Presentation

The Chair of language and Basque Culture was created in November 1963 on the initiative of the then Dean of the School of Philosophy and Letters, Antonio Fontán, and began its activities in February 1964 under the guidance of the prestigious Basque archaeologist and ethnologist José Miguel de Barandiaran. Its main aim goal was to promote both the linguistic and ethnological research and the knowledge of the Basque language . This is stated in the decree of creation of the Chair [PDF] signed by Saint Josemaría Escrivá, the first Chancellor of the University, on 16 November 1963.

In the early years and under sponsorship of the Provincial Council, the University took on the teaching of Basque, with the teaching, among others, of José Basterretxea, "Oskillaso", while Barandiaran started up the a course focusing on a single topic of Basque Ethnology (1964-1979) and initiated the ethnological research with the creation of the group Etniker of Navarre, attached to the Chair.

From the mid-1970s B , the Basque philologist Ana Echaide, who succeeded Barandiaran as director of the Chair, started a new line of work to rescue dialectal forms of Basque, and initiated the teaching of Basque linguistics within academic curricula. teaching and research received a boost from the 1990s onwards , with the creation of the Diploma of programs of study Vascos and the incorporation of Professor Asier Barandiarán, an expert in Basque oral literature.

Since January 2012, a renewed board aims to relaunch the bequest of the Chair, combining tradition with an openness to new fields of study and new spaces, inside and outside the University, making it a place of meeting and dialogue for the promotion of Basque culture. More information [PDF] [PDF