Soka University of America
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| Soka University of America | |
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| Motto: |
Be philosophers of a renaissance of life;
Be world citizens in solidarity for peace; Be the pioneers of a global civilization. |
| Established: | 2001 |
| Type: | Private |
| Endowment: | $500 million |
| President: | Daniel Y. Habuki |
| Provost: | Tomoko Takahashi |
| Faculty: | 59 |
| Students: | 363 |
| Undergraduates: | 355 |
| Postgraduates: | 8 |
| Location: | Aliso Viejo, CA, USA |
| Colors: | Blue, white and gold. |
| Nickname: | Lions |
| Website: | www.soka.edu |
Soka University of America (SUA) is a private university located in Aliso Viejo, California. SUA's mission is to foster a steady stream of global citizens committed to living a contributive life--with an emphasis on principles of pacifism, human rights, and the creative coexistence of nature and humanity.[1] With a 9:1 student/faculty ratio and an average class size of 13, SUA received accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) four years ahead of schedule in 2005.[2] A sister school, Soka University of Japan, is located in Hachiōji, Tokyo.
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[edit] Main Features
A university, SUA encompasses a four-year liberal arts college and a graduate school. It is also host to the Pacific Basin Research Center and the academic journal Annals of Scholarship.
- The liberal arts college offers bachelor's degrees in Liberal Arts with emphasis areas in Environmental Studies, Humanities, Social & Behavioral Sciences and International Studies. Classrooms are designed as centers of dialogue and discussion, emphasizing seminar methods.[3]
- The graduate school offers a Master of Arts degree in Second and Foreign Language Education concentrating on Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL) education. The graduate school offers a 6:1 student/faculty ratio and graduated its tenth class in 2006.
Linus and Ava Helen Pauling Hall
- The Pacific Basin Research Center conducts research on the humane and peaceful development of the Asia-Pacific Region, including the Latin American border states. Toward this end it awards grants and fellowships to researchers studying public policy interactions in the Pacific Rim in such areas as international security, economic and social development, educational and cultural reform, environmental protection and human rights. In keeping with the educational mission of the university, the Center also sponsors campus conferences, occasional lecture series, and student seminars that extend and support its research activities.
- The academic journal Annals of Scholarship has been edited at SUA since 2005, when Humanities Professor Marie-Rose Logan joined the faculty. Annals of Scholarship promotes the study of the development of methodological and historical criteria in all the disciplines with an emphasis on the interaction between Art Practices and the Human Sciences in a Global Culture.
[edit] Curriculum
Embracing the traditions of Humanistic education, Student-centered learning, and educational progressivism, SUA has adopted a series of innovative curricular structures that deeply affect undergraduate life. The low student:teacher ratio allows small, student-centered seminars to be a mainstay of all students' educational experience, even in introductory level classes. "Learning Cluster" courses combine practical experiences and academics to develop student research skills.
There are no traditional discipline-based departments at Soka University. Instead the university has focused on interdisciplinarity, a progressive movement in collegiate curriculum that has defined many American colleges and universities, including the nearby University of California, Irvine.
At SUA, students choose courses of study within several interdisciplinary Concentrations:
- Environmental Studies
- Humanities
- International Studies
- Social & Behavioral Sciences
The Humanities Concentration seeks to prepare global citizens by examining the breadth and depth of human constructions of meaning, value, and creativity. In order to promote understanding among diverse groups of people, the courses in humanities explore how and why different perspectives about the world have arisen in different cultures and historical periods. The concentration is structured to show the ways in which the traditional disciplines of art history, history, literary studies, music history, philosophy, and religious studies can address common topics and concerns through a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches.
The International Studies Concentration is designed to provide students with an in-depth understanding of the global arena, with a special focus on the Pacific Basin. Students learn to integrate complex and diverse historical experiences with the study of national, regional, and global issues. Beyond providing substantive knowledge, the concentration highlights the sources of war and peace, including the peaceful resolution of conflict, human rights, the aspirations of people to live free and independent lives, indigenous and local movements, economic development, security issues, and the growing role of regional and worldwide organizations in the international arena. The role of culture, ethical conduct, and the contribution of individual initiative are examined in each of these topics.
