Architecture, design, kinesiology, nursing and chemistry make up the workshops on offer, to which are added robotics with Lego, improvised singing, theater, photography, children's theater, radio and construct video games. The initiative also includes a special workshop for those interested in studying astronomy.

The opportunity to get to know the facilities of the University of La Serena and participate in an entertaining activity led by academics from the institution is part of what the thirteen workshops that make up the programming of the “Children's University, Summer 2015” offer. ”. Among the activities, aimed at boys and girls between 5 and 17 years old, you can find artistic, recreational and, above all, vocational workshops, for which registration is now open.

This initiative is organized by the Extension Directorate and developed by different academics and officials of the University of La Serena who offer their workshops in order to entertain and recreate the students, in addition to showing the laboratories of the courses, the same ones that occupy the ULS students.

Architecture, design, kinesiology, nursing and chemistry make up the first workshops on offer, to which are added robotics with Lego, improvised singing (for 2 age ranges), theater and children's theater. On the other hand, the offer also includes the workshops Portraying my World (photography), Making Radio and Construct Video Games. 

In this regard, the Director of Extension, Dr. Catalina Cvitanic, indicated that “the Children's University has had a change for some time in the sense that it no longer only offers recreational and artistic workshops, but that each year it acquires more relevance of the vocational approach, developing workshops related to several of the careers offered by the University of La Serena. In addition, this year the proposal includes a special workshop for children who are interested in studying astronomy.”

This last workshop mentioned by the director refers to an activity taught by astronomers from the ULS Physics Department, who will offer a workshop that will require an application through an online form, where students explain their motivation for taking the workshop and will receive a full scholarship to participate.

For more information about these workshops that take place from January 12 to 23, those interested should contact the email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., call the phones 2204171 and 2204389 or go to the Extension Center, located at Prat 446, La Serena. 

Find out about all the workshops

Source: Press Extension Direction

This activity, organized by the Chilean Mathematical Society, is carried out in the region by the University of La Serena.

The twenty-sixth version of the National Mathematics Olympiads also has outstanding students at the regional level, who were awarded by the University of La Serena for their participation and first places in the contest. 

In the activity carried out at the ULS Extension Center, the organizers in the region, the Extension Directorate and the Educational Computing Center recognized the students, who, accompanied by their families and teachers, received prizes and certificates of participation in This Olympiad seeks to promote interest in mathematical sciences among the country's youth and raise awareness among society as a whole about the imperative need to adopt as a nation the political decision to invest in scientific development.

This regional awards ceremony has taken place uninterruptedly since the first Olympics. In this regard, the Director of Extension, Dr. Catalina Cvitanic, referred to the meaning of this initiative and its objective. “I feel that in this discipline, in particular, we must generate instances of motivation and recognition for talented students. Undoubtedly, being prominent in the region will generate interest in them to continue working and training to participate in future Olympics, and that in the long run is a benefit for our country.” 

On the other hand, the director of the Scuola Italiana “Alcide de Gasperi” La Serena, Carlos Slomp, highlighted that students can participate in this type of activities. "For us as a Scuola it is a valuable opportunity, as it allows students, students from different establishments, to be stimulated in the expression of their talents and participate in high-level activities, in such a way that in addition to reaffirming their abilities In the area of ​​mathematics, it is also an opportunity to stimulate the strengthening of students' self-esteem,” he stated.

Finally, the outstanding student with first place in the minor level, Francisco Cuitiño, referred to this activity, which according to the organizers is not directly about knowledge, but rather a test of talent that requires knowledge. “This activity stimulates people to learn mathematics, it is a very exact science and that helps you a lot and people find it complicated but it is not that complicated. Learning from a young age does not become difficult,” he commented.

The ceremony was enlivened by the theatrical presentation of the mini-play “Zero Stress”, framed in the Mathematical Theater developed by the Extension Directorate with its ÉTÉULS Theater Cast. 

Source: Press Extension Direction

Relevant topics such as drought, technology and, above all, the human profile make up this selection of works of excellent quality.

The last exhibition of the 2014 cycle is an important instance of connection with the environment of the University of La Serena and in particular of the School of Journalism of the institution with the community. “Mirada Selectiva” brings together a series of works, all carried out by students of the lighting, composition, interview portrait and photo reportage workshops, from the photography subject of the degree, guided by the academic, Mg. Cristian Muñoz Catalán.

Until this Friday, December 19, all interested parties can visit the exhibition that, according to the students themselves, has been an honor to compose. “It is truly a privilege because one does not always have the opportunity to exhibit one's photographs. When the teacher told us that we were going to exhibit our photos, it was a great surprise and something very nice because he told us that he has often taken photos and has not even made an exhibition of his own and we took these photographs for a graded assignment, but the The experience of taking the photograph was worth much more than the grade and exposing them as well, it is truly a privilege and one feels very proud of their photos even if they are not professional," said Victoria Zárate, student author of the photo report "Estaciones del tiempo" . 

