Architecture students seek to make the community part of the work carried out in the classroom.

As part of the twentieth anniversary of their School, the Architecture students of the University of La Serena, led by academics Freddy Sepúlveda and Alejandro Orellana, exhibit works corresponding to a continuation of workshops that show the progress of the students during the course of their studies. career. This activity is part of the Extension Directorate's exhibition cycle and will remain open to the public until August 29. 

With nearly eighty people, the exhibition “ULS Architecture: 20 years, 20 projects” was inaugurated, which seeks for the community to become part of the architectural works that sometimes cause so much sleeplessness for students. “I think it is always good to open what is left of the workshops, which in our case remains very hermetic, so what these activities do is precisely bring out the work and bring it closer to other careers,” emphasized one of the academic coordinators of the exhibition, Freddy Sepúlveda. 

At the same time, on behalf of the students, Francisca Pastén, valued the participation of the community. “Showing what we do to people (...) and showing all that work we do throughout the semester (...), it's like people are part of the work, what you have done,” commented the student . 

It should be noted that this activity is carried out every year in the premises of the same School, however, on this occasion, due to the anniversary of the School of Architecture, which celebrates 20 years of its creation, the academics have decided to show the community these works that they carry out in the classrooms. On this occasion, attendees will be able to encounter projects for public spaces, housing, neighborhoods, communal facilities and even regional facilities.  

This exhibition will remain open to the public until August 29 from Monday to Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 14:00 p.m. and from 16:00 p.m. to 18:30 p.m. and on Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 14:00 p.m. and from 16:00 p.m. to 17:30 p.m. Admission is free to the public at the ULS Exhibition Hall, located at Benavente 950, La Serena.

The activity will address the memory problems present in the elderly population and will provide tools to improve their cognitive capacity.

Aging is a normal process of life that is continually associated with a variety of mental and health problems. In this matter, the Extension Directorate of the University of La Serena has organized, for the third consecutive year, the workshop “Memory stimulation, Level I”, an activity that began registration on August 20 and will be They will extend until September 12 or until available places are exhausted. 

This activity is taught by Mg. Carmen Retamal Valenzuela, Master in Social Gerontology and academic in the Nursing Department of this higher education institution, who has dedicated a large part of her career to dignifying old age and preparing people to care for older adults.

The professional maintained that the main objective of this workshop, framed in the ULS School for the Elderly, is to provide effective tools that allow attendees to have effective stimulation and achieve quality and active aging. For this reason, the activity "has been carried out due to the need to help older adults to have mental work that helps them have a good cognitive state, to prevent all possible cognitive alterations that are generated or that can be generated in the third age or older adulthood,” added the academic.

Retamal highlighted the importance of people knowing the variables that affect memory and, in addition, being able to put into practice the different ways of exercising their cognitive capacity through reminiscence, preventing further deterioration of memory. “This is stimulation work, exercise work that has been very well evaluated by older adults in previous years, they always want more (…) so in this year's workshop, we are going to learn first, what are the changes that are generated and then we are going to start doing stimulation work, exercises in different areas, areas of concentration, attention, creativity, language and communication. We use a very interesting tool that is reminiscence, where we do a very active and interactive reminiscence workshop, where we remember not only songs from yesterday, but also photos, life stories, etc. All of this helps to improve memory,” concluded the Master.

For more information about this workshop, go to the ULS Extension Center, located at 446 Prat Street, in La Serena, call 051-2204171 or contact the email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The objective of the group is to continually carry out recreational and cultural activities that can be transmitted to the community.

They add and continue. With nearly 15 embassies since its creation, 22 years of operation and more than 60 registered members, the AMAYA Circle of Active Seniors will hold its II Cultural Embassy of the year in the Coquimbo Region. On this occasion, the tranquility, nature and mysticism of the Elqui Valley will be the setting that will give life to this activity. The event will take place next Wednesday, August 27, at 16:00 p.m., at the Pisco Elqui Roofed Gym.