The Social and Behavioral Sciences Concentration (SBS) strives to understand human lives, human behavior, and institutions (formal and informal) in their social contexts. The concentration embraces an interdisciplinary approach to examining cultural diversity, social problems, and human behavior, incorporating perspectives from sociology, economics, psychology, anthropology, linguistics, and political science. These courses provide students with tools to examine and address global issues and concerns.[4]
Learning Clusters
Learning Clusters are three week intensive courses that faculty develop in collaboration with students on a significant problem of contemporary relevance. The primary goal is to produce an "educated response" and build student skills for research, critical thought, and active engagement in the world. Learning clusters typically create a collaborative final project designed to be shared with the "off campus" world in some way. Examples have included policy analysis, game theory, and peace proposals. Examples of web-based projects include "The History and Future of Anti-Sweatshop Campaigns" and "Ethnic Conflicts in Pacific Asia," both from January 2007. Other Learning Clusters have focused on documentary film, poverty in Orange County, education reform, water resource issues, and armed conflicts around the world.[5]
Study Abroad
All undergraduate students at Soka University of America study abroad for one semester in a country whose language they are studying (costs included in tuition). The experience has become a rite of passage on campus during the first decade of SUA's operation, with numerous students sharing familiarity with specific cities abroad, such as Quito (Ecuador), Shanghai (China), or Hachioji (Japan).
[edit] Tuition
New Undergraduate Tuition Policy On March 5, 2008, Soka University announced a new undergraduate tuition policy in order to increase diversity and access to education. Effective with the 2008-2009 academic year, free tuition will be offered to admitted students whose annual family income is $60,000 or less. Room and board fees will still apply.[6]
2009-2010 Tuition: $24,606 2009-2010 Room and Board: $9,360
[edit] Admission
Annual undergraduate admission application deadlines are October 15 (for Early Action) and January 15 (for Regular Admission). At the annual Lions Roar Open House high school and middle school students and their families are invited to tour campus, participate in financial aid workshops, take part in Q&A sessions, enjoy a Talent Blast by SUA students and have lunch in the Soka Bistro. The average GPA of admitted Soka students is 3.6 and the average SATR and SATM is 1164.
[edit] Faculty Research
Soka University of America is a research and teaching hybrid. Faculty carry teaching loads comparable to major research institutions so they may pursue scholarship while focusing attention on teaching.
Michael Weiner (International Studies Director), Robert Allinson, Marie-Rose Logan, Jim Merod, Gail Thomas, and others came to SUA with significant publication records. Jim Merod's The Political Responsibility of the Critic is well-known.
Seiji Takaku (Social & Behavioral Sciences Director) has published several research articles in peer reviewed journals, such as the Journal of Applied Social Psychology. Xiao Xing Liu, Ted Lowe, Esther Chang, Hong-yi Chen, Jon Merzel, Sarah England, Orin Kirshner, Gaye Christofferson, and others are also actively pursuing research and publication agendas--at times involving students directly.
In January 2007 and January 2008, Anthony Mazeroll (Biology) took a dozen students on a research trip to the Amazon to study fish ecology. And in January 2008, Gaye Christoffersen (International Studies) took a group of students on a research trip to Beijing. This pilot program of student/faculty research abroad will expand beginning 2009.
[edit] Undergraduate Life
About half of SUA's student body is from the US, with the other half coming from 30 other countries on six continents. SUA is a residential college and students live on campus.
[edit] Activities
A high level of club activity is common at Soka University, with students participating in about 35 clubs on campus, including The Pearl (student news/opinion magazine), One (literary magazine), Model United Nations, Vita Leones Philharmonic Orchestra, United Nations Association, Sualseros (Salsa Dancing), Rhythmission (hip-hop dancing), Gunghroo (dances of India), Breakdancing, Josho Daiko (Taiko group), Medical Path Group, Baseball Club, Basketball Club, Humanism in Action, Green Planet, Judo, Amnesty International, and Activist Collective.
Since 2002, students have hosted the community in an annual Halloween event that transforms the first floor "crypt" of the recreation center into a "haunted house."[7] On the first Saturday of May each year since 2002, students participate in organizing SUA's "International Festival," involving over 600 international performers--including students--on three stages.[8]
Activism
SUA students have taken an anti-war and human rights message off campus and into the Aliso Viejo community. The first time was in 2003 as the war in Iraq began. Twice in the fall of 2007 SUA students marched into town on behalf of the Burmese pro-democracy movement and against the Iraq war.[9] A student group convinced the SUA administration to sign-up with the Worker Rights Consortium, an organization that monitors the production conditions for apparel sold to universities in the United States with the expressed purpose of rooting-out sweatshop practices. In the Fall of 2007, the Activist Collective at SUA decided to make issues of gender and sexual orientation central to its mission and began an education campaign against sexual violence.
