an Engineer. She teaches Mathematics at the School of Engineers in Bilbao. During the summer of 2009 she has been at the University of Reno analyzing teaching methods of Mathematics for Engineers at American Universities.


 

 

Karlos Perez de Armiño

Karlos Pérez de Armiño

Visiting Scholar Karlos Pérez de Armiño spoke about The Failure in the Fight against Hunger 8/29/2009


In a talk at the Center for Basque Studies Dr. Pérez de Armiño shared some of the conclusions of his research at UNR during the summer of 2009. In his talk, he analyzed the underlying reasons why national and international policies against hunger are failing.

 

This failure should be understood as the result of a lack of political will, as we have enough theoretical knowledge, technical resources, and political experience so that hunger could be eradicated at a moderate financial cost. The persistence of hunger means moreover a violation of different international political goals to fight it and of human rights covenants.


This research gives some tentative explanations of this political failure, taken from different disciplines. It underlines that the political commitment against hunger is weakened by many perceptions of hunger as a “normal” and inevitable problem, by the lack of political power of poor people, and by the weakness of the idea of global citizenship.  Some other factors are that the human right to food is neglected and not enforceable, that there is no international body to make states accountable for their commitments on hunger, and that world architecture is fragmented into sovereign states with agendas dominated by national interest and security concerns.


Karlos Pérez de Armiño is a Professor of International Relations at the University of the Basque Country , and Research Fellow at HEGOA, the Institute of Studies on Development and International Cooperation, in Bilbao.


 

 

Katixa Agirre

Katixa Agirre

Visiting Scholar Katixa Agirre shares dissertation research on the Lolita myth in Hollywood cinema in presentation at the Center for Basque Studies 8/20/2009

 

Katixa's project pursues the study of the filmic representations of the Lolita myth. Based on Vladimir Nabokov’s infamous novel Lolita (1955), the term has run away from the book and has fueled many a mediated portrayal of young girls as inviting and willing participants in their own sexual exploitation. Biased readings of the book along with a patriarchal view have contributed to this change in the perception of Lolita. Advertisements, fashion, pop music, magazines, TV and even the porn industry have used the Lolita icon as a repulsive yet fascinating character.

 

Ms. Agirre has chosen to examine the film representations in which a Lolita-type character appears, and has focused on contemporary Hollywood cinema and more specifically, on what is nowadays known as postmodern cinema.

 

Katixa Agirre is a temporary lecturer at the Audiovisual Communication and Advertising department of the UPV/EHU in Leioa. During the summer of 2009 she has been finalizing her PhD. dissertation on the Lolita myth in Hollywood, using the resources of the Knowledge Center at UNR.


 

 

 

Rocío Suárez

Rocío Suárez

 

Seeking Simplicity: Rocío Suárez speaks on addressing multiple needs in architecture 8/18/2009

 

Dr. Suárez emphasized the importance of the relationship between the client’s needs, the physical environment, and cultural and social conditions.

 

She described how her designs respond to these needs employing various materials and technologies. Her project “37LR” was used as an illustration of her vision of architecture as sculpture with formal, aesthetic and stylistic value. Dr. Suárez explained how theory and methodology are integrated into spaces to improve their quality for those who inhabit them, and endow the people who live in them with fresh perspectives. She views architecture as a point of departure for personal and social development in  balance with the environment.

 

Dr. Suárez is an architect and part-time professor at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Puebla, Mexico.


 

 

 

 

José  Valderrama

José Valderrama

 

Visiting scholar José Valderrama offered glimpse at contemporary Mexican art 8/18/2009

 

Dr. Valderrama spoke on the relationship between theory and practice in art. He discussed his own creative process as a point of departure for looking at works created by contemporary visual artists.

