Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo


The Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, locally known as PUC or Catholic University, is a private and non-profit Catholic university. It is maintained by the Catholic Archdiocese of São Paulo. The university is also responsible for the St. Lucinda Hospital and the TUCA theatre
WWW pucsp.br

Overview

PUC-SP was the first university in Brazil to offer graduate programs in the areas of Philosophy, Multimedia, Social Service, Psychology of Learning, Applied Linguistics and Speech-language Therapy. It also was the second university to offer a bachelor's degree in International Relations, which offers "double diplôme" for selected students that can finish their studies in Sciences Po. Since 2003, PUC-SP participates in the joint graduate program in International Relations Programa San Tiago Dantas together with UNICAMP and UNESP, one of the most important graduate programs in the area in Brazil. Since 2010 it also offers a joint master's degree with Pantheon-Sorbonne University at "Economie de La Mondialisation".
Besides postgraduate programs, research is also encouraged at the undergraduate level: every year the university provides almost 400 research grants for the Institutional Scientific Initiation Program, a national integrated system organized by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development that makes research undergrad students 2,2 times more likely to achieve a master's degree and 1,51 time to became a PhD.
In 2010, 80% of employees had a college degree. In 2020, 63,3% of PUC-SP's researchers were women.
Several former professors and students have been honored with significant awards, including 2 Emmy Awards.

History

Foundation

The Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo was founded in 1946, from the union of the Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de São Bento and the Paulista School of Law. Together, four other institutions of the Church were connected.
Founded by the archbishop of São Paulo, Cardinal Carlos Carmelo Vasconcellos Motta as the "Catholic University of São Paulo", the university received the title of "Pontifical Catholic University" in 1947, by the Pope Pius XII.
In 1969s, PUC-SP was the first university in Brazil to have a post-graduation course.

During the Military Dictatorship

During the Military Dictatorship in Brazil, many students and professors at PUC-SP were present in manifestations against the Government, and the archbishop at that time, Paulo Evaristo Arns, admitted teachers from the public universities who were dismissed by the militaries. Some of the persons who started working at PUC are Florestan Fernandes, Octavio Ianni, Bento Prado Jr., José Arthur Gianotti.
In 1977, PUC hosted the 29th meeting of the Sociedade Brasileira para o Progresso da Ciência, which had been forbidden by the government in public universities. In September, some students celebrated the third National Meeting of the Students, also forbidden by the dictatorship. As a response, troops of the Military Police broke into the campus and arrested some students, professors and other workers.
In the early 1980s, PUC-SP was the first Brazilian university to elect the rector and other administrative functions by direct vote from the students and teachers. In 1984, two fires damaged the theater of the university.

Financial crisis

In the early 2000s, two new campuses, one in Santana and one in Barueri, were created.
In 2001, the university had a deficit of 4 million reais, and that deficit increased in the following years, forcing PUC-SP to make a loan with banks, which generated a debt of 82 million reais by the end of 2005. and the results could be observed for most of the year 2006. Some courses were closed for the low demand and the several professors were fired, generating protests from professors and students. By the end of 2006, the university had its first non-deficitary months.
In 2012, for the first time since the students, professors and staff have been given the right to directly elect the university's rector, the most voted candidate was not appointed for the position by Odilo Scherer, bishop-cardinal and responsible for appointing the rector. Instead, he opted for Anna Cintra, the least voted of all three candidates. She accepted the position, even though she signed a document promising not to take over unless she was the most voted candidate. The cardinal's decision was received with dissatisfaction by students and professors, who started a strike for indefinite time and did other demonstrations as an answer to Anna Cintra's indication. On 30 November, she tried to gain access to the rector's room, but was barred by the students, who surrounded her and her bodyguards and caused her to flee by taxi.

Campuses

The main campus of PUC-SP and its administrative headquarters are located in Perdizes, a middle-class neighbourhood in the subprefecture of Lapa, in the west side of São Paulo City. It mostly consists of academic buildings, the University Theater and the University Church. Most of these buildings, built between 1920 and 1940, are part of the historical patrimonium of the city. The School of Exact Sciences and Technology is located near the city centre while Business and Economy courses are also offered in the north side of São Paulo City. The School of Medical and Health Sciences is located in the city of Sorocaba and a campus in the city of Barueri offers courses of Business, Economics, Physical Therapy and Psychology.