Soka Education Student Research Project (SESRP)
The SESRP is a student initiated and run project established in 2004 to encourage serious study and research related to the methods and philosophy of education at Soka. Students have organized three consecutive and successful one-day conferences, featuring student-written research papers as well as keynote speakers such as Sarah Wilder of the The Ralph Waldo Emerson Society. The theme for the January 2008 conference focuses on education and revolution.
[edit] Recent Academic Events
[edit] Conferences
- "Assembling California Cultures," the 2008 annual meeting of the California American Studies Association, April 25-27, 2008. Keynote speaker: Phoebe Kropp (History, The University of Pennsylvania). Featured performance: a poetry reading by Wanda Coleman, sometimes dubbed "the unofficial poet laureate of Los Angeles." See the conference website.
- "Education and Contributive Revolution," the fourth annual Soka Education Conference, February 9-10, 2008. Sponsored by the Soka Education Student Research Project (SESRP). Presenters: Julie Nagashima ('05), Gonzalo Obelleiro ('05), SuhJin Park ('05), Yuko Sugiyama ('06), Masako Iwamoto ('07), Koichi Hagimoto ('05), Fabiana Sanchez ('05), Michael Strand ('08), Masashiro Kaleo Louis ('08), and Jennifer Numagami ('08). Discussants: Professor Phat Vu (Physics, Soka University), Professor James Spady (American History, Soka University), Professor Jay Heffron (Dean of Students and Professor of History, Soka University).
- "Earth in the Balance: A Humanities Colloquium on Asian Religions and Ecology," December 7, 2007. Participants: Christopher Chapple (Loyola Marymount University), Sthaneshwar Timalsina (San Diego State University), and Sarah Wawrytko (San Diego State University).
- "Perspectives on Poverty: A Dialogue across Disciplines," April 28, 2007. Sponsored by the Social and Behavioral Sciences Concentration with funding from the Nieves Family Foundation. Anil B. Deolalikar (Professor of Economics, University of California Riverside), Gloria La Cava (Senior Social Scientist, World Bank), john a. powell (Executive Director Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity, Ohio State University), James Diego Vigil (Professor of Social Ecology, University of California Irvine), and Bernie Weiner (Professor of Psychology, University of California at Los Angeles).
- "Re-conceiving Self and Society: The American Renaissance in Retrospect," April 16, 2007. Sponsored by the Humanities Concentration with funding from the Nieves Family Foundation. Participants: Sarah Wider (Professor of English and Women’s Studies, Colgate University), Ronald A. Bosco (Distinguished Professor of English and American Literature, State University of New York, Albany), Kenneth M. Price (University Professor and Hillegass Chair of American Literature, University of Nebraska, Lincoln), and Jim Merod (Professor of American Literature, Soka University of America).
- "The Ends of Theory," May 12-14, 2006. A "Pacific Seminar" co-sponsored by Soka University and the Pacific Basin Research Center. The seminar explored the relevance of critical theory in the era of globalization and included such participants as Arif Dirlik (Duke University) and Liu Dong (Beijing University).
[edit] Speakers
Casey Blake, Columbia University, "The Civic Turn in the Humanities," May 9, 2008.
Damodar Sardesai, UCLA, "India and Pakistan," April 14, 2008.
Josh Harris, Claremont Graduate University, "Civil Disobedience and Nonviolent Resistance," March 26, 2008.
Sue E. Houchins, Bates College, "Voices of Emancipation: the Empowering Writings of 18th and 19th Century Women of African Descent," Feb. 19, 2008.
David Krieger, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, "People of the Bomb: A Poetic Exploration of the Nuclear Age," February 11, 2008.
Phyllis J. Jackson, Pomona College, "Comrade Sisters: Voices of Women in the Black Panther Party," January 15, 2008.
Masao Miyoshi, UC San Diego, "From Humanities to Ecology," December 3, 2007.
Seiichi Makino, Princeton University, "Culture of Space and Space of Culture: A Case of UCHI (inside) and SOTO (outside)," November 2, 2007.
Linda Pershing, CSU Long Beach, "Feminist Modes of Inquiry," October 18, 2007.
Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury "Creating a Culture of Peace," October 17, 2007.
Jennifer Bickham-Mendez, The College of William and Mary, "A Welcome Mat at a Closed Door: Latino/a Newcomers in Williamsburg, VA," October 15, 2007.
Betty Williams (Nobel laureate) "Peace in the World Is Everybody's Business." Sept. 18, 2007
Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, UC Irvine, "Globalization and African Leadership: Readings from Wizard of the Crow," April 10, 2007.
Chalmers Johnson, UC San Diego, "Republic or Empire," March 29, 2007.
Pranab Bardhan, UC Berkeley, "The Rise of China and India: A Comparative Economic Assessment," March 14, 2007.
John Carlos Rowe, USC, "Reading 'Reading Lolita in Tehran' in Idaho," February 28, 2007.
Virginia Straus Benson - Executive Director of The Boston Research Center - November 30, 2006.
Angus Fletcher - Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English and Comparative Literature at the Graduate School of the City University of New York - November 28, 2006.
Stanley Rosen - A specialist on the politics of modern China at the University of Southern California - November 08, 2006.
Jan Knippers Black - Professor at the Graduate School of International Policy Studies Monterey Institute of International Studies - October 27, 2006.
Nel Noddings - Lee Jacks Professor of Education Emerita, Stanford University - October 10, 2006.
[edit] History and Philosophy of SUA
SUA is secular and nonsectarian, though established by Soka Gakkai, a lay Buddhist organization. SUA's history and educational philosophy originate in Soka Gakkai, particularly in the work of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi who founded Soka Gakkai as a small group of educators dedicated to educational reform.[10] Makiguchi was a principal of an elementary school in Japan. He was strongly influenced by John Dewey and American educational progressivism.
Between 1930-1934, Makiguchi published his 4-volume work, Sōka Kyōikugaku Taikei (Value Creating Education System), to argue for his belief that education should proceed through dialog instead of "force-feeding" information to students. This student-centered and humanistic philosophy, he argued, made "the purpose of education" an effort "to lead students to happiness." Education, he asserted, should be directed toward "creating value" for the individual and society. Makiguchi was a pacifist and an ardent believer in religious liberty and freedom of conscience. Jailed by Japanese authorities during the Second World War for ideas and actions inimical to the war-effort, he died in prison in 1944. After the war, as the Soka Gakkai organization grew, Makiguchi's educational philosophy became the centerpiece of a number of Soka schools in Japan founded by his successors, Josei Toda (a former elementary school teacher) and Daisaku Ikeda, who is also regarded as the founder of SUA. Ikeda describes the founding of SUA as the fruition of the dreams of Makiguchi and Toda.[11] [12]
Soka University of America (SUA)
SUA was formed as a not-for-profit organization incorporated in the state of California in 1987. It initially was simply a small graduate school located on a 588-acre (2.38 km²) property in Calabasas, California. The property was once the site of a large settlement of Chumash people, a Native American community, so when the university tried to expand to accommodate an undergraduate program it met resistance from environmentalists seeking to protect the Chumash ancestral site and the wilderness terrain. SUA decided to relocate.
In 1995, the university bought 103 acres (0.42 km²) of rough-graded property in Aliso Viejo in southern Orange County for $25 million. It then spent $225 million to build the first 18 buildings of the new campus, which opened to 120 first year undergraduate students on August 24, 2001. The new campus's principle academic buildings were named for Daisaku Ikeda and noted twentieth century peace activists Mahatma Gandhi and Linus Pauling.
In 2003, SUA had a brief controversy related to its relationship with Soka Gakkai International (SGI). The university offers a non-sectarian curriculum, but most of its funding has come from SGI members. Two professors charged that the university was not independent from SGI and that they experienced religious discrimination and breach of contract. One professor took legal action based on these allegations, but the case was dismissed. Administrators refuted allegations of sectarianism and religious discrimination, stating that the majority of faculty and staff are not SGI members, that there was no evidence of preferential treatment, and that SUA never has and never will teach Buddhist religious practice.[13] [14] [15]
In April 2005 the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority closed on the purchase of SUA's campus in Calabasas, which is now public parkland managed jointly by the Mountain Recreation and Conservation Authority, the state parks department, and the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.[16] After the sale of the Calabasas campus, the graduate school moved to the Aliso Viejo campus.
