Pontifical Catholic University of Peru

The Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (acronym: PUCP) is a private Peruvian university located in the city of Lima, Peru. It was founded on March 24, 1917 by the priest Jorge Dintilhac, of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts, as the "Catholic University of Peru", being the oldest private university in the country. On September 30, 1942, she received the title of Pontifical from the Holy See, which gave rise to her current name.

The university originally functioned at the Colegio Sagrados Corazones Recoleta, located in Plaza Francia in Lima. After that, the Peruvian historian and politician José de la Riva-Agüero y Osma would become his main benefactor by leaving him most of his assets as an inheritance, for being then a more conservative educational institution and linked to the Catholic Church; in contrast to his alma mater and original destination of his inheritance, the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, where Riva-Agüero considered that liberal ideas and atheism predominated. Among its properties, it acquired the Riva-Agüero house, the O'Higgins house and the Pando farm, land where it built its main campus and where its faculties are currently located. In 1949, it was established that the university would have the same status and autonomy as a national university.

The Catholic university currently has 15 faculties, a graduate school, various institutes and a cultural center. It has always been located within the top five places nationwide in various university rankings. Together with the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos and the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, it is one of the three They are the only Peruvian universities that have come to occupy the first position at the national level in certain editions of the existing academic classifications.

History

A search by the priest Jorge Dintilhac, founder of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.

The Pontifical Catholic University of Peru was founded on March 24, 1917, by Father Jorge Dintilhac of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts and officially recognized by the Peruvian State that same date, through a supreme resolution signed by President José Brown and Barreda.

Its first faculties were Arts and Jurisprudence, which began operating at the Colegio Sagrados Corazones Recoleta, located in Plaza Francia, in downtown Lima. In the following years, new study units would be created. In 1932, the Higher Institute for Commercial Sciences, the Women's Higher Education Institute, and the Language Institute were created. In 1933, the faculties of engineering and political and economic sciences were created. In 1935, the school of pedagogy was created. In 1936, the urban normal school. Likewise, the Academy of Catholic Art was founded in 1939, and the Higher Section of Pedagogy in 1942. That same year, upon its 25th anniversary, the university received the title of "Pontifical", granted by the Pope. Pius XII.

In 1944, upon the death of the Peruvian thinker José de la Riva-Agüero y Osma, who decided to leave his inheritance to the Catholic University of Peru, the Catholic University of Peru received the Pando farm (a 45-hectare piece of land), several real estate in the center of Lima and rural land in Lima and Pisco. In this way, José de la Riva-Agüero became the main benefactor of the university until today.

In 1959, construction began on the first buildings on the university's new campus. Years before, in 1947, the faculty of education was created and, in 1953, the Riva-Agüero Institute was inaugurated, in honor of the great benefactor of the university. In 1959, the school of religious studies and the faculty of agronomy were created, which would be deactivated years later. In the period between 1953 and 1962, the PUCP was associated with the main international university organizations, including the International Federation of Catholic Universities and the International Association of Universities.

PUCP view from the Z Building.

In 1965, the university had 4,700 students, so it developed a planned growth program through which the number of students grew in a controlled 4% per year (to the almost 25,000 it currently has). The following year, in 1966, the Department of Sciences was created, which included the specialties of physics, mathematics and chemistry. In 1972, the general study programs were implemented, constituted as autonomous academic units, divided into two large fields: sciences and letters. In 1977, the social work academic program was created, and in 1981, the art program. On February 3, 1986, the new language institute (INIPUC) was created, aimed at teaching English and Spanish.

In 1992, the Technological Transfer and Services Center (acronym: CTT-PUCP), currently INNOVAPUCP, was created, aimed at channeling the technological offer of the PUCP to public and private entities in the country. In 1994, the Cultural Center (acronym: CCPUCP) was inaugurated. In 1998, the Faculty of Communication Sciences and Arts began its activities; in 2000, the CENTRUM Católica business center did the same, and in 2002, the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism. In 2005, the specialty of political science and government, and the faculty of management and senior management were created. In 2014, the performing arts faculty was created, bringing together the theater school, the dance school, and the music school.