The director of the School of Journalism, Dr. Arlyn Orellana, stated that this is an important event for both the students, the higher education institution, and particularly for the career. “The School of Journalism at the University of La Serena wants to have an open relationship with the community because we are committed just as the University is committed to regional development. The School wants to know the needs, the characteristics of the region, what the people who live in the region are like, what we really are like and in this case photography brings us closer to worlds that we cannot all easily access, so it is an aesthetic look, artistic, but also journalistic that allows the rest of the community to know what our students are doing,” he stated.

This exhibition, which corresponds to the fifth opportunity in which the students put together an exhibition, guided by the academic in charge of the subject, Cristian Muñoz, is being exhibited in the ULS Exhibition Hall, at 950 Benavente Street, in La Serena. Opening hours are Monday to Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 14:00 p.m. and Monday to Thursday from 15:30 p.m. to 18:30 p.m. and Fridays from 15:30 p.m. to 17:30 p.m.

Source: Press Extension Direction

The work of Dr. Francisco Roco will be also launched in La Serena next Thursday, December 11, when the four DIULS 2014 Monographs are announced to the community.

“Introduction to Philosophy or to read the Meditations of Don Quixote” is the new publication by the academic of the Department of Education of the University of La Serena, Dr. Francisco Roco Godoy, which was successfully presented in Madrid (Spain), thanks to the invitation from the Ortega y Gasset Foundation.

The academic explains that, as part of the preparation of this work, financed by the Monograph Contest of the Research Directorate of the university (DIULS) and published by Editorial Universidad de La Serena, contact was generated with the Foundation, precisely, when 100 years are commemorated since the Spanish philosopher wrote “Meditations on Don Quixote”, his first book.

“I sent a note to the Ortega y Gasset Foundation, telling about the project I was working on. They responded to me very kindly,” commented the author, adding that “they invited me to present it there on the occasion of the commemoration of the first centenary of the Meditations of Don Quixote (…). I was very pleased with the invitation and accepted it. When the book was published, we gave a presentation at the Foundation for the people who usually participate and collaborate with the center.” 

“It was a very, very pleasant experience. Being in Ortega's house, making this presentation in the library that belonged to Ortega, surrounded by more than 20 thousand books that remained from his personal library was very pleasant for me. The spirit of Ortega is there, reigning in that place, in addition to the people who work. There is an affinity of themes, of intentions, of motivations that linked us a lot,” explained Dr. Francisco Roco.

The connection achieved was so positive that the ULS academic even received an important invitation from the Ortega y Gasset Foundation to carry out research with unpublished materials from the Spanish philosopher.

Presentation in La Serena

Next Thursday, December 11, at 18:30 p.m., the four DIULS 2014 Monographs will be announced to the community of the Coquimbo Region. At the Extension Center of the house of higher education (Prat 446, La Serena), the launch of “Aspects of the Climate of the Elqui River Basin: Past, Present and Future” will be held, by the academic of the Department of Mathematics, Dr. Melitta Fiebig Wittmaack; “On Commutative Nilálgebras of Associative Powers”, by the mathematician Dr. Avelino Suazo Delgado; “Lands of Hard Kingdom. Reading poetry from the Coquimbo Region. 1990-2014”, by the academic of the Department of Arts and Letters, Dr. Walter Hoefler; and “Introduction to Philosophy or to read the Meditations of Don Quixote”, by Dr. Francisco Roco.

As Dr. Roco himself details, the idea is to reach “a broader audience than the direct academic teaching that we do at the University, therefore, the level of writing (…) is for a broad audience. I would be very pleased if people from the community, people interested in cultural issues, could join us in this launch because I think the text could be very useful to them. In fact, it is called 'Introduction to Philosophy or to read the Meditations of Don Quixote'. It is written with the conviction that Ortega's book is probably the best introduction to philosophy that has been written in the Spanish language. It has the peculiarity that it invites us to philosophize, philosophizing, that is, what Ortega proposes is not a future promise, but rather, in the act of inviting, he carries out the same action. How is that achieved? Well, it is the secret that only the great teachers have and Ortega, who is a great teacher, achieves it in the book and I believe that he enters, without a doubt, in the classics of philosophy.

More stories, prose and poems will once again take over the ULS Exhibition Hall next year.

