Central College Abroad
Spain
The Basque Ethnographic Research Project

An Exciting Opportunity

"If that plane leaves the ground and you're not on it, you'll regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life."
-Humphrey Bogart, Casablanca

Donostia (also known as San Sebastián) sets at the foot of the Pyrenees Mountains where they spill into the sea in north-central Spain. This is the heart of the Basque Country, cradle of one of the world's oldest ethnic nationalist movements. For centuries Basques have fought to preserve their culture and independence from the Spanish state centered in Madrid.

The struggle continues today on different levels. Many moderate Basque nationalists work through the Spanish political system to reinvigorate the teaching of their unique language, preserve their culture, and win as much independence as possible for the regional Basque government. Radical Basque nationalists seek total separation from Spain, supporting clandestine militant activities against the state.

Differences among Basques over ethnic identity as well as political ideology and strategy add complexity to the situation. Students on this program discovered through their interviews that some Basques consider anyone who struggles for the nationalist cause to be Basque-even the children of Spanish immigrants. Others believe that only those who speak Basque or have Basque parents are truly Basque. Students also found that a more inclusive view of Basque identity (i.e. those who struggle for the cause) is common among radicals, while moderate Basque nationalists tend to base their identity on the more exclusive criteria of language or descent.

What You Will Learn and Do

Your role is to work with the program directors to help shed light on those questions through ethnographic research, which requires you to participate in and observe Basque culture and society. This means you will take up residence in the Basque Country and immerse yourself as much as possible in the local culture of Donostia/San Sebastián.

The Basque Ethnographic Research Project is split into two parts. The first involves orientation to the local culture and an introduction to ethnographic research. The second requires you to apply ethnographic techniques to a group project on Basque identity. Here are some specifics:

• Orientation to the Basque Country and introduction to ethnography are intertwined.

• You will map a section of the old part of Donostia, then share information with students who mapped other sections to understand how social space is used in the local culture.

• You will visit gathering places to observe how people interact and understand how personal space is used in the local culture.

• You will learn how to cultivate informants, conduct interviews, take and revise field notes, access local archives for background information, and use a camera to take "visual" field notes. Each day of the first week will be devoted to a new technique. By week's end you will be ready for an intense research experience into Basque identity.

• Orientation also includes a crash course in Basque history, culture and politics, taught by local experts and the program directors.

• Orientation involves field trips to Basque festivals in outlying villages (to understand the urban and rural dimensions of Basque culture) as well as to important places like Gernika, the traditional seat of Basque government and the subject of a famous Picasso painting.

• The final three weeks will be spent conducting in-depth interviews with a small group of key informants in order to begin to understand the complexities of Basque identity. You will systematically develop a set of field notes that will provide the basis for an ethnosemantic analysis of the question: Who is Basque?

Program Details and Costs

Duration: Four weeks from early June to early July 2001.
Dates have not yet been set. The program is offered every other year.

Location: Donostia (San Sebastián), Spain. Students stay in a clean, comfortable youth hostel, Albergi Igeldo, near the beach and center of the city.

Credit: Three semester hours in anthropology and three additional hours in either anthropoology or political science, for a total of six semester hours.

Costs: Each student must pay for transportation to and from the Basque Country as well as the following:

• Central College summer school tuition and fees for five semester hours. Summer school rates for 2001 are not yet available. We expect some increases in tuition costs over the 1999 tuition cost of $1,500.

• A $100 fee for research materials and program organized day excursions.

• Room and board at Albergi Igeldo: (cost not available at this time) The cost for the 1999 program was $600 and included room, three meals a day, access to laundry facilities. We expect the 2001 costs to be slightly higher. The room and board also must be prepaid to the Central College Business Office.

  Miscellaneous daily expenses (newspapers, day trips, meals out, etc.) which vary by student are not imposed by the program.

Application Procedure

Office of International Education
Central College
812 University Street, Campus Box 0140
Pelle, IA 50219
Phone: 515-628-5287

Application should be in by Nov. 1, 2000, when the directors will begin the screening process. Late applications will be considered until Feb. 1, 2001, or until all student slots for the program have been filled-whichever happens first. A $500 non-refundable deposit will be due Feb.1, 2001.

• A completed application form, which may be obtained from the Office of International Education at Central College.

• One letter of recommendation from a faculty member.

• A one-page, typed essay explaining why you are interested in the program.

• An official transcript.

Please feel free to contact Steve Ybarrola or Keith Yanner if you have any questions about the program. Ybarrola may be reached by phone at (515) 628-5124, by fax at (515) 628-5316, or by e-mail: ybarrolas@central.edu; Yanner may be reached by phone at (515) 628-5320, bu fax at (515) 628-5316, or by e-mail:yannerk@central.edu

See Fall Semester Program in Granada