Peru: Indigenous Peoples and Globalization
- Choosing a Program
- Health, Safety, and Security
- US State Department "Students Abroad"
- View the SIT Study Abroad 2010 Semester Catalog (PDF, 5MB)
- View the SIT Study Abroad 2010 Summer Catalog (PDF, 295K)
- View SIT Study Abroad Undergraduate Research / ISP Collection
- OurWorld Photo Gallery
- Academic Resources/Library
- Track Your Application Online (WebAdvisor)
Examine traditional and contemporary societies in Peru, home to one of the largest indigenous populations in the Americas.
This program explores the ways in which Peru has been shaped by complex historical legacies, a multiethnic population, and profound social and economic disparities between its different ethnic groups.
Topics for study include:
- Rights, advocacy, and policy
- Community development
- The arts, including pre-Columbian artistic expression
- Identity-recognition
- Impact of international corporations
Acquire a deeper understanding of the lives, cultures, and challenges of indigenous peoples. By examining the Quechua, native Amazon, and mestizos experiences in the Peruvian context, students learn about the issues facing indigenous peoples in relation to identity politics and globalization.
Students meet with local leaders, indigenous oralists, artisans, laborers, farmers, historians, linguists, policymakers, scholars, and educators.
Study Spanish and Quechua in the historic city of Cusco.
The program is based in Cusco, the former capital of the Inca Empire. In Cusco, students improve their Spanish and also begin learning basic Quechua, an indigenous language of the Andean region. Once the official language of the Inca Empire, Quechua today is spoken in Peru by nearly one million people and provides a key transnational link to the region's indigenous communities.
Experience the loss, resilience, and revitalization of the historical memory and legacy of Peru's indigenous people. Students discuss the factors directly impacting the opportunities and challenges facing indigenous communities in Peru today.
Homestays and Excursions
- Homestays with local families in urban and rural communities allow students to explore Peruvian identity from different standpoints.
- The program also spends time outside Cusco in Andean, coastal, and Amazonian Peru. Learn more about the program’s excursions.
|
Learn how recent mobilization efforts by indigenous Amazonian communities are shifting Peruvian national politics as reported by SIT program alum Anne Strother (Oberlin College) in PBS’ Online NewsHour. Peru Land Dispute Mobilizes Indigenous Efforts
Centro Bartolomé de las Casas The CBC comprises the Colegio Andino, the CBC library, and the Casa Campesina, all of which are located in downtown Cusco. The Colegio Andino, where SIT classes are held, offers academic programs focused on the social sciences and research opportunities for local professionals aimed at supporting social transformation initiatives in the Andean region. The Casa Campesina is a colonial house and, as its name suggests, offers accommodations for Quechua and Aymara campesinos visiting Cusco for personal or community purposes. The Casa Campesina also develops judicial initiatives such as the Communal Justice project aimed at developing a new multi-judicial system in Peru. The CBC houses the largest library in the Peruvian Southern Andes, an outstanding resource to which SIT students have full access. The library's photography archive is especially valued for its Peruvian graphic history; the archive holds negative and celluloid photographs from 1870 to 1950. For more information about CBC, visit their website. |
Browse this program's Independent Study Projects/Undergraduate Research
Duration: Fall/Spring, 15 weeks
Program Base: Cuzco
Language Study: Spanish, Quechua
Prerequisites: 4 semesters Spanish Learn More...
Phone:
888.272.7881 (toll-free in US)
802.258.3212
TTY:
802.258.3388
Fax:
802.258.3296
Mailing Address:
PO Box 676, 1 Kipling Road
Brattleboro, VT 05302 USA