VCU short-term programs abroad
Visual and Literary Arts in Peru
Peru
Lima and Cuzco
6 undergraduate or graduate credits in Art History, English, and the Arts
June 10 - July 5, 2013
Prof. Javier Tapia, Gregory Donovan, Scott DuPre Mills, and Michael Panbehchi
$2,949 + airfare + applicable VCU tuition
Registration deadline: April 5, 2013
Status: Program full
The Global Education Office, the College of Humanities and Sciences and the School of the Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University are pleased to announce the summer program in Peru. Participants will travel to Lima for a short visit, and on to Cuzco, for an extended visual exploration of the countryside and culture of the highlands of Peru. The program will include visits to museums to explore ancient, colonial and contemporary art, as well as visits to ancient ruins and colonial sites. Of particular importance will be the group's participation in the Festival of Corpus Christi in Cuzco. An optional four-day hiking and camping trip along the Inca Trail will expose you to a biological and culturally diverse region of the country culminating at Machu Picchu.
Course and credit options
Course and credits options: 6 undergraduate or graduate VCU credits
Participants can choose two of the following three-credit courses offered by the Departments of Painting & Printmaking, instructed by Javier Tapia; Photography and Film, instructed by Scott Mills; Art History, instructed by Michael Panbehchi; and English, instructed by Gregory Donovan:
- ARTH 489 Advanced Art History in Peru;
- ENGL 391 Blogging in Peru;
- PAPR 324 Intermediate Drawing;
- PAPR 421 Advanced Drawing;
- PAPR 621 Graduate Drawing;
- PHTO 491 Videography and Photography;
- SCPT 491 Drawing, Works on Paper;
- SCPT 591 Drawing, Works on Paper;
- SCPT 491 Video and Photographic Art I; and
- SCPT 591 Video and Photographic Art II.
- ENGL 305 Creative Writing
- ENGL 435 Advanced Workshop in Poetry
- ENGL 437 Advanced Workshop in Fiction
- ENGL 439 Advanced Workshop in Nonfiction
- ENGL 666 Workshop in Poetry
- ENGL 667 Workshop in Fiction
- ENGL 672 Workshop in Nonfiction
- ENGL 391 South American Literary Traditions
- ENGL 620 South American Literary Traditions
The Education Abroad office will enroll students in the course upon receipt of the registration.
Course description
Painting & Printmaking: PAPR 324 Intermediate Drawing; PAPR 421 Advanced Drawing; SCPT 491 Drawing, Works on Paper; SCPT 591 Drawing, Works on Paper; PAPR 621 Graduate Drawing
A peripatetic investigation of direct observation, on-site drawing. Emphasis will be placed on the development of a suite of drawings in which on-site references become spinal elements in multimedia two-dimensional constructions. Documentation of your daily activities will be maintained in an illustrated diary or journal.
Photography and Film: PHTO 491 Videography and Photography; SCPT 491 Video and Photographic Art I; SCPT 591 Video and Photographic Art II
A course of study for still- and moving-image media to include video, film and photography. The program will allow students to work independently and experiment with attention to light, subject matter and point of view with assistance from individual instruction. Professor Mills will also lead students on additional walks and hikes that are of particular interest to Photographers and Video and Filmmakers. Students are required to bring all equipment needed including cameras (video and or still), tape and film (one tape 1hr, multiple memory cards or 24 exp of film per day is recommended), rechargeable batteries (extra batteries are recommended), battery charger (for video and digital cameras) and an AC-power converter (220v to U.S. 110v). A wide-angle lens is highly recommended. Inexpensive wide angle lens adaptors are required for students shooting Video. Tripods are optional and in some instances may not be recommended for hikes. Flexible ‘mini tripods’ are recommended. A comfortable, durable, rugged camera bag is important as the nature of the travels in Peru you will encounter differing environments that include moisture, dust and vibration. It is essential to have lens cleaning capacities.
Art History: ARTH 489 Advanced Art History in Peru<; ARTH 591 Advanced Art History in Peru
Art and architecture of Inca and Colonial Peru: An in-depth study of visual culture in the Andes, c. 1500-1800. Lectures held throughout the duration of your stay in Peru will be supplemented with visits to art and archaeology museums in Lima and Cuzco. The course will focus on the Inca, the dominant empire in the Andes prior to the Spanish conquest, as well as the colonial culture that emerged under Spanish rule in the 16th through 18th centuries. Each student will be required to complete a series of assigned readings and a workbook, which must be submitted to the instructor at the end of the course.
