Blue Compact Dwarf (BCD) galaxies are metal-poor and gas-rich systems undergoing intense, spatially extended star-forming activity. These galaxies offer a unique opportunity to investigate dwarf galaxy formation and evolution, and probe violent star formation and its implications on the chemical, dynamical and structural properties of low-mass extragalactic systems near and far. Several fundamental questions in BCD research, such as their star formation histories and the mechanisms that control their cyclic starburst activity, are still far from well understood. In order to improve our understanding on BCD evolution, we are carrying out a comprehensive Integral Field Spectroscopic (IFS) survey of a large sample of BCDs. Integral Field Unit (IFU) spectroscopy provides simultaneously spectral and spatial information, allowing, in just one shot, to study the morphology and evolutionary status of the stellar component, and the physical properties of the warm interstellar medium (e.g., extinction, chemical abundances, kinematics). This ongoing IFS survey will supply much needed local templates that will ease the interpretation of IFS data for intermediate and high-redshift star-forming galaxies.
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