Boys, girls and adolescents actively participated in thirteen varied workshops that showed and provided important information about university careers and the work of the ULS.

Workshops of various types were part of this new version of the Children's University, summer 2015. Various subjects, university laboratories and ULS academics were part of the experience lived by more than a hundred students, who during their vacations chose to attend vocational, recreational and artistic workshops, organized by the ULS Extension Directorate. 

Socializing with a varied team, listening to university subjects and working recreationally, in the conditions that true ULS students would do, were part of the objectives met by the organizing unit and by all the departments of the institution that invest in the team and through of infrastructure, to receive minors from the region and tourists interested in learning about the work of the institution.On this occasion, the workshops held were: Architecture, Design, Kinesiology, Nursing, Chemistry, Making Radio, Improvised Singing, Theater, Children's Theater, and finally, the workshops on Photography, Astronomy, Robotics with Lego and Video Games with Construct 2.

Precisely, in this second and last week, two computational workshops linked to programming generated the fascination of the little ones, with the already well-known “Robotics with Lego” workshop, where students exercising teamwork and healthy competition, they were able to program their own robot and confront it with various difficulties proposed by the teacher. In addition, the “Video Games with Construct 2” workshop was held for the first time at the Children's University, in which students between 12 and 17 years old created their own video game.

Maite Madalosso, who signed up for both workshops and was one of the few women to live this experience, recounted what it was like to take these classes, choosing them and invites more women to participate.Choose these entertaining courses. “I chose them because I have always liked programming and anything related to physics. I encourage women to join because this is not difficult and we were all able to create our own video game (…), in fact in my house I have the same program “Construct 2” that I didn't know how to use before, but now that I know, I want to improve my video game until it is the best,” concluded the 15-year-old student.

Another of the workshops held this week was the Nursing one, where Pamela Morales, an academic at the Department of Nursing at the University of La Serena, highlighted the importance of addressing contingent issues about quality of life and habits with the little ones. “It is a super beneficial instance, especially because children, believe it or not, have more notions of what it means to be healthy," said the ULS nurse.

These workshops were joined by the Architecture workshop, where academic Alejandro Orellana taught classes for the fourth consecutive time. "We have had three very intense days of activities, with a lot to do regarding architecture. I think it has been a good experience, it has been very satisfactory for me as a teacher and I think the children have had a great time too," he said. of this instance that brings students closer to what architecture is, to the work of a career student, especially those who are thinking of studying architecture and understanding the work of an architect.  

Age diversity: an opportunity to share and exercise creativity 

One of the striking characteristics of these activities at the University of La Serena is the diversity of ages to which the activities are directed, between 5 and 17 years old, including workshops that bring together wide age ranges, as is the case of Architecture workshop where the ages fluctuated between 10 and 17 years. Contrary to what one might think about the difficulty of working, academic Alejandro Orellana sees this situation as a very good alternative and with quite positive results. "Older children are more skilled in some things, they draw better, they cut better, they are faster, but the youngest children are more naive and therefore have greater creativity, so what some have, others do not have and they "They complement each other quite well. We saw that some of the youngest children were the ones who did the most original and entertaining work, so this mixing of ages has been quite positive," he highlighted. 

Finally, this time at the University and this opportunity, even to reaffirm or discard vocational options, is a positive experience in its different areas. This was reaffirmed by the Journalism academic, Cristian Muñoz, who taught the Photography workshop for five days, titled “Portraying my world.” “From every point of view, it seems very positive and integrative to me, fulfilling many roles in the University, with a social role above all. Additionally, as a teacher, this is an opportunity to review yourself, your teaching and learning methods, and be challenged by being with an audience that is smaller, younger, more energetic, and certainly more open to asking questions. and they have less conflict with expressing their concerns," adding that this type of activities taught by the state campus is a very good way to link the University with the environment, since "different types of knowledge are transmitted to people who are going to integrate future of the new generations of students and professionals who will pass through our University,” highlighted the academic.

Source: Press Extension Direction 

The second show organized for the summer period had a large audience. 

A new plot of mathematical entanglements exhibited the commitment of the theatrical cast of the Extension Directorate of the University of La Serena, Étéuls, in front of more than a hundred people. The story takes place after number eight appears mysteriously murdered, followed by scenes of investigation and the use of mathematical logic to find the murderer. 

More than a hundred people were part of this theatrical premiere, where the new production of Étéuls exhibited the continuation of what were the advances delivered last summer. Finally, the plot was revealed and the attendees were able to find out who the murderer of number eight was. 

The viewers were very happy with the work and confirmed that this format is a very good alternative to bring mathematics closer to students and the family in general.   

