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Nanzan University was first established as Nanzan College of Foreign Languages in 1946. It has since grown to encompass eight faculties that offer 17 undergraduate and five graduate degree programs. As a coeducational Catholic institute of higher learning, our founding principle focuses on "educating from a Christian worldview." To help us better translate this founding principle into concrete action, we have adopted "Hominis Dignitati" (for all human beings) as our educational motto. Our vision at Nanzan University to "empower the individual to become a power in and for the world," which embodies the spirit of respecting people, maintaining diversity, coexisting, and cooperating. Nanzan University seeks to cultivate people who can tackle various challenges in harmony with the people around them, solve problems by utilizing their international capabilities and expertise, and promote an "unending self-transformation." Providing a place of learning without borders is necessary for Nanzan University to continue to be chosen worldwide. To that end, we will continue to make the utmost effort in all areas as one team across all eight faculties, 17 undergraduate and five graduate degree programs. Nanzan University is the only coeducational Catholic mission school in the Chubu region, and "educating from a Christian worldview" is our founding principle. To better translate this abstract principle into concrete action, we have adopted "Hominis Dignitati—for the dignity of all human beings" as our educational motto. One of the central tenets of Christianity is that human beings have been created in God's image. As such, they have an inviolable dignity—one that confers sacred value and inalienable rights. Our fervent hope that we may foster individuals who take these teachings to heart and thus live their lives in a way that honors the inherent dignity in themselves and other people. The Society of the Divine Word (Societas Verbi Divini, or SVD, in Latin) alludes to the biblical phrase "the Word became flesh." The name's origin reflects the purpose of society, reminding us of our spiritual unity with Christ as we fulfill our mission of evangelism, which is the Church's real work. The Nanzan University Grand Design is a chart for positioning Nanzan as a university that will be a preferred option for students worldwide. This chart is the vision, and the medium-to-long-term goals are based upon our University's founding ideals and educational motto. Our vision is grounded in recognizing that differences exist among people in terms of ethnicity, ability, religion, culture, and gender. It is dedicated to the service of creating a new set of values that embraces such diversity and, through the living and working together in our diversity, promotes respect for the dignity of all human beings. In short, we aim to "turn the power of the individual into the power of the world. empowering the individual to become a power in and for the world." The following are the medium-to-long-term goals for realizing this vision: For research, "to respect human dignity, carry out pioneering research for the advancement of humankind, and, as a base of interdisciplinary joint research, to create new academic value." For education, "with the establishment of a system of universal access, having realized its vision, to become a university that is a preferred option for students from all over the world, producing quality graduates for the world market." For social contribution, "to become the best-regarded university in the region through the social contribution that gives expression to our vision." View full university