English: ENGL 305 Creative Writing; ENGL 435 Advanced Workshop in Poetry; ENGL 437 Advanced Workshop in Fiction; ENGL 439 Advanced Workshop in Nonfiction; ENGL 666 Workshop in Poetry; ENGL 667 Workshop in Fiction; ENGL 672 Workshop in Nonfiction; ENGL 391 South American Literary Traditions; ENGL 620 South American Literary Traditions
ENGL 305, 435, 437, 439, 666, 667 672: Students will sign up for the course in the genre of their interest. Group workshop meetings involving all students will be held, while other instruction will involve individual tutorials with the instructor. Primarily a workshop focusing on the writing of its participants, the course will provide a forum for discussing the approaches and techniques of contemporary writers with a special focus on writers from South America, and will enable workshop participants to expand and improve their own writing. The course offers students a chance to benefit from their travel in several ways — through experiences that are richer because they are recorded and reconsidered in writing, as well as through encountering the voices, rhythms and strategies of writers from other cultures as well as their own. The final product of the course will be a portfolio of writing in the genre chosen by the student, which will be presented in its final form to the instructor after our return from Peru.
ENGL 391, 620: Offered at the undergraduate and graduate level, this course will offer a survey of important literary figures from South America, including Peru, and will examine important movements and approaches such as "magic realism." Students will read most work in translation, but will also be offered the chance to engage in some translation exercises and comparisons themselves (for which previous formal language study will not be required). The course will ultimately result in a final writing project to be turned in after our return from Peru.
Registration deadline: April 5, 2013
Program cost: $2,949 + airfare + tuition
The program fee is $2,949 and includes the following:
- Accommodations in Peru
- Most meals
- Ground transportation in Peru to sites in Lima, Ica, Cuzco and Machu Picchu
- Study visits and tours
- On-site Program Director support for 3 professors
- Pre-departure orientation
- International Student Identity Card
- VCU administrative fees
- Application deposit
The following are not included in the program fee. Students are responsible for:
- Airfare
- VCU tuition and fees
- Some meals
- Passport application fee
- Personal expenses during the program estimated at $600-800
Airfare
Airfare is not included. Participants are responsible for making their own round-trip travel arrangements from the US to Lima. Program directors will meet with accepted students to go over specific travel logistics and may help students in identifying low-cost travel options. For best fares, students are encouraged to purchase their tickets prior to April 15.
Eligibility
This program is open to all VCU students regardless of class standing or major who hold a GPA of 2.0 or higher. Additionally, students from other universities are encouraged to apply.
An academic letter of reference is not required.
While in Peru
Participants will be housed in a variety of accommodations including hotels, a historic monastery, hostels and camping facilities for those on the Inca Trail. Most meals are included as a part of the program. Students who participate in the Spanish language program will stay in a family homestay for the final two weeks in Lima. Breakfast and dinner will be included during the homestay
The program begins in Lima, Peru where students will spend three days visiting museums and cathedrals. The group will then begin a three-day trip to the Urubamba valley to visit Inca ruins and the Maras salt mines. The participants will then head to Cuzco for 15 days punctuated by the amazing Corpus Christi festival and an optional four-day trek on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. After leaving Cuzco, the group will travel to Ica for a variety of activities including a boat tour of the Ballestas Islands.
The program will be led by a multidisciplinary team of faculty from the School of the Arts and the College of Humanities and Sciences.
Drawing courses are conducted by Javier Tapia, winner of the Teresa Pollak award in 2011, who has been a professor of painting and printmaking at VCU for over 22 years and has been leading the trip to Peru for the past fifteen years. A native of Peru, Tapia has extensive knowledge of the area and the culture.
Photography, Film and Videography courses and the Blogging in Peru course are led by Scott DuPre Mills, award-winning filmmaker, photographer and multimedia artist. Scott is the founder and director of the VCU International Student Film Festival. Scott is currently working on his PhD in VCU's Media, Art and Text program. He holds a BFA in Sculpture and a MFA in Photography and Film. Scott screened his ongoing documentary film "VCU in PERU" in Cusco in 2004 and has been an instructor with the study abroad program in Peru each year since 2003.
Art history courses are conducted by Michael Panbehchi.