Unities and courses

FacultyCourseCampus
School of Social SciencesGeographyPerdizes
School of Social SciencesHistoryPerdizes
School of Social SciencesInternational relationsPerdizes
School of Social SciencesSocial sciencesPerdizes
School of Social SciencesSocial workPerdizes
School of Social SciencesTourismPerdizes
School of Philosophy, Communication, Letters and ArtsArt: History, Criticism and CuratorshipConsolação
School of Philosophy, Communication, Letters and ArtsCommunication of the Body ArtsPerdizes
School of Philosophy, Communication, Letters and ArtsCommunication in MultimediaPerdizes
School of Philosophy, Communication, Letters and ArtsLetters: Spanish language Perdizes
School of Philosophy, Communication, Letters and ArtsLetters: English language Perdizes
School of Philosophy, Communication, Letters and ArtsLetters: English language Perdizes
School of Philosophy, Communication, Letters and ArtsLetters: French language Perdizes
School of Philosophy, Communication, Letters and ArtsLetters: Portuguese language Perdizes
School of Philosophy, Communication, Letters and ArtsPhilosophyPerdizes
School of Philosophy, Communication, Letters and ArtsSocial communication: JournalismPerdizes
School of Philosophy, Communication, Letters and ArtsSocial communication: Publicity and propagandaPerdizes
School of Philosophy, Communication, Letters and ArtsSuperior of technology in Conservation-restorationConsolação
School of LawLawPerdizes
School of Administration, Economics, Accountancy and Actuarial sciencesAdministrationPerdizes
School of Administration, Economics, Accountancy and Actuarial sciencesAdministrationSantana
School of Administration, Economics, Accountancy and Actuarial sciencesAdministrationBarueri
School of Administration, Economics, Accountancy and Actuarial sciencesActuarial sciencesPerdizes
School of Administration, Economics, Accountancy and Actuarial sciencesAccountancyPerdizes
School of Administration, Economics, Accountancy and Actuarial sciencesAccountancySantana
School of Administration, Economics, Accountancy and Actuarial sciencesEconomic sciencesPerdizes
School of Administration, Economics, Accountancy and Actuarial sciencesEconomic sciences with emphasis in international tradeBarueri
School of Administration, Economics, Accountancy and Actuarial sciencesSuperior of technology in MarketingSantana
School of Administration, Economics, Accountancy and Actuarial sciencesSuperior of technology in International tradeSantana
School of Administration, Economics, Accountancy and Actuarial sciencesSuperior of technology in Environmental managementSantana
School of Human Sciences and HealthSpeech therapyPerdizes
School of Human Sciences and HealthPhysical therapyBarueri
School of Human Sciences and HealthPsychologyPerdizes
School of Human Sciences and HealthPsychologyBarueri
School of EducationPedagogyPerdizes
School of EducationPedagogySantana
School of Exact Sciences and TechnologyBiomedical engineeringConsolação
School of Exact Sciences and TechnologyCivil engineeringConsolação
School of Exact Sciences and TechnologyElectrical engineeringConsolação
School of Exact Sciences and TechnologyIndustrial engineeringConsolação
School of Exact Sciences and TechnologyComputer engineeringConsolação
School of Exact Sciences and TechnologyInformation systemsConsolação
School of Exact Sciences and TechnologyMathematics Consolação
School of Exact Sciences and TechnologyPhysics Consolação
School of Exact Sciences and TechnologySuperior of technology in Digital gamesConsolação
School of Exact Sciences and TechnologyTechnology and Digital mediaConsolação
School of Medical Sciences and HealthBiological sciencesSorocaba
School of Medical Sciences and HealthMedicineSorocaba
School of Medical Sciences and HealthNursingSorocaba

Admission

Like other Brazilian universities, students are admitted by an entrance exam called vestibular which consists of two tests containing questions on languages, science, math and history. The vestibular of PUC-SP also selects students for other colleges and universities in the state of São Paulo.

Notable professors and alumni

Professors

;Economy school
;Education school
;Law school
;Philosophy school
  • Zeljko Loparić, History of Philosophy scholar
  • Bento Prado Júnior, literary critic, writer, poet and translator
  • Jeanne Marie Gagnebin, philosopher, History of Philosophy scholar and writer
Sociology school
;Arts and Letters school

Alumni