Sophia University Institute (IUS) is a fruit of the Focolare Movement (Work of Mary), coming from an inspiration of Chiara Lubich, and developed with the collaboration of an international advisory group of scholars from different disciplines. IUS is an academic center for education and research in which life and intellectual inquiry, various cultures and diverse disciplines, come together in a context permeated by a strong relational dimension.
The IUS promotes synergetic projects with other academic centers, particularly discerning new educational and research paths, in collaboration with other cultural and social entities that in different modalities aim to foster dialogue, communion in freedom, the defence and development of human rights of individuals and of peoples.
It is not a university setting composed of contiguous Faculties, in the classic sense of the term, but rather a laboratory of interdisciplinary and intercultural experimentation: a novel and trail-blazing experience, therefore, a place of excellence at the service of human and cultural development.
Goals
1) To confer an open and articulated view of knowledge, the ability to connect different sciences by placing different methods of education in dialogue with one another and integrating the outcomes.
2) To form young people, preparing them to face the complexity of today’s world from a trans-disciplinary perspective, and to work in synergy with experts in different fields to generate innovative solutions.
3) To concretely promote dialogue between cultures in society by giving impulse to the spiritual, intellectual and social growth of individuals in a dynamic of reciprocity.
Pillars of the Educational Project
Dialogue and reciprocity are the two pillars of this educational project which deal with elements that impact persons, foremost: transparency, welcome, self-giving.
They promote, on an intellectual level, a precise methodology for learning, for the production of thought and common ground among different disciplines. Dialogue and reciprocity thus trace out an epistemological perspective, capable of overcoming the fragmentation of knowledge and of recomposing unity between various disciplines, while respecting their specific competencies.
Sophia in Asia
According to Piero Coda—the current President-Rector—”Sophia in Asia is in the DNA of the founding project of Sophia University Institute which is to be present in various parts of the world.” Quoting Chiara Lubich’s words, he said, “Certainly Sophia will not end in Loppiano; it will blossom in the various territorial zones of the world.”
And he continues, as Chiara was referring to Latin America, Africa, and Asia: “the same Sophia with particular characteristics, just as it has always been for all the realities of the (Focolare) Movement.”
So, Sophia in Asia is an experience similar to that of Sophia, which reflects the typical dynamics of the Work of Mary; that is, of a “mystical rose” that blossoms at the heart of the Focolare’s headquarters in Rome, and whose petals then spread out to the different parts of the world; each one, in turn, opening up into another mystical rose, united to the root, but with its own color.
Hence, the Sophia affiliates in each territorial zone of the world are called to produce the same light but with a different color, a particular, distinctive color.
A Historical Event in the 50th Anniversary of the Focolare in Asia
Nine years after the birth of Sophia in Loppiano, and after a presence of Sophia has been established in Latin America, which has completed a cycle of a four-year Summer School, now is the turn of Sophia in Asia. It is developing on the 50th Anniversary year of the Focolare in Asia. So, we are living a special moment of the little story to which each one is called as protagonist.
One of the participants commented, “We are witnessing a historical moment in Asia with the birth of Sophia Asia. But it is not only Sophia in Asia; it is Sophia for Asia.” Attending the inauguration of Sophia at View Park Hotel near Mariapolis Peace last February 19, 2016 were 55 professors, some of whom had been at Sophia Loppiano, and several experts in various fields coming from different regions of the Philippines and from Singapore.
Others were linked via WebEx live-streaming, from the Focolare Headquarters in Rome, and from Hong Kong, Pakistan and India. Remarkable was the presence at the event of some Asian Sophia graduates, who were present both physically as well as virtually. All the participants felt called to prepare the ground so that the seed of Sophia may take root in Asia.
What lies ahead
Sophia is called to be a unique reality as an institution. This is not a matter of establishing many different universities in several parts of the world. Rather, Chiara’s dream was to give life– to a university with a network, to a single university established in multiple centers wherein the reality of the “mystical rose” finds an expression on the university level.
Come this August 1-8, 2016, all the 55 participants will reconvene together again in Tagaytay for a “school” with the end view of training them all for the unique pedagogy practiced in Sophia where all attend the “aula” (classroom in Italian) of Jesus the Teacher. After this August “school” for professors and other experts, Sophia Asia will kick off in 2017 with a Master’s Course for three consecutive “Summer Schools” for Asian youth. Details to follow!
Note: All explanations and concepts about Sophia are taken from the Sophia webpage.
Visit http://iu-sophia.org/ for more information.
The Abbà School
Sophia Institute’s methodology is the fruit of years of experience at the Focolare Movement’s interdisciplinary study center, the Abbà School. The center, founded by Chiara Lubich in 1989, explores and develops the cultural and doctrinal implications of the charism of unity.
This group from different nations and cultural traditions, meets regularly and is comprised of about thirty university professors and experts from the most varied disciplines: theology, philosophy, ethics, law, political theory, economics, sociology, medicine, psychology, the natural sciences, mathematics, communications, the arts, linguistics and literature, and ecumenical and interreligious dialogue.
