The University of Santiago, Chile (Usach) ( es, Universidad de Santiago de Chile) is one of the oldest public universities in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. The institution was born as ''Escuela de Artes y Oficios'' (Spanish: ''School of Arts and Crafts'') in 1849 by

Ignacy Domeyko Ignacy Domeyko or Domejko, pseudonym: ''Żegota'' ( es, Ignacio Domeyko, ; 31 July 1802 – 23 January 1889) was a Polish geologist, mineralogist, educator, and founder of the University of Santiago, in Chile. Domeyko spent most of his life, and ...

, under the government of

Manuel Bulnes Manuel Bulnes Prieto (; December 25, 1799 – October 18, 1866) was a Chilean military and political figure. He was twice President of Chile, from 1841 to 1846 and from 1846 to 1851. Born in Concepción, he served as the president of Chile bet ...

. It became ''Universidad Técnica del Estado'' (Spanish: ''Technical University of the State'') in 1947, with various

campus A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-like se ...

es throughout the country. In 1981, as a consequence of a

reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

under the dictatorship of

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

, it became what is now known as ''Universidad de Santiago de Chile'', with all activities centered in a single 340,000 m² campus in the capital

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

History

The University of Santiago of Chile (USACH) started as the School of Arts and Crafts in 1849. It was born in the mid-20th century and it is the fifth oldest university in Chile.

Escuela de Artes y Oficios

The Escuela de Artes y Oficios (EAO)(Spanish ''School of Arts and Crafts'') was founded on July 6, 1849 by

, during the

Manuel Bulnes Prieto Manuel Bulnes Prieto (; December 25, 1799 – October 18, 1866) was a Chilean military and political figure. He was twice President of Chile, from 1841 to 1846 and from 1846 to 1851. Born in Concepción, he served as the president of Chile bet ...

rule, to improve scientific and technical development in the country. It started with four workshops:

Mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

Mechanics Mechanics (from Ancient Greek: μηχανική, ''mēkhanikḗ'', "of machines") is the area of mathematics and physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among physical objects. Forces applied to objects r ...

Casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a ''casting'', which is ejected ...

and

Carpentry Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters tr ...

. At the time, students ages ranged between 15 and 18 years old, thus making the EAO not a University, but a secondary education entity. Students were required to read and write and to know basic

arithmetic operations Arithmetic () is an elementary part of mathematics that consists of the study of the properties of the traditional operations on numbers—addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots. In the 19th cen ...

. Besides being intensely trained in workshops, students studied

algebra Algebra () is one of the broad areas of mathematics. Roughly speaking, algebra is the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathematics. Elementary a ...

descriptive geometry Descriptive geometry is the branch of geometry which allows the representation of three-dimensional objects in two dimensions by using a specific set of procedures. The resulting techniques are important for engineering, architecture, design and ...

trigonometry Trigonometry () is a branch of mathematics that studies relationships between side lengths and angles of triangles. The field emerged in the Hellenistic world during the 3rd century BC from applications of geometry to astronomical studies. T ...

technical drawing Technical drawing, drafting or drawing, is the act and Academic discipline, discipline of composing Plan (drawing), drawings that Visual communication, visually communicate how something functions or is constructed. Technical drawing is essent ...

, industrial mechanics,

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

and

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

, besides

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

and

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

. This was a four-year education that later, in 1858, extended to five years. Graduates were called 'apprentices'. In 1886 the EAO moved to a bigger building, located at

Quinta Normal Quinta Normal is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It is named after a large park in the area. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Quinta Normal spans an a ...

, where it would stay up until now. In 1912 it started to educate 'industrial sub-engineers', later known as 'technicians'. By the time, the EAO was able to grant two education level degrees: Arts and Crafts degrees (secondary education level) and Technician degrees (tertiary education level), and by 1936 it granted Industrial Engineering degrees too.

