Sophia Magazine vol.2 / WINTER 2015

4/32

in Education (CRPE), appeared in a video message where he related the im-portance of evidence-based education programs to be provided as a result of research conducted by experts through broad collaborations among educa-tional, international, governmental, and other organizations. He also expressed hope that opportunities be created to conduct joint research in education for developing countries with Sophia Uni-versity. Following the video message, the keynote lecture was given by Professor Taro Komatsu of the Department of Edu-cation, Faculty of Human Sciences, who previously served at the United Nations as an education advisor in Bosnia and an education ofcer in the UN Mission in Kosovo. Based on the vast experiences gained from his career, he mentioned that although there is no doubt that edu-cation is the path to peace for societies saddled with conicts or other incidents, we must take utmost care in deciding what educational programs should be introduced. A symposium was held at Sophia Uni-versity on October 25 in commemora-tion of the new academic partnership between Columbia University Teachers College (CUTC) and Sophia University. Established in 1887, CUTC is an inter-nationally renowned graduate school of education. With this academic partner-ship, Sophia students who wish to enroll at CUTC are able to avail themselves of a prioritized application process and receive early notication of acceptance. This is the second of such academic partnerships, the rst being that signed with Fordham University, also in New York.The theme of the memorial sympo-sium was “Why we need evidence-based education policy and practice.” Mr. Thomas Corcoran, Co-director of CUTC Consortium for Policy Research Sophia-CUTC Academic PartnershipMemorial Symposium Held#02Sophia Yukata Day Held onthe Star Festival Campus #03The third Sophia Yukata Day for So-phia students and teaching staff was held on July 7. The organizer, nexnect, plans and manages programs de-signed to stimulate Sophia University. It called on people to wear yukata (ca-sual summer kimono) for the day and to post photos on Twitter and Facebook. About 1,500 students took part, sur-passing the number from the previous year. They showcased cool summer fashions, sporting beautiful colors on the campus.This event was launched to commemorate the centen-nial of Sophia University in 2013. This year’s Yukata Day was broadcast live on a net-work TV program, drawing attention from far beyond the campus.This year’s theme was to add “some-thing a bit extra to your ordinary day.” As a new program, non-Japanese students who study at Sophia had a hands-on experience in calligraphy with the cooperation of the Calligraphy Club, which helped them deepen their understanding of Japanese culture. At the opening event, a cappella group L’arbre de Harmonie gave a perfor-mance, singing songs associated with summer, while idol performance circle SPH mellmuse distributed paper fans.In the evening, a photo shoot location was set up on the main street for the Yukata Day participants, where Sophia University’s ofcial character, Sophian, appeared in yukata and joined students who were taking snaps.Foreign students trying calligraphy.LEFT: A cappella performed by singers in yukata.　RIGHT: The photo shoot location crowded with students.Campus News4