Controversy and dispute of the titles Pontifical and Catholic

Due to a dispute between this university and the Holy See regarding the approval of the university's statutes, on July 21, 2012, the Holy See, by means of a decree, prohibited the university from using the terms & #34;Pontifical" and "Catholic" in her name. The first of these titles is conferred by the Holy See, and the second by the local Bishop. At the end of 2012, Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, then Grand Chancellor, withdrew the canonical mandate for the teaching of Catholic Theology in the university, considering that it did not meet the minimum doctrinal fidelity that the Holy See requires for this, despite which the university continued to use the titles of Pontifical and Catholic as it is a legally registered trademark in Peru. The titles would be returned to the university by the Holy See in November 2016, at the same time that the position of Grand Chancellor was separated from the Archbishopric of Lima.

Organization

Government

The Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú is autonomous in the administrative, economic, regulatory, government and academic spheres. Although the Catholic Church does not have a direct participation in the administration of the university, until 2016 the university recognized the Archbishop of Lima as its grand chancellor (honorary title). Recently this position has been granted to the prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education of the Holy See in Peru. The university is governed by its teachers, who elect their authorities directly, with partial participation of students and graduates (student third).

• Ecclesiastical authorities: Cardinal Pedro Barreto currently holds the position of Grand Chancellor; however, this is an honorary title and does not deal with the government of the university. This task is reserved for the Rector, who is the highest authority in that area. The functions of the Grand Chancellor are focused on the institutional relationship between the University and the Catholic Church. In addition, the statute of the university considers the presence of five representatives of the Peruvian Episcopate to the University Assembly, who are appointed by the Episcopal Conference of Peru. The bishops who make up the University Assembly for the period 2022-2015 are the Vice Grand Chancellor Monsignor Miguel Cabrejos Vidarte O.F.M., Monsignor Carlos Castillo Mattasoglio, Monsignor Javier del Río Alba, Monsignor Robert Prevost Martínez O.S.A., and Monsignor Juan José Salaverry Villarreal O.P. The Academic Director of Relations with the Church has a position with voice and vote before the University Council of the PUCP. Among its functions are: to ensure the maintenance and strengthening of Catholic identity, to promote permanent dialogue around the theme of faith and to collaborate in maintaining a good relationship between university and episcopate.

• University Assembly: The University Assembly is the largest governing body of the University. It is composed of the rector, the three vice-rectors, the twelve deans of the academic units, the thirty representatives of the ordinary teachers (divided by each academic department), the twenty-six student representatives, the two representatives of the graduated students and the five representatives of the Peruvian Episcopate. Its mission is to ensure the proper functioning of the academic, normative and administrative aspects of the PUCP. It is responsible for electing the rector and vice-rectors and, if the case arises, to declare the vacance of their posts; to agree on the creation, merger, suppression or restructuring of the academic units, their specialties or their sections; to elect the University Electoral Committee annually. The University Assembly meets in a regular session once a semester and extraordinarily on the initiative of the Rector.

• University Council: The University Council is the largest organ for the promotion and implementation of the PUCP. It is composed of the rector, the three vice-rectors, five of the Deans, one head of department, the six academic directors, and four of the twenty-six student representatives (belonging to the University Assembly) and one representative of graduated students (belonging to the University Assembly).

