丸山 英樹 / Maruyama HidekiMaruyama Hideki

Faculty of Global Studies, Department of Global Studies　Professor

Research Interests

Hideki Maruyama is a Professor at the Department of Global Studies,Sophia University. He is the general coordinator of the Sophia Programfor Sustainable Futures (SPSF).
His research interest lies at the intersection of comparative and international education, lifelong learning, and sustainability. He has conducted a study of “Deep ESD”which covers holistic and transformative learning for learners themselves and others (2020-2025). He is also part of the Sophia-ESD project (2021-2024) which aims to research the educational practices, policies, and theoretical significance of ESD.
He has conducted field study visit with Sophia students to the Republic of Estonia and the Baltic Sea countries for sustainable futures. His recent publications include lifelong learning, non-formal education, well-being, and Sustainable Education.

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Faculty of Global Studies, Department of Global Studies　Professor

Huang Guangwei / 黄　光偉 Huang Guangwei

Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Master's (Doctoral) Program in Global Environmental Studies　Professor

Research Interests

Specialized in watershed environmental science and sustainability studies. Sustainability has three pillars: the environment, economy, and society, and water is a nexus connecting the three pillars. Better water quantity and quality management is an indispensable key for achieving SDGs. Following this way of thinking, I have been conducting sustainability studies through the lens of water and using knowledge fusion approaches.
Research undertakings include wetland health monitoring, assessment and prediction; urban flood risk analysis and reduction; innovative water resources management and water culture as well.
My motto is that environmental problems cannot be truly solved without crossing various boundaries from academic, business to national. The journey towards SDFs requires a shift from interdisciplinary to transdisciplinary.

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Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Master's (Doctoral) Program in Global Environmental Studies　Professor

Sakamoto Mitsuyo / 坂本 光代Sakamoto Mitsuyo

Faculty of Foreign Studies, Department of English Studies　Professor

Research Interests

Applied linguist. Mitsuyo Sakamoto specializes in bilingualism and bilingual education, in particular heritage language maintenance. Since 2007, she has been conducting fieldwork in and around the city of Sao Paulo to investigate Japanese language learning and maintenance among Japanese-Brazilians.
In 2018, she worked together with international scholars to compile Salzburg Statement for a Multilingual World.
She has been exploring why multilingual society is, while deemed desirable, not easily achieved, as well as critically examining the privileged status of English as an international language.

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Faculty of Foreign Studies, Department of English Studies　Professor

Maria ManzonMaria Manzon

Faculty of Human Sciences, Department of Education　Associate Professor

Research Interests

Maria Manzon is an Associate Professor at the Department of Education of Sophia University. She is a core faculty of the Sophia Program for Sustainable Futures (SPSF). Her research interest lies at the intersection of comparative education, religions, and sustainability. For sustainability to be authentic and transformative, it is essential to study how core values and worldviews are formed. Concretely, Asia is the cradle of the world religions which have shaped its cultures and education systems.
She thus explores the potential of religions, in comparative perspective, for sustainability education in such areas as environmental education and women’s education in Asia. As a member of the Strategic Alliance of Catholic Research Universities’ (SACRU) Working Group 2, she undertakes collaborative research with SACRU scholars on the impact of Pope Francis’ Encyclical “Laudato si’: On care for our common home” on higher education.
She is also part of the Sophia-ESD project (2021-2024) which aims to research on the educational practices, policies, and theoretical significance of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Her publications include Comparative Education: The Construction of a Field; Origins and Traditions in Comparative Education; and Equity in Excellence: Experiences of East Asian High-Performing Education Systems.

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Faculty of Human Sciences, Department of Education　Associate Professor

Hosoki Ralph Ittonen / 細木 一十稔 ラルフHosoki Ralph Ittonen

Faculty of Human Sciences, Department of Sociology　Assistant Professor

Research Interests

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Faculty of Human Sciences, Department of Sociology　Assistant Professor

MITSUTAKE Tomomi / 光武 智美MITSUTAKE Tomomi

Faculty of Human Sciences, Department of Nursing　Assistant Professor

Research Interests

I wish for society to be a place where all children born would be raised with great care. In the past, when it was common for babies to be born at home, the process of a child’s birth and development was part of everyday home life, something close and familiar. It was an opportunity to experience and learn about “life” and “lifestyles” intimately.
I am conducting research on gradually incorporating learning related to “life” and “lifestyles” into the educational settings of elementary school students, junior high school students, high school students, and adolescents. This research would aid in the development of a mindset of caring for oneself and one’s surroundings as well as encouraging self-care and decision-making behavior toward the protection of mental and physical health among the present-day children, who have not had many direct experiences yet.

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Faculty of Human Sciences, Department of Nursing　Assistant Professor

Saito Atsuko / 齋藤 慈子Saito Atsuko

Faculty of Human Sciences, Department of Psychology　Associate Professor

Research Interests

Atsuko Saito specializes in developmental psychology, evolutionary psychology, and comparative cognitive science.
Her research focuses on the relationship between humans and cats as companion animals, and human parenting from the perspective of humans as an animal species. Humans are a species of mammals and primates, but unlike the majority in these taxonomic groups, we are not capable of raising children by mothers alone. However, in Japan today, the burden of child-rearing is disproportionately placed on the mother/parent. She considers what can be done to achieve child-rearing within society.

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Faculty of Human Sciences, Department of Psychology　Associate Professor

Hirao Keiko / 平尾 桂子Hirao Keiko

Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Master's (Doctoral) Program in Global Environmental Studies　Professor

Research Interests

Dr. Keiko Hirao is a Professor at the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies. Her research interest includes social sustainability, the construction of environmental issues, intergenerational relations, and gender and environment.
She is the author of Child Rearing War Front (Chobunsha 1991), chapters in Women's Working Lives in East Asia (Stanford University Press 2001), Political Economy of Japan's Low Fertility (Stanford University Press, 2006), Working and Mothering: Images, Ideologies, and Identities (NIAS Press,2007).
Her recent book, Invisible Hands and Invisible Heart (Sophia University Press 2015), discusses the structural undervaluation of care work vis-à-vis pecuniary activities. She also co-authored Families, Family Policies, and Sustainable Development Goals (UNICEF 2019), a policy tool that evaluates family policies worldwide across the six Sustainable Development Goals.

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Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Master's (Doctoral) Program in Global Environmental Studies　Professor