Margaret Bullen, a visiting professor from the University of the Basque Country, is the 2018 Eloise Garmendia Bieter Chair in Basque Studies.
Bullen will teach a one-credit workshop April 7-8. The Eloise Garmendia Bieter Chair is encouraging graduate students to take Basque Studies-related courses taught by expert scholars in the field.
Bullen also will present a free and open public program, “Changing the Gender of Basque Festivals,” at 5 p.m. Thursday, April 5, at the Basque Museum and Cultural Center at 611 Grove St. in Boise.
The program will look at changes in Basque festivals, particularly with regard to the participation of women in rituals, dance and other activities which had previously been performed by men, but also in relation to the representation of different ethnic groups. These changes have sometimes been produced smoothly, but have sometimes caused great social conflict and unease. Bullen’s talk will examine different examples: from the Alardes of Irun and Hondarribia to the Tamborrada of Donostia-San Sebastián, from the rural carnivals of Ituren and Zubieta, to the mutil-dantzas of the Baztán valley. It will look at the reasons for the acceptance of or resistance to the changes from an anthropological point of view and explore the possibilities for adaptation and reinvention of traditions in contemporary Basque society.
Contact Nerea Lete for more details about the workshop and lecture at nlete@boisestate.edu.