• Rector: The Rector is the legal representative of the university, chairing the two main governing bodies of the University: the University Assembly and the University Council. There are also three vice-rectors: academic, research and administrative. They support the rector in the government of the University and, in case of impediment or vacance, one of them assumes the position. According to the statute of the PUCP, every rector must have been teaching at this university. The University was founded by the first of them, Father Jorge Dintilhac SS.CC., who ruled it, with some short interruptions, for thirty years (between 1917 and 1947). In 1924, Father Dintilhac resigned from office, which was assumed by Monsignor Pedro Pablo Drinot and Piérola, who died in January of the following year, causing the return of Father Dintilhac to the Rectorate. In 1946, due to the delicate state of health of Father Dintilhac, Víctor Andrés Belaúnde was appointed rector pro tempore, post he would occupy until 1947, year of the death of Father Dintilhac. The following rectors would be Father Rubén Vargas Ugarte, S.J. (between 1947 and 1953) and Monsignor Fidel Tubino Mongilardi (between 1953 and 1962). R.P. Felipe Estanislao Mac Gregor Rolino S.J. was one of the most influential rectors of the university (between 1963 and 1977), as he presided over the plan of institutional renewal and ruled the university during the years of political and social combustion in Peru of the military governments of Juan Velasco Alvarado and Francisco Morales Bermúdez. José Tola Pasquel, who was appointed rector in 1977, was the one who started the lay leadership line at the PUCP. He would be followed by Hugo Sarabia Swett in 1989, Solomon Lerner Febres in 1994, Luis Guzmán-Barrón Sobrevilla, Marcial Rubio Correa 2009, and Carlos Garatea Grau 2018.

Academic Areas

The university offers several undergraduate, master's and doctoral study programs, grouped into its faculties and schools:

Academic units

Composed of faculty and students, academic units are the basic units of the university. Its main objective is academic and professional training. Each academic unit is served by one or more academic departments. Each academic unit is governed by a council, which is made up of between three and four students, between six and eight teachers, and a dean, who leads the council and is the visible head of the unit. The university currently has thirteen academic units: two general studies, a graduate school and 10 faculties. Each faculty has one or more specialties. Each specialty represents a professional career taught at the university, each of which is directed by a coordinator.

Academic Departments

The academic departments are the units that group the professors of the university. Each academic department represents an area of knowledge dealt with at the University on which research, teaching and social projection are carried out. Each department is headed by a department head and is made up of one or more sections. Each section represents a professional career and is directed by a coordinator.

Academic addresses

The academic directorates are the units in charge of organizing and supervising specific areas of institutional work. Currently, the university has six such units, each headed by a director.

Student Organizations

The university has the following student organizations:

• PUCP Student Federation (siglas: FEPUC): It is the commission to represent, defend and conglomerate the more than 17 thousand students of the university. It is made up of a president, a vice president and five secretaries (elected annually in November of each year), governed by a statute and controlled by the board of prosecutors. Its maximum deliberative organ is the assembly of FEPUC delegates where representatives of all powers participate. In addition to the defense and student organization, it conducts activities such as conferences, debates, forums and reports, as well as promoting marches for student rights, justice and democracy; disseminating the importance of human rights, and organizing various student activities. It was created by the students themselves in 1955.
• Student representatives in the Assembly (siglas: REA): It is made up of the 26 students who are part of the university assembly. It is born from university legislation during the government of President Juan Velasco Alvarado in the 1970s.
• Student Commission of the University Consortium: Encourages a student organization that is an active part in the development and dissemination of activities that encourage the interrelationship of students in various fields, so that it contributes to a greater comprehensive training of students members of the Consortium, this delegation is currently composed of two students from each university.

Campus

Pando Campus

View of the PUCP campus from the Zeta building.

The Pando campus is the current headquarters of the University. It is located in the district of San Miguel, to the west of Lima, on the old Pando estate. This 45-hectare piece of land was bequeathed by the Peruvian humanist and politician José de la Riva-Agüero y Osma in 1944. All the faculties and administrative buildings of the University are located on it. The total area is 0.41 km², having a significant portion of it made up of green areas (0.17 km²) and archaeological zones (0.11 km²). Within the campus there are nine libraries, two newspaper archives, six documentation centers, three museums, two television studios, nine computer laboratories, and 47 specialized laboratories (acoustics, spectrophotometry, hydraulics, plasma, topography, photography, etc.) and 17 centers and Research Institutes. There are also 19 cafeterias, four auditoriums, a health center, a bank, a bookstore, a grass field for soccer and rugby practice, and a multi-sports arena.

