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The Etxepare Basque Institute and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst inaugurate today the "William A. Douglass Chair in Basque Cultural Studies". The chair will open with an Inaugural Lecture by William A. Douglass, co-founder of the Center for Basque Studies of Reno and renowned expert in Basque anthropology and culture. Also, international experts willl participate in the simposium “William Douglass, Basque Studies and the Anthropology of Europe”.

Amherst, USA. Etxepare Basque Institute informs that the William A. Douglass Chair in Basque Cultural Studies, created this year at the University of Massachusetts Amherst will open today.

This new chair will be dedicated to promoting Basque Anthropology Studies, and will organize an annual conference and a seminar on this subject. The first edition of the conference will be dedicated to the work of Douglass himself.  In addition, Jackie Urla, Professor at the Department of Anthropology, will create the subject "Culture and Heritage in Europe," which will pay special attention to the history of the Basques.

The chair will open officially today, September 26,  with an Inaugural Lecture by William A. Douglass. The very same day the university will hold the international symposium "William Douglass, Basque Studies and the Anthopology of Europe," with the participation of experts Caroline Brettell, Susan Carol Rogers, Sharon Roseman and Joseba Zulaika. The Etxepare Basque Institute will be represented by Mari Jose Olaziregi, director for the Promotion and Dissemination of the Euskera and responsible person in the area of universities.

Douglass appeared very satisfied when he received the news of the creation of the chair last year; in his words, the University of Massachusetts-Amherst is "the best place to institutionalize" a chair of this type, as they have done "a great job in the field of European anthropological studies".