There is a fairly distinguished Roman Catholic university in Japan by that name. I know nothing about how its degrees would line up with US degrees, or about US-Japan accreditation equivalencies, but the school is reputable. I had one or two high school teachers (30 years ago) who were grads of Sophia.
Sophia Agree that Sophia University outside Tokyo is VERY reputable. Have a few friends who graduated from there. The school attempts to offer an international, primarily English language, education for Japanese students. Hope you are talking about that Sophia...
A distance University, Ignatius, states that they have a special relationship with Sophia University that results in their students being eligible for doctorates in Psychology, Philosophy and Theology.
Ignatius University reads like a degree mill big-time. I ran into DeLuca's name several years ago - I don't remember the context offhand, but he's been around for several years with his "Malankara Orthodox Archdiocese." This school's degrees are worthless.
Part of the web site is referencing Sofia University of Bulgaria. Possibly this University? http://www.tkfd.or.jp/eng/scholar/institutions/01-C-2-a-2-43.html http://www.uni-sofia.bg/ Or possibly this one? http://www.vmei.acad.bg/
Simon, you are referring to Sofia University in Bulgaria... Ignatius University (unaccredited), has reportedly developed a relationship with Sofia University to lead their students through their studies, and upon graduation (assuming the student elects to be awarded dual degrees and pays tuition to both institutions), the graduate will earn a duplicate degree from Sofia. Sofia is a well-established university in Bulgaria... http://www.uni-sofia.bg/ Ignatius has an interesting setup where they list proudly their faculty, with impressive legitimate credentials (no hint of the ACI "Three Stooges" here my friends)... their curriculum appears to be well thought out... the theology degrees should be enticing to folks interested in Orthodox Christianity... Ignatius University is affiliated with the Syrian Orthodox Church... The dual degree business is NOT restricted to only doctorates... as there appears to be an opportunity in some undergrad and most graduate programs to get a Sofia degree as well... They also claim a relationship with Excelsior College for some of their undergraduate programs. Ignatius claims that RA is a top priority, reporting to website surfers that they began their accreditation endeavors in 1998... no undates on progress have been provided... BruceP Los Angeles, California
Ouch! I'm hoping that our difference of opinion doesn't mean that I've lost sight of what I degree mill is... won't dispute the public worth of the Ignatius degrees (unaccredited is unaccredited... no bones about it)... but what about the faculty lists??? I'm not about the challenege the Mighty Levicoff (please read the mighty part with the utmost of respect)... for he wrote the book... But I see a well-thought out program... reportedly taught by professors with RA and GAAP credentials... I don't see the usual degree mill warning signs... If Sofia AND Excelsior do in fact award degrees based on work completed at Ignatius how can they be a degree mill... What did I miss... Respectfully cringing for the reply, BruceP Los Angeles (formerly of Colo Springs)
One thing puzzles the ol' crypto-Balkanoid preacher about this Ignatius business. "Ignatius University," whatever it is, claims to be affiliated with a non-chalcedonian "oriental" Orthodox jurisdiction. Whatever theological faculty there is at Sofia is "mainstream" chalcedonian Orthodox. While relations are certainly better now between the two groups, I question how this articulation--whatever that means--is theologically kosher (sorry). If the Bulgarian patriarchate and the Syrian Orthodox/Malankara (Malankara refers to Syrian Orthodox in India) are not "in communion" with one another, I would question the reality of the articulation agreement. If anybody reading this is Orthodox and has more info, please horn in. On the surface, it puzzles me why non-chalcedonians would want a deal with a chalcedonian theological faculty. Aren't there universities in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, or India(esp since these folks say they are Malankara), with whom such an arrangement could be worked out? Makes me wonder, that's all. Of course, none of this has *any* bearing whatever on Sophia University in Japan, but DeLuca's degrees from Roman Catholic institutions might lead a cursory reader to suppose there was.
The faculty list is impressive. I noticed a couple from Alexandria (maybe Coptic Orthodox--in communion with Syrians), but none from Indian universities and none with typical South Indian Christian names. Why not? Maybe somebody should contact some of the ecclesiastical jurisdictions and check this thing out. The regulations were in an oddly chatty tone, not typical of university regs elsewhere. Perhaps Rector DeLuca is a wit: who knows? One bit of weirdness: why quote Cavafy? Cavafy was an Alexandrian Greek--not likely a big hero at a Bulgarian university. Cavafy was conspicuously gay--there's another set of questions for a supposedly non-chalc Orthodox school, since the "oriental" Orthodox are not usually identified with gay liberation movements (understatement). Cavafy was also (more or less) "mainstream" Orthodox. None of this fits very well. I'll admit that you don't have to be Alexandrian, or gay, or Orthodox to like Cavafy's poetry. I'm none of the above and used to enjoy his poetry very much. But why put it there? Sorry for the pun, but this is getting too byzantine for me. Uncle Janko needs his slivovica--or maybe just a nap.
As Steve says this definately has the smell of a degree mill. 1. One of the worst web pages I've ever seen. 2. The normal headings but with essays that seem mostly unrelated to the headings. 3. Enough "staff and faculty" for several state universities all for an unheard of and unaccredited school. Reminds of MIGS...err CEU. 4. Articulation agreement with Excelsior? I wasn't aware of ANY such agreements. Perhaps Ignatius uses the portfolio process to gain credit for students instead? Perhaps, it is legit but I would wager the chance is pretty small.
Just a guess! I notice that they also teach classes in New York. If they are licensed in New York, and there is no indication that they are, will Excelsior accept their credit because of it. Excelsior does not normally accept credit from schools that are not regionally accerdited.
No dice. There is no reference to Ignatius University on the website for Sofia University St. Clement Ohridski as far as I could tell. There's no search function, so I may have missed it, but SU does have a list of international cooperative agreements. There were 3 US schools listed, but not Ignatius. Given Ignatius' self-proclaimed focus on the humanities, it was no surprise that there wasn't a trace of Ignatius on the website for the Technical University of Sofia either.
