Basque Culture International Summer School

Director: Marta Kopinska (UPV/EHU)
Organizers: Vice-Rectorate of Basque, Culture and Internationalization (UPV/EHU) & UPV/EHU Summer Courses Foundation (UiK)

2 September (Monday)

• 09.15  Welcoming words

• 09.30-10.30  The Basque language and sustainable multilingual development

  • The UNESCO Chair of World Linguistic Heritage of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) focuses on cultural and linguistic wealth, especially on vulnerable and endangered languages. The seminar will focus on Euskara, the language of the Basques, its origins, historical and present situation, and the ways to promote its acquisition, use and ethnolinguistic vitality in a constantly changing multilingual society.

• 11.00-13.30  Basque language class & Practical session: visit to a traditional market

• Free afternoon

3 September (Tuesday)

• 09.30-10.30  The Basque Map of the World

  • The seminar will focus on the presence of the Basques in the world through History. From ancient mariners to present migrants, the talk will delve into Basque emigration and Diaspora.

• 11.00-13.00  Basque language class

• Afternoon:  Visit to San Telmo museum

4 September (Wednesday)

• 09.30-10.30  Science and Technology in the Basque Country

  • Ikerbasque, the Basque Foundation for Science, is a foundation promoted by the Basque Government in 2007. It aims to strengthen the Basque Science system through programs to attract and recruit researchers in all the fields of activity to the Basque R&D system; and to boost research, in cooperation with research centers and universities. The seminar will reflect on the evolution and future of the Basque Science system.

• 11.00-13.00  Basque language class

• 13.30  Lunch (University Campus canteen)

• Afternoon:  Guided visit to the pioneer breakwater power plant in the town of Mutriku

5 September (Thursday)

• 09.30-10.30  Basque culture, youth literature and comic books

  • A talk on the essence of the Basque culture and historical memory through youth and children’s literature, and comic books.

• 11.00-13.30  Basque language class & visit to the exposition about comic on Mikel Laboa’s life (University Campus)

• Free afternoon

6 September (Friday)

• 09.30-10.30  Towards modern democracy: from Gernika to the transition period and to current society

  • A talk on the history of Basque fueros (charters), the civil war in the Basque territory and the transition to modern democracy. It will emphasise the human factor for the remarkable social, political and economic transformation the Basque Country has experienced in recent decades.

• 11.00-13.00  Basque language class

• 13.30  Visit to the town of Pasai Donibane, lunch (Alabortza canteen) and guided visit to Albaola, The Sea Factory of the Basques

7 September (Saturday)

• 10.00  Whole day trip to the city of Gernika (visit to the city and Gernika Peace Museum, lunch and visit to a typical coastal village in the Urdaibai zone)

9 September (Monday)

• 09.30-10.30  Unveiling the socio-cultural context of ancient Vascones: The Hand of Irulegi

  • The director of the team exploring the archeological site of Irulegi will talk about the excavations of late Iron Age settlement (1st century BC) and the recent discovery of an artifact that contains a script in Vasconic language, the possible ancestor of Basque.

• 11.00-13.00  Basque language class

•  13.30  Lunch

• 15.00  Boat trip to visit Flysh geological formations in the town of Zumaia

10 September (Tuesday)

• 09.30-10.30  Basque Dances

  • A comprehensive seminar about the different types of dances, music, steps and costumes…and, especially, about the Basques’ love for dance. The talk will include a practical class of Basque dances.

• 11.00-13.30  Basque language class & Practical session: Basque dances

• Free afternoon

11 September (Wednesday)

• 09.30-10.30  Basque pelota. A ritual, anaesthetic

  • Pelota is one of the most revealing frameworks of meaning and understanding of the Basque imaginary. By digging into the historic, symbolic, and even mythological roots of the sport, and by describing interconnected webs of meaning in the various domains of social, juridical, bodily, and imaginative experience, the talk will show how pelota constitutes a ritualized action that both stages and repairs social antagonisms.

• 11.00-13.30  Basque language class & Basque handball practical workshop

• Free afternoon

12 September (Thursday)

• 09.30-10.30  Basque language class

• 11:00- 13:00  Visit to the Basque Culinary Centre (BCC) and lecture on Basque Cuisine: The essence of the Basque culinary identity

  • From the traditional “sozietateak” or “txokoak” to Basque culinary avant-garde.

• 13:30-14:30 Visit to a traditional “txoko” & Basque language class practical session: Cooking class

• Free afternoon

13 September (Friday)

• 10.30  Whole day trip to Leioa (University Campus in the province of Bizkaia for the University’s Welcome Day event & lunch)

• 15.00  Visit to  the city of Bilbao