PUCP Cultural Center

Located in the San Isidro district of Lima, the financial center of the city, it was inaugurated on June 23, 1994. It is the headquarters of the PUCP Cultural Center, where acting workshops, business courses are held, art exhibitions and plays. It has a projection room, a conference room, a theater room, two exhibition galleries, six classrooms, and rooms for board meetings. It also has a café (Art Café) and a bookstore (La Tertulia).

Business Centers

CENTRUM Catholic campus, located in the Surco district.

• Business Centre (siglas: CENTRUM): It was created on 8 March 2000 and began its activities on 30 March 2000. It is considered one of the top ten business schools for Latin American executives. It was the first Peruvian business school with less than five years of creation to receive the AMBA certification for its MBA programs. CENTRUM is one of the seven business schools in Latin America that have the triple accreditation of AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) from the United States, AMBA (Association of MBAs) from London and EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System) from Brussels. Divide its operations in five main units: CENTRUM Chair, CENTRUM Research, CENTRUM Consulting, CENTRUM Partnerships and CENTRUM Future. It is located in the Surco district, east of the city of Lima. The total area of the land is 0.015 km2. It contains ten classrooms (eight flats and two steps), six amphitheaters, a special classroom for high management meetings, an auditorium, a documentation centre and a cafeteria.

• Centre for Consulting and Integrated Services (siglas: INNOVAPUCP): It is the organization responsible for channeling the offer of consultancy and services of the PUCP. Its mission is to centralize, coordinate and manage all the non-formal services offered by the PUCP, according to the needs of the companies and institutions of the country. Its objective is to provide them, efficiently and with high quality standards, integrated and ideal solutions for their problems. INNOVAPUCP develops specialized services of Consulting and Consulting, Capacity Building, Laboratory Testing (ISO/IEC 17025 in test laboratories), Certification and Compliance Assessments, Outsourcing and Consortiums.

• Institute for Quality (siglas: IC-PUCP): The Institute for Quality (siglas: IC-PUCP) is a specialized centre for quality issues created in 1993. He's a corporate member. American Society for Quality (ASQ) Institute of Social and Ethical Accountability (AccountAbility) and Institute of Quality Assurance (IQA). IC-PUCP provides consulting, auditing, certification and training services on topics such as quality management, project management, ISO certifications, corporate social responsibility, Six Sigma and human resources management. It also has a documentation centre supplied with the main publications on these topics.

Other premises

Free People District Headquarters of the University Language Institute.

• The Institute of Informatics (siglas: INFOPUC): It was founded on 25 April 1991 in the Magdalena district, where it worked for approximately 6 years. He succeeded in being recognized as one of the pioneering institutes in the field of IT. Its purpose is to meet the needs of training, accompaniment, technological support and research in the field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). It also provides services to companies and educational institutions by providing them with strategies that enable them to use technology effectively and relevantly.

• La School of Music: It is a music teaching center in which the cultural diversity of Peruvian music and the classical European academy are assumed. Therefore, it aims to progressively achieve the cultivation of the classic and the traditional in a continuous process of enrichment. The PUCP School of Music has two major lines of action: The training given in the Regular Courses and the basic training through specialization courses. It is currently part of the School of Performing Arts.

• The Language Institute: He began his activities on February 3, 1986.

• The Theatre of the Catholic University (siglas: TUC): It was created on 22 June 1961 with Ricardo Blume as director and only teacher. The Theatre School (ETUC) was created in 1963. In 1991 the School became an academic unit of the University. In 2001 he moved to the Pando campus and the curriculum was restructured. Over the years, TUC has participated in numerous international festivals and meetings in Colombia, Chile, Venezuela, Denmark and Finland, among other countries. It's part of the School of Performing Arts.

