UC Basque 1ST Annual Conference What Are Baque Studies?

The UC Basque Research Group, founded in Spring 2025, brings together more than a dozen scholars and practitioners across the University of California and other institutions whose work links Basque language, culture, and global inquiry. Its Steering Committee includes Iker Arranz Otaegui (UCLA) with a background in contemporary Cultural Studies applied to the Basque case; Viola G. Miglio (UCSB), Barandiarán Chair in Basque Studies, noted for research on minoritized languages and historical Basque–Icelandic ties; and Nicholas Smith (UCLA), whose dissertation The Basque Exception analyzes post-crisis identity in literature and media.

Among its members are Joseba Gabilondo (Michigan State Univ., emer.), an authority on Basque and post-national literatures; Blake Allmendinger (UCLA), who teaches Basque-American literature; Sarah T. Roberts (UCLA), expert on digital labor and media; David Vila (CSU Monterey), scholar of Iberian subcultures; Itxaso Rodríguez-Ordóñez (CSU Long Beach), sociolinguist of language contact; Steven Gamboa (CSU Bakersfield), philosopher; Joanna Brooks Leonis (SDSU), cultural historian; Stephen Pandol (UCLA / Cedars-Sinai), scientist; Mikel Etxeberria (UCLA), technologist; and Kevin Moore (Stanford), researcher in science communication.

This Research Group aims to provide a divergent series of research lines within the discipline of Basque Studies. Incorporating inter and trans-disciplinary perspectives, members and participants in projects affiliated to the research group constitute just another step forward within the wider frame of Minor/Small or Indigenous cultures and languages.