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Santa Barbara, CA.  The University of California-Santa Barbara celebrated a symposium entitled, “Comparative Iberian Studies,” last week where Basque studies were also featured.  Participating at the event was the director of Euskera of the Etxepare Basque Institute, Mari Jose Olaziregi who gave a talk entitled, “Iberian Studies Within/Beyond the Peninsula: The Current Situation and Desiderata.” During her talk, Olaziregi addressed the situation of Iberian studies and stressed the fact that they are more wide-spread in the US than in the Iberian Peninsula itself.

During a panel dedicated specifically to Basque studies, experts Unai Nafarrate who did his masters at UCSB and Diana Palenzulea, Basque language and culture lecturer there, both gave presentations entitled, Negotiation Coolness, Aligning with Media Personality in a Basque Radio Station”, and “Rights and Obstacles to Bilingual Education in the Basque Country,” respectively.

Finally, the symposium’s closure also had a taste of Basque with a concert by Basque-Californian group, Noka.  The symposium was organized by the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at UCSB under the direction of Silvia Bermudez, department chair with the collaboration of Viola Miglio, Barandiaran Chair.