• The Institute of Radio Astronomy: Founded in 2007, the purpose of which is academic performance and research in the subjects of radioscience and space science and engineering.

Additionally, the University has a location located in the district of Magdalena, where the Conflict Analysis and Resolution Center operates, and four locations in the districts of San Isidro, Surco (Chacarilla and Camacho) and Pueblo Libre, where The Language Institute of the PUCP (Idiomas Católica, ex-INIPUC) works, as well as the Confucius Institute PUCP, where Chinese language and culture are taught. The University also has the premises of the Music School of the PUCP, located in the Chorrillos district.

Research

The university has more than 90 laboratories dedicated to the development of projects and research in different areas.

Culture and heritage

Cultural centers

PUCP Cultural Center.

• Cultural Centre (siglas: CCPU): It is one of the main means of projection of the University towards the community. There are art exhibitions, courses and workshops, continuous film screenings (especially films that do not have much diffusion in the commercial circuit), theatrical assemblies, modern dance seasons, classical music, jazz, and lectures are held. It is the headquarters of the Latin American Film Meeting in Lima The Cinemaorganized by the PUCP every year.
• Riva-Agüero Institute (siglas: IRA): It was created in 1947 and appointed in honor of the politician, intellectual and great benefactor of the University. It is a research center for human sciences that in 1955 reaches the category of School of High Studies. It conceives itself as a community of researchers, mostly teachers and graduates of the PUCP, who work on projects sponsored by the IRA, or on projects that the Institute sponsors through annual research grants. The IRA works in two historical buildings owned by the PUCP located in the center of Lima: the Riva-Agüero (central site) and the O'Higgins case.
• Centre for Oriental Studies (siglas: CEO): It was opened on 29 November 1988 with the collaboration of institutions such as the Japan Foundation and the Embassy of India. It also maintains close relations with others such as the government of the People ' s Republic of China and cultural foundations of the Republic of Korea. Thanks to this every year, visiting professors arrive at the CEO to dictate courses and conferences. The centre holds courses related to the study of Buddhism, Judaism, Eastern Art, and Eastern Languages such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Sanskrit and Persian at the basic level. Another activity carried out by the CEO is the publication of books, mostly translations and compilations of works by Eastern authors. One of the activities supported by the CEO was the visit to the PUCP of S.S. Tenzin Gyatso, the XIV Dalái Lama on 7 May 2006, when in addition to other activities he provided a public conference in the university's poly-sport collision.

Historical properties

Casona O'Higgins.

• Casona O'Higgins: The original construction of the O'Higgins case dates back to the beginning of the centuryXVI. The construction was modified over time depending on the use given to the property. Here he spent his adolescence the Chilean procer Bernardo O'Higgins, during the government of his father: Ambrosio O'Higgins, viceroy of Peru. In 1830, during his exile, he rented the house, which he occupied with his family until his death in 1842. The house became owned by the PUCP as part of the legacy left by José de la Riva-Agüero and Osma. It currently serves as an annex to the Riva-Agüero Institute. The archaeology section and the museum work there. Josefina Ramos de Cox.

Casona Riva-Agüero.