The president of AMAYA, María Eugenia Rojas, who has been in charge of the group since 2012, highlighted the importance of generating ties with the different communities where they perform, making their work known and encouraging people to participate in active and voluntary form of activities. "We do cultural embassies, 4 or 5 during the year, in different locations in the region and with the purpose of getting closer, but not only to groups of older adults, but we try to incorporate, to have an interrelation with young people, with children and with the community in general,” explained Rojas.

With the organization and support of the ULS Extension Directorate and entities of the Paihuano commune, AMAYA will be able to concretize and present various cultural manifestations to the entire Pisqueña town, ranging from folklore to poetry. “The folkloric group with Latin American themes is going to perform, the choir, a member is going to recite, our theater group and contacts have been made with the group from Pisco Elqui, called Alma Pisqueña, they are also going to perform,” he commented.

The idea is to unite the different groups of older adults and for the 11 towns of the Paihuano commune to attend this embassy.

For those who wish to participate and have more information about this cultural event that will take place at the Pisco Elqui Roofed Gym, in Centenario s/n, just go to the ULS Extension Center, at Prat 446, La Serena, or contact 051 2204171 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The speaker will analyze the different beliefs that are formed around sexuality and how these can affect personal or couple relationships.

Framed in the cycle of academic conferences “Psychology and Contemporary Society”, organized jointly by the Directorate of Extension and the Department of Psychology of the University of La Serena, Mg. Claudio de la Fuente Pizarro, an academic from this unit of the ULS, will give next Wednesday, August 27, at 11:30 a.m., an interesting conference on relationships and sexual life, called “Myths associated with sexuality human and that would interfere with people's quality of life."

In the activity, aimed at all audiences, the professional, an expert in couples therapy, will begin by clarifying the difference between sexuality and genitality, taking from sexuality a series of behaviors that are generated around sexual relations and how certain perceptions regarding This issue would affect people's quality of life. “This is based on the fundamental idea, that people have the idea that there would be certain behaviors defined as good or bad or as normal or abnormal within the scope of sexuality. And these beliefs associated with certain behaviors would generate - in some way - interpersonal conflicts, which would lead to people, whether within the couple or even at the personal level, could generate certain pain or suffering on a psychological level," he said. the academic.

Likewise, De la Fuente will include some examples that are generated as a result of these myths and that he will delve into better during this theoretical conference. "As an example, there appears a fairly deep-rooted belief that fundamentally points to the issue of the frequency of sexual relations, and it is something that appears recurrent within the reasons for consultation in the field of couples therapy," explained the psychologist.

The invitation is open to the entire community, in the ULS Exhibition Hall, located at Benavente 950, La Serena. Entry is free. 

For more information about this conference and other activities scheduled for this month, just go to the Extension Center, located at Prat 446, La Serena, or by contacting 051-2204171 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The unprecedented initiative in the northern macrozone was sponsored by the United States Embassy and brought together young people from all over the country, who were trained by the North American director David Händel. 

This important training event, aimed at conductors of youth and children's orchestras and bands, professional orchestras, instrumental ensembles, students of orchestral conducting and students who graduated from musical careers, had the objective of instructing students in the technique of orchestral conducting, providing methodologies and tools to be used in their respective instrumental groups.  

"This is an action that is part of the permanent work of extension and training of new talents that the Universidad de La Serena Symphony Orchestra has, we feel committed to this task and with the important bond that is generated with young people from all over the country, thanks also to our guest director David Händel," said Rodrigo Díaz, artistic technical coordinator of the professional cast of the Coquimbo Region.  

The experience was positive both for the organizers and for those who participated as active members and listeners, reaching a total of 36 registered. One of them is Sebastián Camaño, from Concepción and currently a student of Piano Performance at the University of Chile. "I am emerging as a musician and my great goal is orchestral conducting. I found out about this workshop through the OSULS website and I consider it to be a great opportunity, so I am very happy. We have had a great week, the maestro "Händel is a very wise man, who has great pedagogy, a very sincere way of reaching students, with charisma, tranquility and with great clarity of concepts and technique," he noted.

"For us conductors it is a very valuable opportunity, I consider that what is being done here is very important, perhaps it will be a unique experience in Chile, that a professional orchestra opens its doors for an orchestral conducting workshop. I am very grateful to the OSULS, and I hope it continues," said Hugo Arriagada.

