From February 26 to 28, 2025, the International Association of Jesuit Universities (IAJU) International Education Conference was held at Sophia University Yotsuya campus. The theme of the conference was “Challenges and Opportunities for Internationalization,” and the conference brought together approximately 80 faculty and staff members in charge of international education from 44 institutions around the world.
IAJU is an international network of over 200 higher education institutions founded by the Society of Jesus in over 50 countries, including Sophia, Georgetown University in the USA and Sogang University in Korea. This conference is a practical meeting for faculty and staff involved in international education activities, with the aim of sharing knowledge about various initiatives and challenges in international education, discussing ways to improve collaboration, and promoting networking among member institutions.
The first day of the conference began with opening remarks by Fr. Joseph Christie, SJ, President of IAJU, followed by welcoming remarks by Fr. Roberto Yap, SJ, President of Ateneo de Manila University and also President of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities- Asia Pacific (AJCU-AP), and Professor Yoshiaki Terumichi, President of Sophia University. It was followed by various sessions including keynote speeches by Fr. Christie and Fr. Yap on topics that form the foundation of Jesuit education, a panel discussion on global citizenship education joined by Professor Miki Sugimura (Faculty of Human Sciences, Sophia University), a panel discussion on promoting internationalization through e-learning, a lecture on the history of Jesuit education in Japan by Professor Shinzo Kawamura (Faculty of Humanities, Sophia University), presentations of good practices and proposals for international collaboration, and workshops in which all participants participated in discussions.
Furthermore, on the special occasion of the gathering of IAJU members, an English mass was conducted with Cardinal Tarcisius Isao Kikuchi, S.V.D., Catholic Church Archdiocese of Tokyo as Main Celebrant, Fr. Christie, Fr. Yap, Fr. Tsutomu Sakuma, Provincial of the Japan Province, Society of Jesus, Fr. Toshiaki Koso, Pastor of St. Ignatius Church, Fr. Sali Augustine, Chancellor of Sophi School Corporation, and Fr. John Joseph Puthenkalam, Trustee of Sophia School Corporation as Co-Celebrants.
In addition, Mr. Kuniaki Sato, Director of International Division, Higher Education Bureau at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, gave a special lecture on the initiatives and prospects for the internationalization of Japanese higher education institutions. There was an active question and answer session among the participants, indicating that there is a great deal of interest in the internationalization of Japan.
While the first International Education Conference in 2019 was held at Universidad Iberoamericana Puebla in Mexico, the second in 2022 at Universidad Loyola in Spain, this third edition was held for the first time in the Asia-Pacific region, and welcomed participants from all 6 regional networks of IAJU – North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, South Asia, and the Asia-Pacific – making it an assembly for strengthening network and friendships.
At the closing session on the final day, the outcomes of the workshops as well as ideas and suggestions gained at the conference were shared, followed by concrete discussions on how they could be implemented at each university and region before the next conference. The conference was closed with an consensus that the conference will continue to be held periodically and further efforts will be made to promote the internationalization of the IAJU network.
*Titles are for AY2024.