Universidad Técnica del Estado

Later during the presidency of

Gabriel González Videla Gabriel Enrique González Videla (; November 22, 1898 – August 22, 1980) was a Chilean politician and lawyer who served as the 24th president of Chile from 1946 to 1952. He had previously been a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 193 ...

through the DFL Decree No. 1831 of April 9, 1947, the School of Arts and Crafts was joined with the School of Mining in

Copiapó Copiapó () is a city and commune in northern Chile, located about 65 kilometers east of the coastal town of Caldera. Founded on December 8, 1744, it is the capital of Copiapó Province and Atacama Region. Copiapó lies about 800 km north ...

(1857), La Serena (1887) and

Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. After the Spanish American wars ...

(1918), with the Industrial Design Schools (1905) in

Temuco Temuco () is a city and commune, capital of the Cautín Province and of the Araucanía Region in southern Chile. The city is located south of Santiago. The city grew out from a fort of the same name established in 1881 during Chile's invasion ...

(1916) and

Valdivia Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder Pedro de Valdivia and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and Cau-Cau R ...

(1934), with the Industrial Engineering Schools in

(1940) and with the Technical Pedagogy Institute. Together these formed the Technical State University (''Universidad Técnica del Estado'', UTE), resulting in it becoming the best Chilean university in the area of applied engineering and industrial technician training. On February 8, 1952, the first statute that allowed the grouping to begin functioning as a university in legal, administrative and academic terms, was enacted. Its first president was Don Octavio Valenzuela Lazo (March 12, 1952 to March 12, 1953). In 1958, the Teknos, the university's troupe, was founded. Academic activity remained in the hands of the four Faculty Councils under the tuition of the University Council. During the 1960s, the DFL No. 2, 1971, allowed for the enacting of a second organizational statute, which allowed the University to be organized through offices, colleges, departments, and all academic structures that the board would deem appropriate. Planetario USACH 4

In 1968 due to the University Reform of 1967–1973, Enrique Kirberg Baltiansky assumed the rectory, the only university rector fully elected by faculty and students. In 1971, during the government of

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (, , ; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 3 November 1970 until his death on 11 September 1973. He was the fir ...

, Revised Statutes of the ''Universidad Técnica del Estado'' were approved. During the 1973 coup, Kirberg was removed from his post and imprisoned by the military regime, the statute previously approved was declared void, and new guidelines were reformulated with appointments done entirely by the military regime. The musician and poet

Víctor Jara Víctor Lidio Jara Martínez (; 28 September 1932 – 16 September 1973) was a Chilean teacher, theater director, poet, singer-songwriter and Communist political activist. He developed Chilean theater by directing a broad array of works, rang ...

, who worked as a professor at the university, was arrested by Pinochet's forces, tortured and murdered days later.

Universidad de Santiago de Chile

In 1981, the military regime through the DFL Decree No. 23 of March 21, 1981, divided the headquarters of the State Technical University, giving rise to new universities and professional institutes. Steps were taken to form the headquarters into the University of Santiago de Chile. The other sites became separately named universities such as the University of Atacama, the University of Antofagasta, the University of Serena, the Professional Institute of Talca (later transformed into the

University of Talca The University of Talca ( es, Universidad de Talca) is a Chilean university located in the cities of Talca, Curicó, Linares, Santa Cruz and Santiago. Its headquarters and largest campus are located in the city of Talca. It is part of the Chilea ...

), the University of the Bío-Bío, the

University of La Frontera University of the Frontier ( es, Universidad de La Frontera) or UFRO is a public university in Temuco, Araucanía Region, Chile. It is a derivative university and part of the Chilean Traditional Universities. UFRO boasts a student body with a varie ...

, the Professional Institute of Osorno (subsequently transformed into the

University of Los Lagos The University of Los Lagos ( es, Universidad de Los Lagos) is a university in Chile. It is a derivative university part of the Chilean Traditional Universities. It currently operates various campuses: the main campus in Osorno, and others in An ...

), the Professional Institute of Valdivia (later integrated in 1988 into the

Southern University of Chile Austral University of Chile ( es, Universidad Austral de Chile or UACh) is a Chilean research university based primarily in Valdivia, with a satellite campus in Puerto Montt. Founded on September 7, 1954, it is one of the eight original Chilean Tr ...

