SOPHIA UNIVERSITY VIEWBOOK

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17MissionSophia University, Japan’s oldest Catholic university, is positioned within the rich religious traditional cultures of East Asia. Based on these distinctive characteristics, it plays an important role in promoting dialectic mutual understanding between Christianity and other religions. This Institute was established as a principal section for implementing this mission conducted in cooperation with other organizations within the University. As of May 1, 2023, this Institute included ten regular researchers, one collbolative fellow, two visiting researcher,■ve honorary members, all engaged in the interdisciplinary study of Christianity. It aims to spread knowledge of Christianity in Japanese culture and contribute to mutual understanding with Eastern religions, particularly those in Japan.Principal activities•Hosting of ongoing lecture sessions (Theme for 2022“Disease and Religion”) •Hosting of Bible lectures (Theme for 2022“Religion and Disease”) •Collection and opening to the public of library materials related to Christianityand other religions (library resources: 13,982 volumes in Japanese, 7,849 in foreign languages, periodicals 163 titles) •This institute belongs to the“Catholic University and Christian Culture Research Institute Communication Council”and the Catholic university“Ecumencial Group for the Study of Interfaith Dialog (EGSID)”,and sponsors cooperative projects with these organizations•Bulletin (Issue no.40 in FY 2022)•Publication of lectures and seminars (“Religion and Disease”2022 to be published)MissionThe institute was established in 1964 to conduct research into the politics,economies, society, history, arts, and culture of the Iberoamerican (Latin America and the Caribbean) region, and to serve as a center for academic exchanges with universities and research institutes in the area. It is highly regarded as one of the country's leading research institutes in the ■eld of Latin American studies. The institute currently has 16 sta■ members, including researchers and administrative personnel, and in its library boasts the rich collection of approximately 40,000 books and 50 titles of academic journals on the region covering history, politics, economics as well as geography, literature, and the arts.Principal activities•The Institute publishes two annual jounals (Iberoamericana and Encontros Lusófonos ) and two monograph series ("Investigaciones Latinoamericanas" and "Latin American Monograph Series"). It publishes in its journal Iberoamericana a daily chronology of Latin American news and also compiles a database of articles published in the academic journals that our library has c ollected. The Institute holds symposia and lectures on special topics of interest to both academic specialists and a more general audience. •The institute has a rich network with universities and research institutes in Latin American countries. Through this network, we host visiting fellows from them, exchange publications, support visits and ■eld works that our members carry out in the region. For further information on our activities, please visit our website (https://dept.sophia.ac.jp/is/ibero/; add“espanol”or“portugues” to get into the pages in Spanish or Portuguese, respectively).MissionThe Institute of Global Concern (IGC) was established in April 2010 with a mission to conduct research from a global perspective, on a range of issues that threaten the dignity and solidarity of humans to provide opportunities for the conscientization of students and the public through its research output, and to engage in activities with an aim to realize another, better world. We thus hope to renew and build on the traditions of“the Sophia school”that grapples with the real problems of poverty and violence –“with Others”— in di■erence to the naively“objectivist”and conformist tendencies of mainstream social science today.The IGC was built through the reorganization of the Institute for the Study of Social Justice, which was originally founded in April 1981 and actively engaged in refugee relief e■orts.Principal activities(1) Research on issues related to poverty, violence, and discrimination in the globalizing world.(2) Conscientization activities through symposia, public seminars, study groups, and book fairs.(3) Coordinate a variery of programs collaborating with student committees, such as study group on the Great East Japan Earthquake and the recovery in Tohoku area.(4) Collaboration with other institutes and groups to strengthen the social dimension of the university.(5) Publication of the electronic journal, Global Concern (annually)MissionThe Institute, in collaboration with scholars from Japan and abroad, conducts research on the thought and cultural legacy of the Western middle ages, from ancient Christianity to the Renaissance. The research covers various aspects of medieval culture, especially philosophy, theology, history in general, history of the church, history of law, literature, arts and sciences. The Institute strives to promote the understanding of Western culture through the publication of original texts in translation and of academic research.HistoryScholars from Sophia University, in connection with researchers of medieval thought from other universities in the Kanto area, in 1956 established an “O■ce for research in medieval philosophy,”attached to the Faculty of Humanities at Sophia University, as a supra-regional center of research in this ■eld. In 1976, the research o■ce was upgraded to Sophia University’s“ Institute of Medieval Thought,”with the purpose to carry out advanced research in the thought and culture of the European middle ages. The Institute which at present has a sta■ of 10 institute fellows, 2 visiting fellow, and 10 visiting researchers, serves the academic community and societies related to medieval studies.Principal activities•The Institute plans and publishes translations of texts sourced from medieval times and academic research studies.•The Institute collects books and treatises, and makes them available for researchers and students to browse and borrow. (The specialized library houses approximately 60,000 volumes, including magazines.) •The Institute sponsors lectures by visiting scholars and organizes study circles for researchers and students.MissionEversince it was established in 1978, the Linguistic Institute for International Communication has been engaged in a variety of research projects relating to all aspects of language, and has grown steadily with the purpose of deepening international understanding and facilitating cultural exchange between the East and the West. Currently, over 60 personnel including honorary members are engaged in joint research, and are striving to advance academic exchange and research through workshops, invitation of researchers from inside and outside Japan, and hosting of lectures. The Institute has two a■liated research organizations; the Research Center for Communication Disorders and the Phonetics Laboratory. The research areas that the Institute covers include the following: the theoretical investigation of issues related to the universal and particular aspects of languages, empirical exploration of foreign language learning and instruction, the development of teaching methods and materials, studies of the social and cultural aspects of language, cognitive-scienti■c and biolinguistic approaches to the study of human language, research into speech and language disorders and their treatment, scienti■c studies of the sounds of language, etc.Principal Activities•Research Project : 8 / Sponsored Research : 1 •Publications The institute has been releasing its ■ndings through the publication of a number of journals and research reports, including　the annual journal Sophia Linguistica, all of whose abstracts can be accessed online. In addition, the Phonetic Laboratory and Sophia University Research Center for Communication Disorder have issued their working papers once every two years, respectively. •Hosting linguistics symposia, seminars and special lectures To promote understanding in the ■eld of language studies, the Institute hosts symposia, seminars and workshops, to which a number of distinguished scholars have been invited from within Japan and overseas.MissionThe Institute of Comparative Culture (ICC) strides to promote and support the interdisciplinary research of its members across a range of ■elds in the social science, humanities, business studies and economics. The institute further supports its members in building collaborative projects with researchers outside Sophia and in promoting the university’s international reputation for research excellence. The specialisations of ICC members include anthropology, sociology, politics, business, economics, history, literature, and art history, with a strong focus on East Asia and the region’s global connections. ICC’s research activities and public events are mostly conducted in English.Principal ActivitiesThe principal activity of the ICC is supporting the collaborative research projects of its members. Current projects include Sophia Food Studies-Mobilities, Sustainability and Ethics; A History of Sophia University; Refugees and Migrants in Tokyo; Feminism and Female Empowerment in the 21st-Century Academy; Network Studies; Exploring a Japanese Fishing Village Through Art; and Multiple Voices in Japanese Literature, 1989-2019. The ICC also sponsors symposia and public lectures organised by ICC members and their research partners from across the globe.Other activities•Assisting visit scholars working with our faculty by providing access to Sophia’s research facilities. •Publishing research by our members and visiting scholars. •Supporting members with grant applications and administration.Institute for Christian CultureIberoamerican InstituteInstitute of Global ConcernInstitute of Medieval ThoughtLinguistic Institute forInternational CommunicationInstitute of Comparative CultureResearch Institutes Division