 

He described philosophical and aesthetic attitudes about cultural consumption of art pieces as symbolic or transcendent objects. Through the display of various slides, he analyzed the subjective and interpretive relationship between our perception and the intention of the artist. Valderrama also discussed art as an event, as a strategy of integrating the local into the global and vice versa. In conclusion, he examined the role that art plays today in many fields from education to science, and a new concept of aesthetic information.

 

Dr. Valderrama is a visual artist and a research professor at he Universidad Iberoamericana in Puebla, Mexico.


 

 

Virginia Senosiain

Virginia Senosiain

Visiting scholar Virginia Senosian spoke on international global warming policy at Center for Basque Studies 8/18/2009

 

According to Dr. Senosiain, global warming is not the first environmental problem in history, but it is the most important and the most global. We need global answers, and we need them now. If we do nothing, it could be too late.

 

 The International Community has been working on this problem, led by the United Nations. It is not as simple as changing some habits. We must change our mindset and philosophy and focus on sustainable development as the only way to leave this world as a legacy to the next generations. In this context and promoted by the United Nations, the two critical international meetings, which set the principles of new Environmental Law and commitments for the nations who have ratified them: the “United Nations Climate Change Conference” of 1992, and, the “Kyoto Protocol” of 1997.

 

Dr. Senosian’s research is based on the different perspectives of United States and European Union about global warming and consistent climate change. The ways they approach the problem are radically different: the European Union had ratified Kyoto and the United States have never ratified it, following their own environmental policy.

 

Dr. Senosian is a civil and criminal attorney. She teaches public international law and European Union law at the University of the Basque Country.


 

 

Arantza Fernandez Zabala

Arantza Fernandez Zabala

 

Eider Goñi

Eider Goñi Palacios

 

Visiting scholars Arantza Fernandez Zabala and Eider Goñi Palacios present psychology research at the Center for Basque Studies 8/12/2009

 

The study of self-image continues to be one of the greatest challenges of  psychological research. A wide field of research exists in which both the physical and academic dimensions have been examined. However, very little research has been carried out on social self-image and personal self-image. Arantza Fernandez Zabala and Eider Goñi Palacios, members of Psikor, an educational psychology research group at the University of the Basque Country, are carrying out two theses in order to find out if the factorial analyses confirm a multidimensional structure of three components of social self-image (social responsibility, social acceptance and social competence) and of four components of personal self-image (self-fulfillment, honesty, autonomy, and emotional adjustment). The results obtained from two questionnaires specifically designed to measure both domains (APE and AUSO) confirm this structure for the most part. Complementary results support the fact that while women’s personal self-perceptions are lower than men’s, men’s social self-perceptions are higher than women’s; on the other hand, the tendency of personal and social self-image is to increase in accordance with age. Arantza and Eider also studied the associations between personal self-image and emotional intelligence, psychological well-being and life satisfaction, as well as the relationship between social self-image, loneliness, and social skills.


 

 

Visiting scholars offer talks at Center for Basque Studies on August 18-20

 

All talks will take place in the Center for Basque Center Conference room at 4:00-5:00

 

Tuesday, August 18
Virginia Senosiain
“Global Warming: American and European Positions to Stop It”

 

Tuesday, August 19
Pepe Valderrama y Rocío Suárez
“Arte y arquitectura en Puebla, Mexico”

 

Thursday, August 20
Katixa Aguirre
“The Lolita Myth in Hollywood Cinema”


 

 

Udaleku 2009

Lisa Corcostegui teaches Basque culture at 2009 edition of NABO's Udaleku

 

Corcostegui taught Basque culture at the two-week camp attended by 101 children between the ages of 10 and 15. The camp was hosted in Chino, California by the local Basque club.

 

Culture topics included a general introduction to Basque culture; dances of Nafarroa; origins of Basque surnames; dances of Araba and the Katxi character; coats of arms of the historical Basque territories; and Mari and lamiak in Basque mythology.

 

Hands-on activities included making katximorro paper dolls, writing collaborative stories based on traditional Basque myths, and building 3-D models of Basque auzoak or neighborhoods and labeling each house to help the students understand the origin of Basque last names.