) and the Magellan Professional Institute (later transformed into the

University of Magallanes University of Magallanes (UMAG) is a university in the southern Chilean city of Punta Arenas. It is a public state university and it is part of the Chilean Traditional Universities. The University of Magallanes was established in 1981 during the ...

). The University of Santiago de Chile, near the

University of Atacama University of Atacama ( es, Universidad de Atacama) or UDA is a university in Chile. It is part of the Chilean Traditional Universities. UDA is in Copiapó, in the Third Region, Atacama. The university was created in 1981, as a fusion of the old ...

and the

are the only heirs of the traditional State Technical University, because at the time of the dissolution and the creation of the new universities in 1981, the headquarters (

and

Punta Arenas Punta Arenas (; historically Sandy Point in English) is the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. The city was officially renamed as Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to "Punta Aren ...

, were not integrated with other university offices. The headquarters is located where the old School of Arts and Crafts used to be in the municipality of

Estación Central Estación Central ((), Spanish for "central station") is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. Its namesake is the Estación Central railway station located in the commune. Demographics According to th ...

. One of its symbols is the

planetarium A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetarium ...

built in the 1980s.

Departments

The university houses over 18,000

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-lev ...

students in 66 different

majors Jonathan Michael Majors (born September 7, 1989)Majors in is an American actor. He rose to prominence after starring in the independent feature film ''The Last Black Man in San Francisco'' (2019). In 2020, he garnered wider notice for portraying ...

, in the following departments: *

Engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

(''Ingeniería''), * Bachelors Program in Arts and Sciences (''Bachillerato''), *

Business Administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

(''Administración y Economía''), *

Chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

(''Química y Biología''), *

Medical Sciences Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practice ...

(''Ciencias Médicas''), *

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

s (''Ciencias''), *

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

(''Humanidades''), *

School of Architecture This is a list of architecture schools at colleges and universities around the world. An architecture school (also known as a school of architecture or college of architecture), is an institution specializing in architectural education. Africa ...

(''Escuela de Arquitectura''), and * Technology Department (''Facultad Tecnológica'').

Independent Organizations

Feusach

The University of Santiago Students Federation (Feusach) is an organization that represents and aims to protect all the students enrolled at University of Santiago in matters relating to the higher education system, i.e. decisions and actions of university, academic and political officials dealing with the public service of the higher education given by the university. It also works as a union bond between the huge number of students and authorities of the university in order to promote the mutual collaboration for the university management, and also seeks to promote the harmonious development of students at the large university campus thus generating and establishing an important space for politics and university management in the country.

Afusach

The association of servants of the University of Santiago, Chile is an association formed by servants representatives who work for the university. This association, as a union, acts to represent and protect the collective interests of workers before the action of the university officials, and in general before the State political decisions regarding human resources management and civil service. As an association it is ruled by the Administrative Statute and by extract, it is ruled by the Labour Code.

University of Santiago Planetarium

Planetario Chile is located at the University Campus; it is 13380 m2, made up of a building, square, gardens, water mirror and parking for 100 cars. Single in its kind in the country, it's one of the biggest 50 astronomical audiovisual centres in the world. The astronomical dome is 22 m diameter and the stars simulation equipment, a Carl Zeiss projector, model VI, and allows observing the southern and northern night sky.

Communication Media

University of Santiago, Chile Radio and Television (1959 to present)

