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Seton Hall University

Seton Hall Forms Partnership with Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla  

IFCUAs part of its membership in the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU) network, Seton Hall University continues to facilitate global collaboration among the network's members, most recently forming a partnership with the Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla (UPAEP) in Mexico.

Both universities will share resources to foster innovation in education and opportunities for professional growth. Founded in 1973, UPAEP is a Catholic higher education institution run by laypeople and dedicated to the formation of social leaders.

"UPAEP and Seton Hall share a common mission and vision: to train the future leaders who will transform society," said Katia Passerini, Ph.D., Provost and Executive Vice President. "I hope the agreement between our institutions with result in joint research programs, exchange of faculty and students, joint conferences and panel discussions which will serve as a basis for boosting collaboration and developing synergies among our institutions."

Provost Passerini further noted the potential for this partnership to lead to future career and employment opportunities for students at both institutions, "given Mexico and the United States are each other's number one trading partners."

In addition to their memberships in the IFCU, both universities are also members of Harvard University's Microeconomics of Competitiveness Affiliate Network, which Seton Hall joined last year.

Professor José Pablo Nuño de la Parra, General Director for Internationalization at UPAEP, noted the two commonalities will help to facilitate immediate and deep collaboration, allowing the institutions make "concrete efforts to enhance the economic and social progress of our regions."

The partnership will continue to advance the IFCU's mission to promote collaboration among Catholic higher education institutions while rooted in the shared faith and mission of the two universities. "Getting to know administrators of UPAEP through the IFCU made me confident that a partnership between our universities would benefit both UPAEP and Seton Hall, as well as the communities in which the alumni of both universities will live and work," said Ines Murzaku, Ph.D., Director of Catholic Studies.

Murzaku added, "Our universities share the value expressed in UPAEP's mission statement: ‘the search for Truth, integrating faith, science, and life.' Seeing the parts of the whole—how faith, science and life help us understand truth— is the focus and the goal of the partnership," Murzaku explained. "We are two universities at different points in our own history and in geography—one nearly 50 years old, one more than 150 years old; one in the United States and one in Mexico—but we share the desire to help each other develop innovations in practice and deeper lived experience of faith."

Seton Hall joined the IFCU in June 2021, becoming part of a diverse, collective federation that includes more than 200 Catholic universities and higher education worldwide. The University's first partnership as part of the membership was with the University of South Sudan.

For additional information, please contact Professor Ines Murzaku at [email protected] or visit Seton Hall's IFCU website.

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