The grain of wheat
Founding Spirit Education Philosophy

The grain of wheat

During the turmoil following the French Revolution, St. Julie Billiart, who considered education “the noblest mission in the world” and wished to provide Christian education to her children, founded the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, a Catholic educational order named after the Virgin Mary (= Notre Dame), the mother of Christ.
St. Julie Billiart’s wise decision to send members all over the world, despite the opposition of those around her, was truly the “grain of wheat” described in the Bible.
The grain of wheat, which would have perished had it remained as a single grain, fell to the ground and died, thus bearing abundant fruit all over the world today.
One of the fruits in Asia is Notre Dame Seishin University.

Founding Spirit

Educational Philosophy

Notre Dame Seishin University’s educational philosophy, based on its founding spirit, is to pursue the true, the good, and the beautiful in the Christian spirit. Having the character of a liberal arts college, the University aims to nurture truly liberal people through education and research, and its mission is to provide the means to carry out social life and, more than that, to pursue the meaning of life together with others.
The University is particularly oriented toward the following three points, based on the purpose of the founding of the educational convent of St. Julie Billiart, the founder of Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.

1. To be a university that is open to society and to the world.
2. To be a university that serves its people by focusing its attention on what they truly seek, while reading the signs of the times and not being driven by the currents of the times.
3. To be a university that values religious sentiments. This is fostered through the humility of each individual to rely on oneself, the mutual recognition of one another’s uniqueness of character with a heart of love, and the trust in one another’s possibilities.