 

Video of Neighborhood models

 

Corcostegui was part of a team of international instructors including Gabi Mendia and Miren Arozarena from Argentina who taught Euskara, Jexux Larrea from Donostia who taught dance, Eneko Espino Mujika from Gasteiz who taught txistu, Ane Albisu from Donostia who taught Euskara, and many talented individuals from Chino who taught cooking and singing. The camp was directed by John Ysursa.

 

For more visit NABO's Udaleku page

 

The 2010 edition of Udaleku will be held in Reno, Nevada.


 

University of Nevada, Reno

 

Center for Basque Studies seeks Publications Coordinator

 

The Center for Basque Studies is seeking a Publications Coordinator to assist its faculty with the production of books by leading scholars in a range of disciplines. This is an 11-month contract. This position is a .80% FTE position - 32 hours per week. The salary for this position is $25,400 including benefits. This position may be renewed, if funding is available. The successful candidate will ideally have some experience in publishing, and experience in marketing and sales will be advantageous. Letters of application (including details of relevant experience), a résumé, and the names/contact information of three referees should be sent to Kate Camino, Center for Basque Studies, MS/2322, University of Nevada, Reno 89577; email kcamino@unr.edu. Telephone enquiries should be directed to (775) 784-4854. Application deadline July 1, 2009. EEO/AA.

 

Download full description


 

Reluctant Modernization

 

 

Andreas Hess, Regular visitor to CBS, publishes book on plebeian culture and moral economy in the Basque Country

 

Three institutions that are of particular importance to Basque history and culture form the main subject of this book: the baserria (the Basque farmstead), the cofradia (the fraternity of fishermen) and the txoko (gastronomic society). In this study the three institutions are seen as windows; once we look through these windows, we get an opportunity to see the larger picture - namely the structural components of a rich plebeian culture and moral economy. While the investigation of baserri culture provides insights into Basque rural life and the radical changes that occurred with industrialization, the cofradia allows the reader to see the connection that the Basque Country has with the sea. The third institution, the txoko or sociedad gastronómica, represents a more recent and urban phenomenon and reflects an effort to come to terms with urbanization and the anonymous forms of modern life. The book closes with some reflections on cultures that have been somewhat reluctant to modernize.

 

Andreas Hess teaches sociology at University College Dublin.

 

CBS Co-director, Joseba Zulaika, wrote: "Andreas Hess examines the ritualized contexts in which a culture shapes people's basic definitions of lifestyle, identity and social allegiance. What sets apart this work is the combination of an almost ethnographic description of the Basque cultural institutions ... and the proposal for a paradigm change in the study of current Basque issues by grounding the analysis squarely on political economy. The results go well beyond the Basque case."

 

Peter Lang Publishing, 2009. Paperback, 207pp. ISBN: 3039119087.

 

For more information visit: http://www.peterlang.net

 


 

Kate Camino

 

Kate Camino recognized for 10-plus years of service to the University of Nevada, Reno

 

The University of Nevada, Reno Staff Employees' Council recognized Kate at its Annual Recognition Luncheon held on May 28, 2009 at the Joe Crowley Student Union Ballroom.

 

Kate came to UNR from Buffalo, Wyoming where she was actively involved in the Basque community and was employed at a local bank. She began to work at the Center for Basque Studies as she pursued a Masters Degree in French through the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures.

 

Camino plays an indispensable role at the Center as office manager and also teaches Euskara.

 

Zorionak, Kate, eta eskerrik asko!


 

Women nin Basque Culture

Corcostegui teaches Basque gender course at BSU

 

Lisa Corcostegui taught a 15-hour upper-division weekend workshop on women in Basque culture at Boise State University May 23-24.

