CAROLA HOMMERICHCAROLA HOMMERICH

Faculty of Human Sciences, Department of Sociology　Professor

Research Interests

Carola Hommerich is a Professor at the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Human Sciences, and a core faculty member of the Sophia Program for Sustainable Futures (SPSF). Her research interest centres on the interrelation of social and subjective well-being. She specifically analyses how experiences of precarity, status anxiety and social exclusion relate to subjective well-being, and how different types of social capital mediate this relationship. Analysing Japanese society in comparative perspective, she has been working with different conceptualisations of well-being, utilizing standard measures of well-being as well as culture specific measures. Recently, she is also working on attitudes towards climate change, with a specific interest in how environmental attitudes and perceptions of individual efficacy translate into pro-environmental behaviour.

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Faculty of Human Sciences, Department of Sociology　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

Takashi OKADA / 岡田　隆Takashi OKADA

Faculty of Human Sciences, Department of Psychology　Professor

Research Interests

Takashi OKADA has engaged in research of physiological psychology, especially with electrophysiological techniques using animal brain preparations and animal behavior analysis. Focusing on the importance of synaptic transmission by glutamate, which is one of the major transmitters in the central nervous system, we have studied the roles of glutamatergic transmission and regulation in psychological functions from various aspects.
In recent years, we have been particularly focusing on the biological bases of memory such as the elucidation of substances that regulate long-term potentiation of hippocampal synaptic efficacy and their mechanisms, and the regulatory mechanisms for diurnal variation of animal memory task performance.

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Faculty of Human Sciences, Department of Psychology　Professor