In this regard, Lilian Corredor, who attended the play with her family, pointed out that she considered it a rather entertaining staging. “It was a very entertaining play, I came with the little ones in my family, boys between the ages of 8 and 15, and they had a great time, I heard them comment on the numbers, so I think it achieves its objective, which is for children to see in a more playful and entertaining way, mathematics, and acting and everything very entertaining, I liked it a lot”, he stated. 

On the other hand, Marcelo Pineda, who also attended with his family, commented that he took the opportunity to attend a children's play. "It was a very good play, didactic for children, entertaining, playful, and we came because it is a children's play and there is little of it here in the area," he said.

Finally, the director of Extension, Dr. Catalina Citanic, referred to the premiere of her third production at the Educational Theater of the Extension Directorate. “We are very satisfied with the result of this staging, mainly due to the response from the public, a good attendance, which indicates that this type of theater arouses curiosity. We also noticed that the very young children enjoyed the same thing, it is that even if they do not understand all the mathematical concepts that are dealt with in the play, humor is present throughout the development and that is very attractive, for adults and children alike”.

Source: Press Extension Direction

Nearly two hundred people enjoyed the concert by the group made up of academics from the Department. of Music, which was attended by the director Celso Torres and the tenor Gonzalo Tomckowiack. 

The Serenense and visiting community had a tremendous opportunity during these days in the regional capital, since in addition to the activities related to Japanese culture and the workshops of the Universidad de Los Niños, one of the most massive shows of all the activities of the summer programming of the ULS Extension Directorate: the music concert "Latin America and its songs", performed by the recently formed Chamber Orchestra of the University of La Serena and two talented guests. 

An innovative repertoire made up the program of this concert that featured a performance by the Chamber Orchestra and the special participation as guest conductor of maestro Celso Torres, who was very grateful to conduct this concert and to participate with the ULS academics. "They invited me to conduct my arrangements because of a bond that I have had with the people of the University Orchestra for many years. It is a concert outside the context in which concerts are held, one goes and always listens to classical music, this one has pure Latin American music. You only heard Latin American music songs, nothing classical," said the musician, highlighting the need to give greater importance to this type of music. 

Likewise, given the nature of the works, the repertoire included a second guest, the national tenor Gonzalo Tomckowiack, who referred to his participation in this activity. "The Orchestra wanted to do a different concert with repertoire of Latin American music, and the voice is necessary because most of the songs that the Orchestra chose as repertoire are sung, they are songs that really everyone knows. So they asked me to sing with them and I am happy, delighted to be able to sing. So happy to be able to do what I love and especially here at the University," he highlighted. 

For her part, the director of Extension of the ULS, Dr. Catalina Cvitanic, referred to the success obtained by the activity that attracted audiences of all ages, exceeding two hundred people. “This has been a great concert that brought together a very varied audience, apart from our faithful followers of the musical activities offered by the Extension Center, we had tourists, Chileans and foreigners, academics and many children and young people, everyone was very happy. Undoubtedly, this selection of songs so recognized and performed with excellence by the orchestra and soloist marked a milestone in the summer programming,” she expressed.

Source: Press Extension Direction

On February 10, the book “Rock Art in the Valley of Enchantment” by the professor of the Department of Social Sciences, Gonzalo Ampuero, will be presented to the community.

From January 30 to February 15, the XXX La Serena Book Fair will take place this year, a traditional cultural activity that takes place every summer in the Plaza Gabriel González Videla in the regional capital and in which the Universidad Editorial will participate with a stand. from La Serena.

In this way, the regional public and also tourists who visit the Coquimbo Region will be able to learn about the books published by the Editorial, an entity that, since its inception in 2008 to date, has published 68 books, to which are added texts by study, institutional memories and reissues.

His publications deal with the most varied areas: biology, sciences, social sciences, ecology, economics, education, philosophy, history, literature, mathematics, narrative, poetry, psychology and chemistry. All works are available to the community in the ULS Bookstore, located in the institutional Extension Center, at Prat 446, La Serena, and which is stocked with 6.982 titles.

In addition, audiences from all over the country and abroad can have access to purchase these books through the website. http://editorial.userena.cl and in recognized international portals such as http://www.amabook.com y http://www.gandhi.com.mx.

Book Release

As part of its activities, numerous launches are held at the Book Fair every year. This is how on Tuesday, February 10, it will be the turn of “Rock Art in the Valley of Enchantment”, by the professor of the Department of Social Sciences, Gonzalo Ampuero, a work that in its second edition (2014) was published by the ULS Editorial in co-financing with the I. Municipality of Ovalle.

Starting at 21:00 p.m., the author will share with attendees details of this work in which he recounts the research he carried out in the National Historical Monument and where he addresses the characteristics of the site, its rock art, petroglyphs, pictographs, stones cups, archaeological context, etc., accompanied by images of this art so characteristic of the place.