Writing courses are led by Gregory Donovan. Donovan is the author of poetry, essays, and short fiction published in such journals as The Kenyon Review, New England Review, The Southern Review, Story South, and 42opus, among others. His poetry collection, Calling His Children Home, won the Devins Award from University of Missouri Press. He has won the Robert Penn Warren prize, judged by Rosanna Warren and sponsored by New England Writers, as well as grants and fellowships from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Ucross Foundation, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. His work has been anthologized in The Devins Award Poetry Anthology, Fives: Fifty Poems by Serbian and American Poets, and in Common Wealth: Contemporary Poets of Virginia. Donovan helped to establish VCU study abroad programs in both Scotland and Peru. He is Senior Editor of Blackbird: an online journal of literature and the arts.
Important facts
- Tuition
- Financial aid
- Passports
- Payment of fees
- Financial committment policy
- Travel health
VCU tuition and fees are charged separately. Tuition is billed at standard VCU rates for in-state students and at a 40 percent discount for out-of-state students. This means that the current estimated cost, based on current tuition credit fees (including the technology fee), are as follows for a standard 3-credit class:
- Undergraduate, In-State: $987.11 ($327.50 per credit)
- Undergraduate, Out-of-State: $1,600.25 ($531.88 per credit)
- Graduate, In-State: $1,592.93 ($529.44 per credit)
- Graduate, Out-of-State: $1,964.03 ($653.14 per credit)
- Doctoral, In-State: $1,315.10 ($436.83 per credit)
- Doctoral, Out-of-State: $1,680.80 ($558.73 per credit)
Fees are not included in the above and may include special program, major and/or course fees. Please refer to the VCU Student Accounting website for information regarding these special fees.
Financial aid will apply to the program and tuition costs prior to student billing. Eligible students may apply for need-based financial aid in order to participate in this program. For more information about the financial aid application and process, please contact VCU Financial Aid by phone at 804-828-6669, by email or in person on the first floor of Grace E. Harris Hall (1015 Floyd Ave.).
A valid passport is required to leave the US. If a student does not already have a passport, they are advised to begin the application process as soon as they are accepted into the program. The processing time for new passport applicants can be as long as 8 weeks. For students who already have passports, they will need to verify that the passport's validity dates extend 6 months past their return date. For more information about passports and the application/renewal process, please consult: http://travel.state.gov/.
In order to complete the application, students are required to submit a non-refundable $250 registration fee and deposit.
Students will receive two separate charges to their student accounts for this program: one charge will reflect the balance of the program fee (minus the $250 deposit and application fee) and the other charge is for VCU tuition costs (based on the number and type of credits being taken by the student). These bills will be charged through VCU Student Accounting and should appear by May 2013. (Please note: While these charges may post to the student's account simultaneously or separately, it is the student's responsibility to make sure the account balance is paid before the billing due date.)
All withdrawals must be made formally in writing and submitted to the Director of Education Abroad.
Upon commitment to the program, students deciding to withdraw will be held accountable for the charges made on their behalf by the Education Abroad office. Depending upon when this occurs according to the refund schedule, the student may be held accountable for either a portion of or the entire program fee.
The refund schedule is as follows:
Prior to April 15: If a student withdraws from the program prior to April 15, he/she will be held responsible for the amount of the program fee that has already been expended in payment of costs outlined on the individual program sheet in support of his/her participation. As time progresses, the charges may reflect an increasing amount, depending on what payments have been made on the student's behalf. The amount cannot be determined until the student formally submits written withdrawal from the program to the Director of Education Abroad.
After April 15: If student withdraws from the program after April 15, they will be responsible to pay the entire program fee when it is billed.
In the event of an unexpected emergency that occurs after April 15, students must provide a physician's certification that his/her condition prohibits participation. In this case, refunds will be limited to recoverable expenses.
If an applicant is rejected from the program, the $250 application fee and deposit will be refunded.
Students should schedule an appointment with their physician or at a travel clinic (such as VCU Student Health) at least 4 to 8 weeks before the program to inquire about recommended and/or required vaccines/immunizations. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that all routine and travel immunizations are up-to-date.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides information on recommended and required immunizations for travelers. To view the health risks and requirements for the country to which you will be traveling, please visit the website at: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel.
VCU Student Health offers in-depth pre-travel consultation with a health care provider as well as most of the vaccines recommended for safe travel. Prescriptions for recommended medicines are also available. Please visit their website at: www.students.vcu.edu/health/immunizations/travel_clinic.html.
Every effort is made to provide updated and accurate information at the time of publication. The sponsors reserve the right to make necessary changes to the programs and costs. The university reserves the right to revise or alter all fees, regulations pertaining to student fees, and fee collection procedures at any time.
