Monika Madinabeitia, new director for the Promotion of the Basque Language at Etxepare Euskal Institutua

Etxepare Euskal Institutua has appointed Monika Madinabeitia as Director for the Promotion and Dissemination of the Basque Language. Madinabeitia takes over from Garbiñe Iztueta, who has held the post since March 2017. Her duties will include promoting the projection of the Basque language internationally; fostering the presence, research and learning of the Basque language in foreign universities; and promoting specialised training for teachers of Basque as a foreign language.

Following the selection process carried out by the human resources company Campo & Ochandiano, the Institute´s Board of Directors approved Madinabeitia´s appointment on 19 January. The new Director for the Promotion and Dissemination of the Basque Language took up her new duties this week.

Monika Madinabeitia (Eskoriatza, 1971) holds a degree in English Philology (1994) and a PhD in Western American Literature from the University of the Basque Country (2006).

Since 2005 she has worked as a lecturer and researcher in the Faculty of Humanities and Educational Sciences at the University of Mondragon. Madinabeitia focuses her research work on Basque identities, culture, migration and diaspora. In 2018 she published the illustrated book ´Petra, My Basque Grandmother´, in collaboration with the Center for Basque Studies at the University of Nevada-Reno (USA).

In recent years, she has participated in several Etxepare Euskal Institutua initiatives and projects. Among them, in 2021 she was the guest lecturer in the Eloise Garmendia Chair at Boise State University (USA), created in collaboration with Etxepare Euskal Institutua, which aims to promote teaching and research on topics related to the Basque language and culture.