Vice President’s Message
In April 2025, I assumed the position of Vice President for Global Academic Affairs at Sophia University. My first major task upon assuming this post was to prepare applications for “The 2025 Inter-University Exchange Project – Support for the Formation of Inter-University Exchanges with Global South Countries, Type II: Africa.” For me, specializing in US history and having conducted research primarily in Europe and North America, the African region was uncharted territory. Indeed, even as I write this (February 2026), it remains a region I have never set foot in. However, fortunately, this successful application has provided the opportunity to engage in international collaboration with Africa.
Through this initiative, we aim to cultivate leaders who contribute to solving global environmental challenges through international collaboration. Specifically, students from Sophia University and our seven partner universities across six African countries will learn from each other, think collectively, and act together, thereby gaining practical experience in international collaboration. Participating students will take common core subjects alongside lectures in specialized fields—Japan-Africa Studies, International Cooperation Studies, and Global Environmental Studies, taught in multiple languages (Japanese, English and French) offered at Sophia. Some of these lectures incorporate opportunities for online discussions with African students. Furthermore, a key feature of this programme is the hands-on experience of “international collaboration” gained through short-term study tours (social engagement program) and volunteer opportunities in Africa, as well as fieldwork conducted domestically with students from Africa. The programme aims to organically connect the expertise acquired in lectures with real-world challenges and interaction with students, professors and local people.
At the same time, I would like all participating students to cherish the sensations that arise during these exchanges and practical activities. The scent of a place visited for the first time, the taste of cuisine never sampled, the subtle sense of dissonance felt when something differs from one’s own culture. Sharpen your senses to enrich your experiences. Such awareness is the very first step in international collaboration. Without sensitivity and respect for others’ cultures and backgrounds, true collaboration cannot be practiced. Naturally, working alongside people from different backgrounds will inevitably present unexpected difficulties and barriers. However, I hope you will develop the ability to transform these experiences into valuable insights and learning, rather than letting them end as failures.
This programme is supported by the combined efforts of staff and faculty from our university and our partner institutions in Africa. For us, too, this marks our first venture into international collaboration between Japan and Africa. Precisely for this reason, we wish to refine the programme into something even better, learning and working alongside you all. Finally, I hope this programme becomes an opportunity for the participating students to open up new horizons.
Mariko Iijima
Vice President for Global Academic Affairs/ Professor, Faculty of Foreign Studies
