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Introduction to Peruvian Studies

The first part of the course provides a basic survey of Peruvian history, from the pre-Hispanic period (3000 BC) until the end of the nineteenth century. The approach emphasizes the analysis of the most relevant political, economic and social models established throughout this period, the processes of change and adaptation observed, and the way these societies became fundamental in our understanding of twenty-first century Peru.  Students will be able to analyze the way the pre-Hispanic civilizations, the Spanish colonial order, and 19^th century republic state represent a historical continuum in which political, economic, social and cultural aspects are defined as part of a Peruvian historical tradition.

The second part of the course will focus on approaching key issues of contemporary social and political Peruvian reality. The main thread of analysis would be the reflection about the Peruvian democratization process, as well as reviewing main issues that has affected such process in the last decades. During the course we will address topics such as the promotion of citizenship as part of the democratization process, the discrimination phenomena and its link to social and political violence, political culture and its influence on the process of democratic consolidation and the struggles of identity and social anomie and their effect on the building process of the national community sense.