"BASQUE CULTURE II. International Summer School", from 3 July to 14 July 2017, was designed for participants to discover a few fascinating features about Basque Culture, History and traditions.

The course includes a daily lecture given by an internationally renowned expert and a 2-hour, fun Basque class with practical activities to bring alive the expression you will learn of our treasured pre Indo-European language. All of these will sum up a total 45 hours studyload (equivalent to 3 ECTS) appearing in your completion certificate.

The course will be held in Donostia-San Sebastian, chic tourist destination on the Atlantic coast in Northern Spain, famous for its sandy beaches, surfing tradition, Paris-like architecture and excellent cuisine. Donostia-San Sebastian is located 5-hours from Barcelona by train; 5,30-hours from Paris by train and just 70 miles from Pamplona, where the famous San Fermines (running of the bulls) takes place (7th to 14th July).

DAILY SEMINARS INFORMATION:

• THE BASQUE MAP OF THE WORLD Instr.: Oscar Alvarez Gila (UPV/EHU)

The seminar will focus on the presence of the Basques in the world through History. From ancient mariners to present migrants, Professor Alvarez will give a lively talk about Basque emigration and Diaspora.

• SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE BASQUE COUNTRY Instr.: Fernando Cossío (Ikerbasque-The Basque Foundation for Science/UPV-EHU)

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. Prof. Cossío will reflect on the evolution and future of the Basque Science system.

• THE INTERNATIONAL LOCATION OF BASQUE LITERATURE. Instr.: Mari Jose Olaziregi

Prof. Olaziregi´s seminar will focus on contemporary Basque literature. She will identify its most distinctive features and discuss contemporary trends. The seminar will also serve as an introduction to Basque Culture in a global framework. Issues connected with gender, otherness, social change, cultural industries, cultural identity and political violence will also be discussed.

• BERTSOLARITZA: BASQUE ORAL IMROVISING Instr.: Xabi Paya (DS2016).

Xabi Paya is a BERTSOLARI, namely, an artist who is capable of improvising Basque verses on any subject spontaneously and setting it to music. He is also a researcher on the topic. The art of composing rhymed verses is very popular in the Basque Country. This seminar will give a general overview of the evolution of Bertsolaritza and will discuss its most singular features.

• THE BASQUE EXPERIENCE: CONSTRUCTING SUSTAINABLE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Instr.: Juan Jose Ibarretxe (Agirre Lendakaria Center, UPV/EHU)

As Professor Ibarretxe, former lehendakari (president) of the Basque Government, underlines, Euskadi is at the forefront of Europe in relation to the Gini Index.  This seminar will reflect on the importance of the human factor for the remarkable social, political and economic transformation the Basque Country has experienced in recent decades.

• BASQUE DANCE Instr. Oier Araolaza (UPV/EHU)

Oier Araolaza is a dancer and an expert in the study of Basque Dance. He will give us a comprehensive seminar about the different types of dance, the music, the steps and costumes…and, especially, about the Basques' love for dance. He will complete his presentation with a practical class of Basque dance.

• BEYOND MATRIARCHY: BASQUE GENDER STUDIES Instr.: Margaret Bullen (UPV/EHU)

Central to the cultural concept of female power in the Basque context is the assumption of a matriarchal tradition rooted in the past and extended through myth into the present. This seminar will reflect on the way the matriarchal thesis has been developed for Basque culture and the place women have in contemporary Basque society.

• BASQUE PELOTA. A RITUAL, AN AESTHETIC Instr. Olatz Gonzalez Abrisketa (UPV/EHU)

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, prof. Gonzalez Abrisketa shows how pelota constitutes a ritualized action that both stages and repairs social antagonisms.

• BASQUE IDENTITY: INTRODUCTION TO BASQUE BASQUE LANGUAGE AND CULTURE Instr.: Larraitz Ariznabarreta (Boise State University, USA)

What does it mean to be Basque? How has Basque identity evolved during the centuries?  How can we define Basque Identity through, Politics, History, Law and Culture? Basque identity and Diaspora, those are some of the topics this seminar will address.

• THE BASQUES AND THE ORIGIN OF MODERN WHALING Instr. Michael Barkham (PhD, University of Cambridge, UK).

It is well known that the Basques were among the first to catch whales commercially, and that they dominated the trade for five centuries, spreading to the far corners of the North Atlantic and even reaching the South Atlantic. Professor Barkham will analyze in this seminar the evolution of the Basque whaling, as well as some aspects like the hunting methods or the cultural significance of whaling for the Basques. He will guide us on this intrepid trip with the Basque whalers