New faces and faithful attendees to this literary meeting that month after month is headed by the Dr. in Philosophy and Letters, Rolando Manzano Concha, were part of the last Poetic Café of the year 2014, organized by the Directorate of Extension and the Mistralian Center of the University of La Serena. A diverse audience but one that shared a common feeling: excitement for a year full of personal growth and learning in the artistic and social fields, since many looked forward to each last Thursday of the month to meet again with people with whom they share common tastes. and recite their poems or works by renowned national and international artists. 

As usual, the director of the ULS Mistralian Center closed this literary cycle, hailing great poems of national renown, in addition to commemorating the 100 years of Gabriela Mistral's work “Los sonetos de la muerte”, winner of the highest recognition in the first “Floral Games” contest in 1914.

The mentor of this artistic space, recounted the sensations that a new cycle of the Poetic Café leaves him with. “We have had a good reception, we have had good comments, people are enthusiastic, we have almost made a tradition of the Poetic Café as a space for reading, for poetry and to talk about books,” said the academic, adding that there is feedback and looking forward to continuing with this great project. “One more year I leave with a task accomplished, I leave happy and eager to return to the 2015 Poetic Café (…), very convinced that the human contact that poetry generates is a true fuel, it is an additional protein that one “It is injected every month with poetry and with the people who accompany us,” said Professor Rolando Manzano.

Susana Pacheco, one of the most faithful attendees at these literary meetings, expressed the nostalgia that overcomes her at the end of the last meeting of the year. “All things that come to an end always cause a lot of sadness. This Poetic Café, especially, has allowed us to have the peace of mind of reading our poems, in an atmosphere of seriousness and harmony,” she expressed. 

There were also words of gratitude for the manager of this activity who prepared different narrative themes month after month and for the human group that was part of these meetings. “The most wonderful thing of all is what the teacher delivers, you can see that he has prepared himself, he brings special material, he not only reads them, but he explains them all. So basically it is a workshop of personal growth, as well as poetic. One leaves renewed and I congratulate Professor Rolando Manzano for his wonderful work, silent but wonderful and effective,” said Susana Pacheco. Finally, for the assistant Alfonso Casanova, “the most important thing is the networks and collective synergies that occur in this small group, small but great in the transcendence of what these inner journeys mean (…) where all the experiences are expressed” .

Source: Press Extension Direction

The work of the musician Esteban Correa will be performed by the Septiembre trio, the La Serena University Orchestra and the Camerata Popular, all groups made up of professionals, academics and students linked to the musical activity that takes place in the Department of Music of the University of La Serene.

This Saturday, December 6 at 20:00 p.m. The album “La Pacificación de Chile” is launched at the Palace Cultural Center of Coquimbo (Aldunate 599), a phonographic record of the homonymous cantata for voices, trio and orchestra, created in 2013 by the renowned Chilean composer and academic of the Music Department of the U. de La Serena, Esteban Correa (1979), who in this work is in charge of developing both the music and the text. 

The event includes the full presentation of the cantata, bringing together the Septiembre trio, the La Serena University Orchestra and the Camerata Popular, all groups made up of professionals, academics and students linked to the diverse and effervescent musical activity that takes place in the Department of Music of the University of La Serena.

“The Pacification of Chile” is part of a specifically Chilean musical tradition, the popular cantata, within which are the emblematic “Cantata Santa María de Iquique” (Advis, 1969) and “Cantata de los Derechos Humanos Caín” and “ Abel” (Guarello, 1978). All of them share as a fundamental characteristic the integration of different languages ​​and musical practices: on the one hand, the tradition of written music and, on the other, popular music. Although it incorporates elements belonging to rock and contemporary music, “La Pacificación de Chile” also becomes part of the reactivation process that the cantata is experiencing in our country, a vocation that it shares with other works of the genre written by current Chilean composers. .

In relation to the text of the cantata, Esteban Correa describes it as a cross between “History and the intimate, the choral and the singular: Chile, as a people, and a hermeneutical subject, which in this case could be any Chilean. Thus an ominous reality is exposed: that of Chile as a nation that is both lambasted and lambasting.” Likewise, allusions to Chile and its history are present in its sound, the work having a relationship with previous music, which symbolizes the country's identity. In this sense, the composer points out that "it is the auditor who must discover the melodies that underlie the cantata, beyond all the novelty that it may represent as music of our time." Perhaps the strange familiarity that is revealed when listening to it is largely due to the latter, although it is also possible to recognize it through characteristic rhythms of Latin America, such as the joropo, the tonada, the sirilla and the taquirari.

On this occasion, the concert will include the performance of “Exordio” (2013), a work for oboe solo by the same composer, which will be performed by the prominent national musician José Luis Urquieta, who has extensive experience on national and international stages. In the words of Esteban Correa, “having been composed in parallel to the cantata and being the result of the same poetic motivation, 'Exordio' functions as the best of preludes to 'Pacification'.”