In 1959, the Universidad Técnica del Estado radio was launched, local radio station with subsidiaries in towns where UTE was present. After the arrival of television and the cinema development in Chile during the 1960, UTE founded the Cinema and Television Department. During these years, this department develops a series of documentaries that showed the work of the institution in that time. In 1971, the UTE cinema department released its first production “El Sueldo de Chile” (1971) directed by Fernando Balmaceda. By then, the Universidad Técnica del Estado was planning to open a television signal in Channel 11, whose intentions were finally aborted after the coup d'état in 1973. In 1979, 11 VHF dial of Santiago, Chile was transferred to the known as Universidad de Chile Television, today known as Chilevision. Due to the university reform in 1981, Universidad Técnica del Estado Radio and its subsidiaries in the country broke up and were replaced by Universidad de Santiago Radio, Universidad de Talca Radio, Universidad del Bio-Bio Radio, Universidad de Atacama Radio, Universidad de Antofagasta Radio, Universidad de La Serena Radio, Universidad de los Lagos Radio, Universidad de Magallanes Radio and Universidad de la Frontera Radio. Universidad de Santiago de Chile Radio assumed the legal continuity of the preceding. In 1998, students from the informatics career of the aforementioned university led by José Zorrilla, developed a project to transmit the radio via internet and a program transmission system on demand, whose technology would be known six years later as

podcasting A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

. At the same time, its web site is launched leading it as the first university radio transmitting via internet with a unique podcasting system in the world. University of Santiago, Chile radio as well as television contributes to spread local music via cultural programs and hot news such as Escena Viva. Both have their own channel in YouTube. In 2018 the university launched a television channel via signal 48.1 for an on-line open digital television in Santiago, called Santiago Televisión, broadcasting 24 hours.

U. de Santiago al Día

The university also has a daily newsletter known as "U. de Santiago al Día" that tells about the university events and university scientific news in the field of humanities, sciences and technology.

Rankings and accreditation

It is currently accredited by the National Accreditation Commission (CNA-Chile) for a period of 7 years (out of a maximum of 7), from February 2021 to February 2028, being one of the 5 universities with maximum accreditation in the country. The university ranks fourth among Chilean universities according to the CSIC webometric ranking (July 2020). In 2017,

Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The Thes''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

ranked the university within the 401-500 band globally. According to the

QS World University Rankings ''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for the ...

2022, the University of Santiago ranked third among Chilean universities and as the second best public higher education institution in the country. In the QS Latin America University Ranking 2023, the university ranked 4th among Chilean universities and 14th in Latin America.

Notable alumni

* Sergio Campos, journalist, National Prize in Journalism 2011. * Alicia Herrera Rivera (1928-2013), feminist lawyer; minister of the Court of Appeals of Santiago *

Jeannette Jara Jeannette Alejandra Jara Román (born 23 April 1974) is a Chilean politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and crea ...

, Minister of Labor of Chile. *

Carlos Caszely Carlos Humberto Caszely Garrido (born 5 July 1950 in Santiago, Chile) is a Chilean former footballer, nicknamed "Rey del metro cuadrado" ( en, King of the square meter, pt, O Rei do Metro Quadrado), who played as a forward. Regarded as one o ...

, former football player. Journalism graduate.

Stadium

Estadio Usach is a multi-use

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

in central

, named after the

Universidad de Santiago de Chile The University of Santiago, Chile (Usach) ( es, Universidad de Santiago de Chile) is one of the oldest public universities in Chile. The institution was born as ''Escuela de Artes y Oficios'' (Spanish: ''School of Arts and Crafts'') in 1849 by I ...

. It is currently used mostly for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

matches and until around 2003 was used to host the home matches for

Club de Deportes Santiago Morning Club de Deportes Santiago Morning (popularly known as Chaguito Morning or Morning) is a Chilean professional football club based in Recoleta, Santiago. They compete in the Primera B. Santiago Morning was one of Primera División de Chile found ...

, which now plays in

La Pintana La Pintana is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. La Pintana is home to Antumapu, the agricultural and veterinary sciences campus of University of Chile, Chile's oldest university. Demographics Accordin ...

. The stadium holds 3,000 people.Preliminary Stage USACH
/ref>

References

External links

Official web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santiago, Chile, University of Universities in Chile

University of Santiago, Chile The University of Santiago, Chile (Usach) ( es, Universidad de Santiago de Chile) is one of the oldest public universities in Chile. The institution was born as ''Escuela de Artes y Oficios'' (Spanish: ''School of Arts and Crafts'') in 1849 by Ig ...

Educational institutions established in 1849 Universities in Santiago Metropolitan Region 1849 establishments in Chile Sports venues in Santiago