4PURSUING GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT IN RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONApproachSOPHIA MAGAZINE Vol. 19As the business sector employs innovations in information and communication technologies to drive globalization, a wide range of global issues are emerging and increasing in sever-ity. To confront these issues as a research and educational institution, Sophia University is implementing various global strategic initiatives to meet the demands of the present.The Role of Universities in Global SocietySophia’s Global StrategyCalls to globalize higher education in Japan began in 2000. The main focus has been to foster youth who can contribute to the re-covery of Japan’s industrial competitiveness, which has declined since the collapse of Japan’s bubble economy, and invigorate the competitiveness of Japanese universities. Many universities have responded by promoting English communication skill acquisition and collaboration with overseas universities and research institu-tions through student and faculty exchanges. Since its founding in 1913, Sophia has developed an approach to education based in Christian humanism that transcends national, linguistic, and academic boundaries. Sophia’s education and re-search activities have emphasized international applicability and foresight cultivated through an extensive collaborative network with overseas universities and institutions, such as the Jesuit Net-work. In 2014, Sophia was selected by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) as part of the “Top Global University Project.” Such initiatives, however, are merely efforts to keep up with glo-balization, and do not necessarily represent research and educa-tion efforts truly focused on the future, the fundamental mission of a university. President Yoshiaki Terumichi defines globalization as “the process of assessing the chaos of global society, understanding its struc-ture, and seeking optimal solutions.” He explains that he does not regard globalization as an “evolution or development of society.”“Human societies are global in nature by the very fact that they are built on this planet. In the process of creating individual polit-ical and economic structures, it seems humanity has constructed divisions based on ideology, ethnicity, class, and national borders that have separated people from each other, the natural environ-ment, and other living things. Recent movements represent an at-tempt to finally integrate national and regional structures and re-store our global unity.”Terumichi’s ideas are in line with those expressed by Pope Francis in his encyclical Laudato Si’ and perhaps reflect the pluralistic and cyclical worldview characteristic of Japan and other Asian countries.Humanity faces a number of serious chal-lenges, including climate change and widen-ing inequality, often perceived as the adverse consequences of excessive globalization. In response, many countries are turning inward, closing doors that were once open.“If globalization is as I have described, it has not gone too far, but has only just begun,” Terumichi explains. “There will be some set-backs, but I believe Sophia will play an im-
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