“We want to approach Basque Studies from an interdisciplinary perspective that looks beyond the diaspora and immigration”

The aim is to approach Basque Studies from an interdisciplinary perspective to fully institutionalise as an area of academic research in Argentina. For this purpose, a group of academics and postgraduate students from Argentine universities and CONICET created the Network of Basque Studies in Argentina. (REVA in its Spanish initials, which met for the first time on the 10th of December. In the first workshop, Aitor Anduaga (University of the Basque Country) and Julieta Gaztañaga introduced the participants to Basque Studies through such disciplines as anthropology, social theory and art history.

“We want to approach Basque Studies from an interdisciplinary perspective that looks beyond the diaspora and immigration”, explained Pablo Ubierna, coordinator of the Amale Artetxe Chair at the University of Buenos Aires. The Amale Artetxe Chair, which arose from an agreement between Etxepare Basque Institute and CONICET, promotes study and research on Basque culture in the Argentinean academic environment.

“We wanted to extend these studies beyond the historical approach perspective of Basque studies, normally focused on topics such as immigration and the diaspora," Ubierna added. The most innovative feature of the proposal is precisely to bring these studies closer to researchers who, in his words "are not necessarily interested in these specific topics. In the same way that I am dedicated to Byzantine History while others are dedicated to Ancient History. We want Basque Studies to be an area of research in itself".

Ubierna said that the intention is to develop a broader perspective on what is ´Basque´ in order to round out the research that has been carried out in the Argentinean academy. The the idea is to organise two or three workshops and a congress each year to discuss the progress in research and projects. These activities will be both in-person and online and can be followed in Spanish, Basque, English and French.

The network is therefore an interdisciplinary platform for academics from different disciplines and methodological perspectives (anthropology, history, art history, sociology, political science, linguistics, comparative literature) from different Argentinean universities involved in Basque Studies.

Current members are Cesar Arrondo (Universidad Nacional de La Plata), Gianfranco Calzini (Universidad de Buenos Aires), Maria Eugenia Cruset (Universidad Nacional de Quilmes and CONICET), Nadia Andrea De Cristóforis (Universidad de Buenos Aires, Universidad Nacional de Luján, and CONICET), Julieta Gaztañaga (Universidad de Buenos Aires and CONICET), Marcelino Irianni (Universidad Nacional del Centro and CONICET), Alfonsina Leranoz (Universidad Nacional de San Martín and CONICET), Sabrina Otegui (Universidad de Buenos Aires and Universidad de La Plata) and Pablo Ubierna (Universidad de Buenos Aires and CONICET).