Arriagada added that thanks to his experience and career, Händel places emphasis on individualities and the most important details and that, without a doubt, will favor his work, both with a chamber group that he is forming at UTEM, and with the Lyric Company. of Santiago, groups in which he currently works.

Meanwhile, director David Händel highlighted the number of participating students coming from different parts of the country and also some who study in Buenos Aires, indicating that among them were present “teachers and young directors who intend to develop a career. It has been very productive, very positive for everyone. I have loved dissecting each one's way of directing and I have seen great progress from the participants with different characteristics, personalities and habits, which one has the task of improving."

A singular case is represented by the 4th grade B student of the Jorge Peña Hen Experimental School of Music, Lucas Tapia, who expressed that "it has been a very important opportunity, since these are very valuable learning instances. Share with everyone in this workshop It allows me to work with another vision," says the young man who hopes to continue his professional musical training in the future.

Tapia began being in a class with Professor Alejandro Meléndez, who invited him to direct a class; Subsequently, he attended two workshops and currently has systematic classes with the academic Hugo Domínguez. 

For her part, Alejandra Rivas, from Purén, is a director of youth orchestras who actively works in her town with children and young people between 4 and 20 years old. "I am always looking for opportunities for improvement, because when you teach, you must be constantly updating yourself. I find it very interesting to be able to access this free workshop with a great teacher, that is a great advantage and the other thing is being able to conduct a professional orchestra , so I am leaving very happy and very grateful as well, hoping to have another opportunity like this and optimize my time even more," said the professional.

For the organizers, this experience marks a precedent and represents, to a large extent, the spirit of the Universidad de La Serena Symphony Orchestra.

This is what Händel reaffirmed. "I have no doubt that the OSULS will continue offering this course, there are not many on the continent, therefore, it is very interesting for both the young people and the Orchestra to meet these new conducting talents," he concluded. 

The activity is part of a cycle of four talks that will be held on the last Tuesday of each month until November 25. 

Academics from the Dentistry program at the University of La Serena will give a series of lectures that will address the importance of taking care of oral health. The activity corresponds to the program of academic conference cycles organized by the ULS Extension Directorate and begins next Tuesday, August 26, at 11:30 a.m., in the Exhibition Hall of the university, with the conference “ Oral Health in the Elderly”, by the director of said undergraduate program, Mg. Cristian Oyanadel. 

This is the first of four conferences that seek to inform the population about the different pathologies that can occur in the mouth, in order to guide those who have doubts about the different topics and encourage consultations with dentists with an emphasis on prevention. For this reason, and given the importance of taking care of dental health not only in the early stages of life, the initial conference will address pathologies in the elderly.

In it, attendees will be able to learn about the conditions of normal physiological aging and also pathologies that appear with age. In this regard, academic Cristian Oyanadel referred to the contribution of the institution in this matter, which goes beyond this conference, and the importance of making this contribution to the community. "In our degree we integrate a subject called Geriatric Dentistry that addresses all these topics, and it is also important that we begin to interact with the community, teaching them what the health conditions are, what is normal, what recommendations are made and when to consult. We are going to talk about the most recurrent pathologies, which are cavities and periodontal disease, which produce tooth loss, which is a lack of teeth and that makes us consult for removable prosthesis treatments, oral rehabilitation. So the idea is that patients know the conditions that are normal and what is abnormal, so that they consult,” said Oyanadel.

Finally, he invited the community in general, of all ages, to find out about this process and to be prepared. “I invite all people, it is not only an issue for the elderly, I think it is an issue for everyone because we are all in the aging process, important issues, unknown issues come to mind. There is a physiological process of aging that people have to know, that we are not the same at 30 or 40 as we are at 60 or 70, there is something that changes in the body, we have to be prepared and we are exposed to diseases and it is It is super important that they know him,” he emphasized.

This cycle consists of academic talks, focused on the importance of oral health, among which are: the care of baby teeth in children, oral cancer and the relationship of oral health with diseases as widespread as diabetes. and hypertension. They will be presented on the last Tuesday of each month, continuing on September 23, October 28 and November 25, in the ULS Exhibition Hall, located at Benavente 950, La Serena.