Home for all of SUA's graduate, undergraduate, and research programs as of August 2007, the Aliso Viejo campus is bordered on three sides by wilderness parks encompassing a 4,000-acre (16 km²) county wildlife sanctuary. SUA has at least a $400 million dollar operating endowment and has raised in excess of $100 million for a scholarship endowment.
Between 2005-2007 SUA graduated its first three undergraduate classes with an average graduation rate of 90%. More than a third of the students in each of the first three graduating classes have gone on to graduate school. Forty percent of the 2006 graduating class entered graduate school (compared to 20% at Claremont McKenna in the same year). Students have been admitted into programs at Berkeley, Cambridge University, Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia University and Columbia Teacher's College, Duke University, Harvard University, Hawaii Law, Indiana University, London School of Economics, New York University, Oxford University, Stanford University, St. Johns, UC-Berkeley, UC-Irvine, UCLA, University of Liverpool, University of Maryland School of Law, University of Pittsburgh, University of Southern California, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Vanderbilt University, Yale University, and others.[17]
[edit] References
- ^ Soka, 2007
- ^ Peterson 2007, p.86
- ^ Soka, 2006, p.6
- ^ Soka, 2007
- ^ Soka, 2006, p.66
- ^ MyOChigh March 6, 2008
- ^ Orange County Register, October 11, 2006
- ^ Our Aliso Viejo, 2005
- ^ Orange County Register, October 24, 2007
- ^ Soka, 2006, p.7
- ^ Sharma, 1999
- ^ Bethel, 1990
- ^ Religion Report, 2003
- ^ Academe March-April 2003
- ^ Academe Sept-Oct 2003
- ^ Los Angeles Business, 2005, p.na
- ^ Peterson's Guide to Colleges in the West (2008), p.86
[edit] Citations
- Soka University of America: Undergraduate Catalog (n.p., 2007).
- Peterson's (2007). Peterson's Colleges in the West 2008, Lawrenceville, NJ: Thomson/Peterson's.
- Soka University of America: Undergraduate Catalog (n.p., 2007).
- Soka University of America: Undergraduate Catalog, 2006-2007 (n.p., 2006), 66.
- MARLA JO FISHER, "Soka University offers free tuition," MyOChigh March 6, 2008.
- Cynthia Furey, "Halloween Happenings," Orange County Register, October 11, 2005.
- "Soka University's 6th Annual International Festival Coming on May 6, 2006," Our Aliso Viejo, October 4, 2005.
- "Peace walk brings community together: more than 70 people walk through Aliso Viejo for peace," Orange County Register, October 24, 2007.
- Soka University of America: Undergraduate Catalog, 2006-2007 (n.p., 2006), 6.
- Soka University of America: Undergraduate Catalog, 2006-2007 (n.p., 2006), 7.
- Sharma, Namrata (1999). Value Creators in Education: Japanese Educator Makiguchi & Mahatma Gandhi and their relevance for the Indian education. New Delhi: Regency Publications.
- Bethel, Dayle M. ed. (1990). Education for Creative Living: Ideas and Proposals of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press.
- "Soka University under fire," Religion Report, May 21, 2003.
- Martin D. Snyder, "State of the Profession-Sailing Under False Colors," Academe (March-April 2003)
- Daniel Habuki, "New University Slighted," Academe (Sept-Oct 2003)
- "Soka University campus sold to Conservation Authority," Los Angeles Business, April 22, 2005.
- Peterson's Guide to Colleges in the West (2008), p.86
External links
- Soka University of America (homepage)
- Soka announces free tuition, March 5, 2008.
- Pacific Basin Research Center at SUA
- Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, where Pauling graduated in 1922 and where his family papers are held. Linus Pauling Institute (Wikipedia).
- Education for Creative Living: Ideas and Proposals of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi Dayle M. Bethel, ed. 1990. Iowa State University Press, Ames, IA. 246 pages. ISBN 0-8138-0392-6.
- The Gandhi, King, Ikeda Community Builders Prize at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- "A Day At Soka University" (2007) at orangecounty.planjam.com
- Soka University of America: A Review (Nov. 1, 2007) at viewpoints.com
- "Soka University campus sold to Conservation Authority," Los Angeles Business (2005)
- Soka Gakkai in America: An Update with a focus on SUA (2002) Harvard Pluralism Project
- National Cross Talk (Spring 2002) National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education
- SGI Controversy, Religion Report
- Soka University of America is at coordinates Coordinates:
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