“Since 1964, the year in which the first excavations were carried out in the Valle del Encanto, this small ravine, once known as “Estero Las Peñas”, a few kilometers from the city of Ovalle, became known as one of the archaeological sites of greatest relevance in Chile, given the existence of a particular group of Rock Art," states the book that may be known by the community in thise summer event that turns 30 years old.

The students enthusiastically received recognition for their participation in this activity. 

Various vocational and artistic workshops, as well as technological and computational ones, ended in the first week of the Children's University, in its Summer 2015 version. For the academics of the state campus and their careers, welcome the U. de La Serena to the little ones, providing learning and new knowledge, has become an instance of growth and feedback year after year. 

For Karina Núñez, Training Area coordinatorof the Educational Computing Center (CIE), teaching the Video Games workshop for the first time at the U. de los Niños, was a pleasant surprise due to the interest and participation of the students. “It was a very successful experience, since the young people and children have learned independently how to create the video game. We have been pleasantly surprised that the students have been able to program and create very interesting video games (...) with this workshop, we seek to bring out the positive side of all the time they spend in front of the computer, the use of the Internet and that video games also enhance creativity and teamwork when they are online games,” Núñez pointed out.

For his part, José Aguayo, an academic in the ULS Design program, participating once again in this vocational activity, organized by the Extension Directorate of the university, “is a pleasure. I love coming, I like it because it is a good experience. I learn a lot from them, one can give knowledge, but they give a new vision and that enriches me," adding that every year, more boys and girls feel interested in creation and design, "that surprises me because commonly one It is expected that slightly older students will make the decision, but the little ones are clear about what they want, they have come and had fun (...) although the truth is, we needed more time, because really, the class went by very quickly ”, concluded the ULS academic.

Finally, Edwin Contreras, an academic in the ULS Kinesiology program, describes this second participation in the U. de los Ninos as “the alternative we have to open our course, equipment and operation to students (…) and that allows them to learn from Now, what do we do as kinesiologists, under what format we work, what tools we use and how the career develops as they go through the training process.” Andrea Becerra, a second-year student, who participated in this theoretical-practical workshop, indicated that the teachers were educational and entertaining, “the workshop was fun and very interesting because I was able to learn new things (…) like the names of the bones, that most of them I didn't know about, and discovering flat feet for example," clarified the Andrés Bello Centro School student.

It should be noted that the Children's University workshops, Summer 2015, continue to delight the little ones in the home in their second week of activities, from Monday, January 19 to Friday, January 23, a day in which a ceremony will be held. closing in the Aula Magna Ignacio Domeyko.

Source: Press Extension Direction

Both shows are part of the summer offering of the ULS Extension Directorate. 

Who killed eight? The title is the entertaining plot that brings this new work of educational theater that, since last summer, left all the minors who were able to witness a preview intrigued and expectant. The premiere of this work, plus an attractive concert of Latin American music, performed by the Chamber Orchestra of the University of La Serena, are part of the attractive summer activities organized by the Extension Directorate of this house of higher education. 

The educational play “Who Killed the Eight?” will be presented on Thursday, January 22 at 19:30 p.m., with a general admission of $2.000. “This play is a comedy, it is a police intrigue that has a lot of humor. Number eight is found dead, it is later concluded that he was murdered and in the play it is revealed who the murderer is. The truth is that with the extract that we presented last year, many children were so hooked on the plot that speculation about who the murderer could be began to become a topic of conversation and now comes the long-awaited outcome," said the director of the Étéuls theater cast and creator of the play, Dr. Catalina Cvitanic.

On this occasion, the third pedagogical theater production will address particular topics in mathematics. One of these is number theory, which includes natural numbers, prime numbers, decompositions, prime factors, among others. This is an initiative that has been maintained over time, since it has become a very good pedagogical tool also for teachers during the school period, and according to the director herself, it is also an interesting contribution for the parents who attend during the presentations.

Latin American music concert

On the other hand, a second and entertaining panorama is the concert “Latin America and its songs”, which will be performed by the Chamber Orchestra of the University of La Serena, under the direction of Celso Torres, which will also have the support of the tenor soloist Gonzalo Tomckowiack. It will take place on Tuesday, January 20 at 20:00 p.m. at the ULS Extension Center, with free entry. 

“In the program we are going to find typical songs from our continent such as ' Gracias a la Vida ', ' Alfonsina y el Mar ', ' Taquito militar ', some ' Diabladas del Norte ', as well as some songs from Venezuela, Brazilian works ( …). So we want to invite you to attend this concert, you are going to get a nice surprise,” said José Urquieta, coordinator of the Chamber Orchestra of the University of La Serena. 

For more information and to purchase tickets, go to the ULS Extension Center, located at Prat 446, La Serena, call 2204171 or write to the email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Source: Press Extension Direction