• Casona Riva-Agüero: Built in 1760, it is considered one of the main attractions of the historic center of Lima. It was originally inhabited by Spanish colonel Domingo Ramírez de Arellano, to be used as a family house. It consists of a plant of two Spanish style patios of the centuryXVI, its façade is neoclassical at the end of the centuryXVIII and has architectural details of French influence. She was donated to the PUCP by the last of her descendants: José de la Riva-Agüero and Osma. It is currently the headquarters of the Riva-Agüero Institute. In addition to classrooms and offices, there is a library, a historical archive, and the Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions.
• Plaza Francia: It was built in the 1960s, a few meters from the then main place of the University (the La Recoleta College) in Plaza Francia, in the historical center of Lima, as a complement to this. It is for this fact that it is its beginnings was known as Annex. There were some baccalaureate and doctorate classes of the Faculty of Letters. It is an old-cut construction with two inner courtyards. The Editorial Fund, the Latin American Music Centre, the Institute for International Studies and the Office of the Social Sciences Development Network currently operate.
• Camaná Building 956: It is a case of early centuryXX., located in the historic center of Lima. It hosted the faculties of Education and Journalism, the Women's Institute of Higher Studies, the School of Theatre and the Academy of Art. It is currently the headquarters of the PUCP Language Centre (CIPUC).
• Old summer house of the Riva-Agüero family: Located in the coastal district of Chorrillos, south of Lima. It sheltered for more than 20 months the exhibition Yuyanapaq. To remember, photo exhibition of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Cultural heritage

The PUCP has in its custody some pieces belonging to the cultural heritage of Peru. The most evident of these are the archaeological remains of a pre-Hispanic road that crosses the west end of the Pando campus from North to South. Other cases are the original copies of texts written in the 16th and 17th centuries, and the collections of sketches and manuscripts by authors such as César Vallejo, Abraham Valdelomar, José Santos Chocano and José María Arguedas.

• Filmoteca de Lima: In 2005, due to economic problems that prevented the correct conservation of the tapes, the Filmoteca de Lima is purchased by the PUCP. This collection represents the largest film archive in the country. Once purchased, the collection becomes part of the PUCP Filmoteca and is outstanding to the University Cultural Center for its administration and conservation, there were built special environments for the archive of the film material.

• Manuscripts of Martin Adam: In 1986, four large packages were delivered to the PUCP with thousands of papers related to Martin Adam. There were found original manuscripts, letters, photographs, biographies about the poet, editions of his books, personal documents and newspaper cuts, among others. All documents belong to the period after the 1930s. All this happened to the custody of the PUCP in May 1989, when Juan Mejía Baca (formerly custodian) and the family of Martin Adam made the formal delivery of the collection. The documents were carefully codified, catalogued, digitized and treated for conservation.

• Cuadernos de Luis Hernández: In 2000, they were donated to the PUCP Cuadernos del wardrobe, a small piece of furniture with manuscripts of the Peruvian poet Luis Hernández adhered to in the back in the form of collage. This fact triggered a project to collect the manuscripts of the poet, very few of them edited and quite scattered. Many of the notebooks were in poor condition, so the process of digitization was immediately initiated to avoid the permanent loss of texts. The results can be observed on the website created by the University where 49 notebooks and other materials related to the poet are presented page to page (almost all of his work). The website has more than 2000 images of documents.

• Musical manuscripts by Daniel Alomía Robles: On December 1, 2006, Daniel Alomía Robles's musical manuscripts, donated to the PUCP by his family, were officially delivered. These manuscripts are the originals of the 238 works written by the composer. Among them are those of their best known compositions: The condor passes e Hymn to the Sun. The collection was highlighted to the University's Institute of Ethnomusicology for its digitalization and conservation.

Academic Rankings

In recent years, the use of international university rankings to evaluate the performance of universities at a national and global level has become widespread; These rankings are academic classifications that locate the institutions according to a bibliometric-type scientific methodology that includes measurable and reproducible objective criteria, taking into account, for example: academic reputation, employability reputation for graduates, research citations to their repositories and their impact on the web. Of the total of 92 licensed universities in Peru, The Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú has always been located within the top five places nationwide in the various international university rankings. Together with the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos and the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, it is one of the only three Peruvian universities that have come to occupy the first position at the national level in certain editions of the existing academic classifications, such as the University Rankings by Academic Performance from the URAP Center, the QS World University Rankings by Quacquarelli Simonds, the Web Rankings of Universities by CSIC known as Webometrics, and the SIR World Reports by SCImago Research Center.

Featured Characters

Students and professors

Honorary doctors