International workshop - Virtual mode
December 2021: 10 Dec. TBD

Basque Studies are usually considered as a field that encompasses a vast collection of knowledge disciplines. It is also viewed as those objects/subjects of study that are related to the Basque: spaces, people, processes, words, worldviews. Its objects include linguistics and ethnography, as well as disciplines as disparate as history, anthropology, literature, genealogy, religion, law, the diaspora, and a myriad of academic specialties. However, this field is too often regarded as a wild terrain. On the one hand, we often take for granted that it is an academic discipline; the argument adduced is that it is a field precisely because scholars contribute to it, courses are given to students, and there are university chairs and research centers. On the other hand, it generously expands and seems to indefinitely replicate itself because of the multidisciplinarity dynamics upon which its condition and topographical style rest.

In this workshop, we seek to work on a question that arises from the research praxis itself. Do Basque studies suffer from self-definition problems? Why? Countless aspects of Basque topics have been objects of study: migration and exile, diaspora, transmission of values and identity, cultural preservation and sustainability. But the field of Basque studies has rarely been an object of definition in itself and almost never a subject of reflection per se.

This work has the twofold objective of promoting the exchange between people interested in the field, whether students or scholars. The aim is to take a way that, at least in many regards, is novel: producing a dialogue and a shared reflection on Basque studies by adopting a transdisciplinary viewpoint.

You are invited to send your contributions to seek answers to questions such as: what do researchers from different disciplines share when they involve in Basque studies? Can shared methods of approach be identified? Are there common threads or just shared concerns? Is it possible to find a shared conceptual framework? If so, what possibilities would it open to the field in the current world?

Work dynamics

Each participant will have 10 to 15 min. (max.) to: (1) briefly present his/her current research project; and (2) dialogue and reflect on the mentioned questions.

Contact:

Aitor Anduaga | a.anduaga@ikerbasque.org
Julieta Gaztañaga | julieta.gaztanaga@conicet.gov.a