Boston University: Lima & Ayacucho - Understanding Contemporary Peru, Summer

One of the few BU programs offered only in the summer, the Lima/Ayachucho combo gives students two fascinating views of Peruvian life. Students spend the first part of the program in Lima, a busy, energetic city with a wonderful mix of Spanish heritage and modern-day influence. The second part of the program takes place in Ayacucho, a former colonial city in the central Andes.

In both cities, students live with local families and attend classes at the local universities, studying Spanish language, Peruvian literature, and Peruvian political history. Program participants enjoy exploring the cities or traveling to sites like Machu Picchu, a destination students routinely classify as one of the best trips of their lives.

This program offers seven weeks of instruction in two strikingly diverse Peruvian cities. It provides a combination of experiences both on the coast and in the highlands, and a fascinating introduction to the historical and contemporary realities of the nation.

The program starts in Lima, Peru’s capital, where students enroll in an intensive Spanish-language course or a course on contemporary Peruvian literature. Students then travel to the Andean city of Ayacucho to take a course on Peruvian political history. Students live with Peruvian families in both cities and enjoy excursions to Cuzco and Machu Picchu.