An agreement was signed with the University of Nairobi on January 29, 2024.4SOPHIA MAGAZINE Vol. 18Building PartnershipsAs of June 2024, Sophia University has concluded cooperative agreements for education and research with 17 universities and research institutes in 14 African countries. This number, in ad-dition to Sophia University’s network of Jesuit universities that share its educational philosophy, far surpasses any other Japanese university, particularly among private universities. Connecting ApproachesWith expansion of education and research on Africa as its foundational principle of “globalization,” Sophia University offers Middle Eastern and African Studies courses at the undergraduate level in the Faculty of Global Studies and the Faculty of Foreign Studies. At the graduate level, the Program in Area Studies at the Graduate School of Global Studies of-fers guidance on Africa. And in addition to the Institute of Asian, African, and Middle Eastern Studies, the university in 2008 opened the Sophia Research Center in Cairo. change. Sophia views collaboration with universities outside the Japanese research environment as the most effective way to realize its goal of implementing research results in society. Sophia enjoys numerous joint research projects with African research institutes. One example is a project Department of French Studies Professor Erina Iwasaki is carrying out in relation to secure water resources in North Africa. Good results are expected from the collab-oration of local researchers, with their intimate knowl-edge of local conditions, and Japanese researchers, with their theoretical and technical knowledge problem solving. Sophia University President Yoshiaki Terumichi, Professor Iwasaki, and Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies Professor Guangwei Huang who is conducting research of flood control, participated in the 6th South Africa – Japan University Forum (at Stellenbosch University in South Africa) held from August 27 – 29, 2024. They presented Sophia University’s con-tribution to flood control and water utilization research. Sophia has been a member of the Japan-Africa Academic Network since 2016.A new Sophia University initiative was marked by Sophia’s co-hosting the first Model African Union held in August as an an-cillary event of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) Ministerial Meeting, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Japan International cooperation Agency (JICA), among others. The Model African Union is a significant opportunity to allow young people to think seriously about sustainable development and collaboration with African countries. Sophia University is determined to build deep and fully articulated relationships with individual African countries and with Africa as a whole by increasing its pres-ence as an international educational and research institution committed to Africa in organizations such as TICAD and the African Union. An interdisciplinary approach is key to African studies at Sophia. Professor Daisaku Higashi, who is affiliated with the Center for Global Education and Discovery, specializes in peacebuilding and conducts field surveys in Sudan and other countries. Professor Atsuko Nagai uses folklore and folk tales to assess the spirituality of West African people and is affiliated with the Department of
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