Etxepare Basque Institute and UWTSD establish Chair of Basque Studies for Wales

The new Fellowship in the field of Basque sociolinguistics and language policy and planning will be based at the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies.

UWTSD and the Etxepare Basque Institute have signed a new partnership agreement to support academic exchange between Wales and the Basque Country in the field of sociolinguistics and language policy and planning.

The Fellowship, named after the eminent linguist, the late Dr Alan R. King, will be an opportunity for a scholar from the Basque Country to come to Wales to research and to contribute to teaching and knowledge exchange in these fields which are of such significance for both countries and their languages.

Alan R. King in Hawai’i (photo: Begotxu Olaizola)

The Fellow will be selected annually through an open call – details on CAWCS and Etxepare websites – and the successful candidate will come to Wales in the autumn of 2022.

Irene Larraza, Director of Etxepare Basque Institute said:

"Establishing this partnership and the Alan R. King Chair creates the strategic stability that was needed for the academic collaboration in the field of sociolinguistics, language policy and planning between Wales and the Basque Country. This is an essential step towards the future of linguistic diversity and the revitalization processes of our languages”.

Professor Medwin Hughes, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David said:

“The University is delighted to announce this special collaboration with the Etxepare Basque Institute. The Alan R. King Chair will be an excellent opportunity for scholars from the Basque Country to come to Wales to research, to contribute to our learning programmes and to engage in public and professional exchanges in the field of sociolinguistics, language policy and planning. This is a very important step for the University and the Etxepare Euskal Institute. It is the only Etxepare Fellowship in this field – which is of high priority for Wales and the Basque Country – one of only 10 Chairs that Etxepare supports in universities around the world, as well as being the only one in Wales. We look forward to welcoming the first Fellow to the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies in the autumn.”

Professor Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones, Director of CAWCS said:

“This Fellowship establishes a cornerstone to take forward the academic relationship between Wales and the Basque Country in the field of language policy and planning. We know how crucial this area of research is for both countries and it is a privilege to work with the Etxepare Basque Institute on this strategic development.”

The contribution of the late Dr. Alan R. King to the field spanned four decades, over several continents and he spoke over twenty languages including Nawatl, Hawai’ian, Hebrew, Basque and Welsh Throughout his life he used his extraordinary linguistic talent to make the learning of languages easier for others, by creating practical resources for minoritized and threatened languages. Among his publications in English on Basque are ‘A Basque Course: A Complete Initiation to the Study of the Basque Language’ (1982), ‘The Basque Language: A practical Introduction’ (1994), ‘Colloquial Basque’ (1996), the latter with Begotxu Olaizola, with whom he taught Basque in Aberystwyth in the early 1990s. During this period he learned Welsh to a remarkable level and from then on played a key part in facilitating the connections between Wales and the Basque Country.  

He was responsible for establishing the threshold level for Basque in the 1980s, when Professor Medwin Hughes worked on the equivalent level for the Welsh language. As a member of the Basque language academy – Euskaltzaindia – he contributed to the publication of seven volumes on the grammar of the Basque language.

Professor Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones, Director of CAWCS concluded:

"It is extremely appropriate that this Fellowship bears the name of Alan R King. We are very grateful to his family and close friends for their support and we look forward to close collaboration with Basque scholars as a result of this initiative."

Note to Editor

Contact: Prof Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones, Director of CAWCS elin.jones@uwtsd.ac.uk

1. The Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies (CAWCS) was established by the University of Wales in 1985 as a dedicated research centre conducting team-based projects on the languages, literatures, culture and history of Wales and the other Celtic countries. Its fields of research include Early Celtic Languages, Hagiography, Medieval Welsh Literature, Enlightenment and Romanticism in Wales and Europe, Welsh and British Name Studies, Welsh Lexicography, Literary Translation, Contemporary Sociolinguistics and Language Policy and Planning in Minoritized Languages. It is home the University of Wales Dictionary of the Welsh Language, which celebrated its centenary in 2021.

2. The Etxepare Basque Institute promotes collaboration in the areas of culture and academia with international partners (universities, cultural entities, festivals, art centres, etc.) to enhance the international presence and visibility of the Basque language and contemporary Basque creativity and to promote international cooperation and exchange.

3. CAWCS offers unique opportunities for postgraduate students to work alongside specialists in a dynamic and supportive environment. It is located in Aberystwyth, adjacent to the National Library of Wales, which is an internationally-renowned copyright library with excellent research facilities. We welcome enquiries about MPhil/PhD topics in any of our research areas. For more information about research opportunities, or for an informal chat about possible topics, contact our Head of Graduate Studies, Dr Elizabeth Edwards: e.edwards@wales.ac.uk

Further Information

For more information please contact Arwel Lloyd, Principal PR and Communications Officer, on 01267 676663 / arwel.lloyd@uwtsd.ac.uk