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As a liberal arts university, we encourage students to broaden their horizons and develop critical and creative thinking skills as well as compassionate and understanding hearts, following the educational principles set forth by St. Julie Billiard, the foundress of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. Notre Dame Seishin University, a liberal arts and sciences university, seeks truth, goodness, and beauty with its educational ideals informed by the Christian spirit. We are committed to educating students in an academic community rooted in the liberal arts and sciences, to challenge them to become true, free women through learning and research, to encourage them to succeed personally and professionally in society, and above all, to encourage them to continue seeking the meaning of life. Notre Dame Seishin University, the first and the only women’s university in Okayama Prefecture in 1949, has already celebrated its 60th Jubilee. We now have eight sister universities or colleges in the U.S.A., the U.K., and Belgium. We have agreed to collaborate with 12 others in Europe, North America, Australia, and Asia regarding study abroad programs. We are eager to further our endeavors to provide an academic background for young people to become leaders in the 21st century. One of the unique classes we are proud of is “On the Human Being,” which all the freshmen must take. They learn the essence of being human through the Christian spirit based on the ideas of St. Julie Billiard. Students can enjoy their lessons in small-sized classes in which they have close contact and frequent communication with their teachers. Teachers are committed to finding the best methods of imparting their knowledge and creating mutual learning environments. To do this, students are encouraged to share their opinions with others and participate in discussions. In response to the rapid development of digital media, the university hosts a LAN network on campus, and all students have access to computer facilities. In addition to internet facilities, there are two sophisticated ‘Computer Assisted Language Learning’ (CALL) laboratories which offer a convergence between language learning and information science. We have eight sister colleges or universities worldwide and have collaboration agreements for study-abroad programs with 14 colleges or universities. Many students from NDSU have been abroad to be hosted by our worldwide family network and have returned enriched by the new dimensions of friendship and knowledge they have gained through the experience. There are about 50 groups, circles, and clubs open to student participation. These include a variety of multicultural activities, for example, Japanese tea ceremony, flower arranging, ‘koto’ (Japanese harp), handbell, orchestra, Glee, and ‘shodo’ (Japanese calligraphy). Also, there are both Japanese and English drama clubs. There are several to choose from, including kendo (Japanese fencing), volleyball, and cheer-leading if you prefer athletics. Over the years, our library has become more sizable and now boasts more than 300,000 books, 2,800 magazines, and various audio-visual materials, including video cassettes, CDs, and DVDs. There are 319 seats in our open-shelved interior. Books can freely be taken from the shelves and referred to on the spot. The documents and materials in the library can be easily accessed on or off-campus via the computer catalog. Moreover, the local network is connected to many external educational and research institutes near and far from which information may be derived. View full university