 

Credit was offered through Basque Studies, Anthropology, Gender Studies, Sociology or History. The course explored experiences of Basque women over the centuries and explored how their lives were conditioned by cultural, social, legal, economic and religious factors. Students were also introduced to theories of scholars within the field, and its central debates.


 

Brumaria

 

Zulaika publishes article in Brumaria


Zulaika's “In Cold Terror: Capote versus the Counterterrorists” has been published in  Brumaria 12, “Art and Terrorism,” (Madrid, 2009),  365-382.

 

 

 

 


 

Joseba Zulaika

Joseba Zulaika

 

Zulaika presents paper at Helsinki conference on terrorism

 

Joseba Zulaika attended the conference, Terrorism : Myths, Agendas and Research at the University of Helsinki, May 6-8, 2009. His paper, delivered on May 8, was entitled "Terrorist Desire and the Counterterrorist Passion for Ignorance."

The paper focused on the constitutions of terrorist subjectivities: desire, love, madness, suicide, and their willful ignorance by counterterrorism. It examined narratives of terrorists as prisoners of love: Robin Morgan, Oriana Fallaci, Jean Genet, Mohamed Atta- to show the erotic and political contexts in which the decision for “le passage a l'acte” takes place. The figure of Maria Dolores Gonzalez “Yoyes”, a contemporary Antigone, was invoked to show the capacity for self-transformation of a “terrorist.” It asked why counterterrorism deliberately ignores the meaning of the terrorist "death drive" as the politics of the unconscious. Counterterrorist writing
was contrasted to the writing of Truman Capote’s, In Cold Blood, in order to show its inability to read terrorist desire. Counterterrorism’s Lacanian “passion for ignorance” was illustrated with the events leading to 9/11, the War on Terror, and the war in Iraq.


 

Lisa Corcostegui

Lisa Corcostegui

Lisa Corcostegui attends Idaho Genealogy Society/Idaho Historical Society conference on DNA

 

On Saturday, May 9, Corcostegui attended the IGS/IHS conference in Boise, Idaho. Keynote speaker Emily Aulicino spoke on the use of DNA in genealogy. In an afternoon session Michael Davis, Boise State University Biology Graduate student, presented his research on mtDNA of Basque immigrant families that settled Idaho. Other speakers included Dr. Greg Hampikian, BSU Biology and Criminal Justice Professor, Director of the Idaho Innocent Project; and Ada County Coroner Erwin Sonnenberg.

 

Corcostegui includes DNA and deep ancestry as topics in her Basque Genealogy course and has participated in various DNA projects.


 

Kent McAdoo

 

Kent McAdoo

Kent McAdoo

 

Rangeland Resources Specialist Kent McAdoo lectures on Basque herders

 

On May 1, Kent McAdoo spoke about his experiences living and working with Basque sheepherders for 13 months in the 1970s. The event, held in the Knowledge Center auditorium was well-attended, and was followed by refreshments and socializing.

 

The presentation entitled "Basque Herders - the End on an Era," was sponsored by the UNR Range Club. McAdoo had an instant rapport with the audience who enjoyed his many anecdotes (including one of a sheepdog that only understood Basque) and his perspective on Basque involvement in the sheep industry in Nevada. His talk was illustrated by many of his own photographs taken in the field.


 

 

Joseba Zulaika

Two articles by Joseba Zulaika published

 

Zulaika's article entitled “The War on Terror, ‘Dialectical Images’, and the Hunchbacked Dwarf” in the issue "Iconoclasm-Iconolatry" of the journal Brumaria, 14:93-103, 169-177

 

Another of his articles, “Loyola/Oteiza: el sujeto de la decisión inmutable,” has also been published in Andoni Alonso and Iñaki Arzoz (eds.), Operación Oteiza, Ediciones Cibergolen, pp. 120-135. This work is licensed under a creative commons " reconocimiento-no comercial-sin obras derivadas 2.5 españa license" and is available online:

Operacion Oteiza


 

 

 


For past news stories, please see our News Archive.

 

 

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